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West Vancouver's Skye Clarke lands three medals at Canada Winter Games

Freestyle skier claims gold in slopestyle, silver in big air and bronze in halfpipe

West Vancouver’s Skye Clarke took home a full set of medals last week at the Canada Winter Games, winning gold, silver and bronze in the high flying sport of freestyle skiing.

Clarke began her competition last Wednesday by carving her way to gold on the slopestyle course.

"I'd hoped for it, but it was a nice surprise for sure," Clarke said of winning a medal. "Everything went well and it all pieced together perfectly."

Clarke dominated the slopestyle competition, qualifying with the highest score and then laying down the two best runs during the final, scoring 80 on her first run before ramping it up even more for 84.6 on her second run. Clarke was pumped about landing a switch right seven on one of her jumps, a trick she hadn’t pulled out for nearly a year.

Skye Clarke
Skye Clarke shows off her silver medal after the big air competition. photo Brian Olstad/Canada Winter Games

  

“The fact there was two jumps, usually in the competition I am in there is three, and I like to do one switch,” she said. “So with a switch seven you take off and land switch so usually I don't get the chance to do that. It was cool to do it here."

Clarke was back on the podium one day later, scoring silver in the big air competition. She qualified second and then held that place in the final, landing a switch right 720 on her first jump to give her a score of 83.40. Quebec’s Olivia Asselin led throughout the competition, with her first jump of the final earning her the gold with a score of 89.40. Clarke’s Team BC teammate Josephine Howell of Mount Currie took the bronze.

“I’m pretty excited about winning two medals in two days,” Clarke said after the big air competition. “My qualifying runs were pretty good, but I think I was better in the finals.”

Clarke won her third medal in three days on Friday, completing her set with a bronze in halfpipe. The Alberta duo of Emma Morozumi, with 72.4 points, and Dillan Glennie, with 68.6 points, finished first and second, with Clarke collecting 63 points on her second run to finish third. Red Deer is the host city for the Games, with the freestyle skiing events being held down the road at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary.