Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 20, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba C4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM SPORTS MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2025 IN BRIEF CANADIAN COMPLETES SKELETON TITLE SWEEP SAINT MORITZ, Switzerland — Another year, another world skeleton championship for Canada’s Hallie Clarke. Last February, Clarke, of Brighton, Ont., became the youngest competitor to win the senior championship, doing so in Winterberg, Germany at the age of 19. On Saturday, Clarke won the world junior title to earn the distinc- tion of being the first athlete ever to capture both global crowns. “My goal for this (Olympic) quadrennial was to be a junior champion, but to have both the junior and senior titles is extra special,” she said. “There are no words to describe what I’m feeling. “It’s a little funny that I was able to get both titles backwards by winning the senior first, but I learned so much from world champion- ships last year.” Clarke is one of only five Canadians — two women — to have won a senior world title. Clarke dominated the field, posting the fast- est times in both heats for a combined mark of two minutes 19.46 seconds on the world’s only non-refrigerated track. “I think racing the World Cup here last week helped me a lot today,” she said. “The extra time sliding on the track allowed me the time to really dial things in.” What’s more, Clarke was able to win the event with her parents in attendance. “Sliding in St. Moritz is magical,” she said. “It is like no other track in the world. CANADA’S LOUTITT JUMPS TO GOLD IN JAPAN ZAŌ, Japan — Canadian Alex Loutitt won gold at a World Cup ski-jumping event Saturday. The 21-year-old from Calgary scored 266.4 points to earn her first gold medal of the sea- son. What’s more, she did it with her parents looking on. “I think my parents are my lucky charms,” she said. “Every time my parents are at an event, I tend to do really well.” Loutitt spends the bulk of her year away from home since facility closures forced Ski Jumping Canada’s national program to relocate to Planica, Slovenia three years ago. Loutitt led the competition by 2.4 points after the opening round with 129.2 points, before securing the win with a stellar second jump of 137.2 points. “It’s not a secret that I have struggled a lot this season,” said Loutitt after registering her ninth World Cup podium finish. “But coming back to my support system and my team has really helped me get things back together and on the right track. “It feels good to be back on top.” Loutitt’s first World Cup victory also came here in 2023. Calgary’s Abigail Strate was 19th (213.5) while Nicole Maurer, also of Calgary, was 26th (180.7). SECOND STRAIGHT SLOPESTYLE VICTORY LAAX, Switzerland — Canadian Cameron Spalding captured the men’s crown at a snow- board slopestyle World Cup event Saturday. Spalding, of Havelock, Ont., posted a winning score of 86.63 points. He finished just ahead of American Red Gerard (86.22) and German Noah Viktor (83.72). Liam Brearley of Gravenhurst, Ont., finished fourth. Spalding became the fifth Canadian to win here. Spalding also earned his second consecutive slopestyle win after capturing the season opener in Cardrona, N.Z. The 19-year-old Canadian went into Saturday’s final with the goal of enjoying himself. “I’m just always trying to have as much fun as possible,” he said. “That’s when I snow- board my best, that’s when everything clicks for me.” MESSI SCORES IN PRESEASON OPENER LAS VEGAS — Lionel Messi scored a goal and made his presence known throughout the first half as Inter Miami beat Mexican superpower Club America 3-2 on penalty kicks after the teams played to a 2-2 deadlock in regulation on Saturday night. Messi’s goal came on a header in the 34th minute, taking a pass from Luis Suarez to even the match at 1-1. Fans soon broke into a Messi chant, but they were quickly booed out by the pro-Club America crowd. That goal came 12 minutes after Messi shook his head in disbelief after overshooting the goal from nearly point blank. Messi also drew two free kicks in the open- ing half. He played the first 21 minutes of the second half before being substituted out. It was Inter Miami’s first match of the of the exhibition season, the first of five that also will take place in Central and South America. The team’s regular season doesn’t begin until Feb. 22 against Sporting Kansas City. — from the news services PHOTOS CHRISTINNE MUSCHI / THE CANADIAN PRESS Madeline Schizas performs her free program Sunday at the Canadian figure skating championships. Right, Roman Sadovsky captured his second Canadian men’s title Saturday. Schizas claims third Canadian figure skating crown; Sadovsky wins second L AVAL, Que. — Madeline Schizas was in a familiar spot, anxiously waiting her turn in the warm-up room while her competitors hit the ice one after another. “I was quite nervous,” she said. “I was just like, ‘Man, I want this to be over.’ “Every Canadian senior nationals I’ve skated at, I’ve skated last in the free skate … every year it rolls around and it never gets easier.” A year ago, Schizas crumbled under that pressure and dropped from first to second after a devastating free pro- gram, falling short of a three-peat at nationals. The 21-year-old from Oakville, Ont., shoved those jitters aside on Sunday and took back the Canadian women’s figure skating crown. Debuting a slower-paced “Butterfly Lovers Concerto” program, the five-foot Schizas landed seven triples and never fell to score 133.87 points in the free skate, bringing her total to 203.87 and setting a Canadian record. “I feel so good,” she said. “I’m happy that not only was I able to win, but I was able to put out skates I was proud of. “I stepped up to the pressure today.” Then she celebrated by shooting T-shirts into the stands — without much success — at a raucous Place Bell. “I didn’t get either of them into the crowd, one got in the rafters and one landed on the ice,” she said. “At least I’m good at skating.” Montreal’s Sara-Maude Dupuis wowed the hometown crowd and finished with 182.61 to claim silver. Ot- tawa’s Katherine Medland Spence took bronze with 181.55. Later Sunday, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won their fourth ice dance title. They totalled 229.55 points after scoring 137.71 in their moving free dance to A Whiter Shade Of Pale by Annie Lennox. Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha took silver (218.52) and Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer earned bronze (195.88). Schizas also won the event in 2022 and 2023 before Calgary’s Kaiya Ruiter, who finished fourth Sunday, won it last year in her hometown. After her disappointing showing 12 months ago, Schizas says this title feels like the best of the bunch. “The first two times it was just like a whirlwind,” she said. “This time I was coming in not Canadian champion, so it was definitely a different situation and I think it means a little bit more regain- ing the title.” Though they won their fourth champi- onship, Gilles and Poirier claimed a title in consecutive years for the first time because of the COVID-19 pandemic and Gilles’s cancer scare in 2023. “That’s not something we take for granted, so we’re really grateful and happy that we were able to be here and continue the progress of our season,” Poirier said. “We’re really proud of what we’ve accomplished today. It was such a joyful competition, from beginning to end we really enjoyed every moment.” The world silver medallists also bounced back from a disappointing performance after Poirier uncharacter- istically caught his foot along the boards and tripped at the Grand Prix Final in December. “It was hard to accept the unpredict- able because that’s just not how we train or what we do,” Gilles said. “Even our coaches, it’s a complete shock, and even our teammates are like, ‘how, why, what?’ “Being able to put two solid perfor- mances down like we do at home, it felt really nice and I think it’s definitely what we needed just to kind of know we’re going in the right direction.” World champions Deanna Stella- to-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps won their third consecutive Canadian pairs title Saturday despite posting the second-best free skate. Roman Sadovsky captured his second gold medal in the men’s competition at the Canadian figure skating champion- ships Saturday, regaining the title he first won in 2020. “How did I do it? Got my head in the game. I really trusted the training,” he said. “Another one in the book. Let’s see if we can get that hat trick.” The charismatic 25-year-old from Vaughan, Ont., harnessed the energy from a raucous rink to reach the top of the podium. When Sadovsky stepped on the sur- face, local favourite Anthony Paradis had just finished punching the ice in joy after bringing the crowd to its feet with an emotional skate. “The crowd energy was wild,” Sa- dovsky said. “It was so loud to the point where I couldn’t even hear the scores, for better or for worse. “I really just tried to stay in the game, stay focused. Remembering to breathe is the biggest one and not letting any mistakes get in my way.” While the fans at Place Bell serenad- ed Paradis, coach Tracey Wainman delivered a message to Sadovsky from behind the boards. “Listen, you’re ready for this,” she said. “Just trust in yourself.” And he delivered. Skating to music from Interstellar, Sadovsky scored 158.91 points in an intense free program despite falling on a quad salchow jump, boosting his total to 240.35. Paradis — a 17-year-old from Boisbri- and, Que. — claimed silver with 225.56 and David Li of Richmond, B.C., totalled 197.99 to take bronze. In pairs, Stellato-Dudek and Des- champs didn’t enjoy the same satisfac- tion as Sadovsky despite ending up on top. Stellato-Dudek and Deschamp’s free program score of 130.75 — which included a fall on the throw triple loop — was second-best behind Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud’s 134.53. Their five-point cushion after Friday’s short was just enough to secure gold (207.06), but Stellato-Dudek answered with a definitive “no” when asked if they could enjoy another victory in Canada. “I’ve done clean run-throughs since Max has been back (from an illness),” she said. “I don’t really know what’s happening this year, if I’m being totally honest. I don’t know how many more clean run- throughs I have to do at home to do it in competition.” Pereira and Michaud won silver (204.96) while Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier took bronze (187.29), matching the order of last year’s podi- um. — The Canadian Press Back in championship form DANIEL RAINBIRD Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps won their third consecutive Canadian pairs title Saturday. Right, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won their fourth ice dance title. CHRISTINA Black returns to the Ca- nadian women’s curling championship after winning Nova Scotia’s women’s final Sunday. Black defeated Mackenzie Mitchell 6-4 in Halifax. Her team will represent the province in February’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay, Ont. Black, Jill Brothers, Jenn Baxter and Karlee Everest out of the Halifax Curling Club were ranked fourth among women’s teams in Curling Canada’s Canadian Team Rankings System on Sunday. The 18-team field for the Feb. 14-23 national women’s championship began to take shape Sunday with the crown- ing of some provincial and territorial champions. Laurie St-Georges earned a fifth trip to the Hearts with a 9-2 victory over Emilia Gagne in Quebec’s final Sunday. St-Georges went 4-4 last year in Calgary. Kerry Galusha will skip Northwest Territories a 17th time, which ties her with Jennifer Jones in appearances, sec- ond only to Colleen Jones’ 21. Galusha’s daughter Sydney will make her debut in Thunder Bay playing second for her mother. Galusha clinched a best-of-five ter- ritorial final series Sunday with a 12-0 blanking of Betti Delorey in the fourth game of the series. Melissa Adams sewed up New Bruns- wick women’s crown Saturday with an 8-6 win over Justine Comeau. Adams will skip New Brunswick a second straight year and for the third time in her career. Ontario’s Rachel Homan was already bound for Thunder Bay’s Hearts as defending champion. Alberta’s Selena Sturmay and Manito- ba’s Kaitlyn Lawes and Kerri Einarson pre-qualified for the Hearts based on their ranking at the end of the 2023-24 season. Sturmay gained a pre-qualified berth earlier this month when Chelsea Carey’s team could not retain at least three of four players from last season. Bayly Scoffin took Yukon’s women’s title last week with a 7-4 win over Patty Wallingham. She went 1-7 in her Hearts debut last year in Calgary. Nunavut declared its women’s team in December. The territory returns to the national championship after a hiatus in 2024 when Iqaluit’s curling rink was closed to be the set of a television show. Julia Weagle, sister of three-time Hearts champion Lisa, will skip Nun- avut in Thunder Bay. B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manito- ba, Ontario, Northern Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador will crown their women’s champions Jan. 26. Nova Scotia’s Owen Purcell and Que- bec’s Felix Asselin joined the Canadian men’s curling championship field by winning their respective provincial finals Sunday. Purcell, who defeated Kendall Thompson 8-5 in Halifax, will make his debut as skip at the Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, B.C. Asselin’s 9-3 victory over Robert Des- jardins in Alma, Que., marks the return of his third and former Canadian champ Jean-Michel Menard to the Brier. Purcell and Asselin were among the first provincial and territorial represen- tatives determined for the 18-team field Feb. 28 to March 9 in Kelowna. Six-time champ Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., has already punched his Brier ticket as defending champion. Teams skipped by Brad Jacobs, Mike McEwen and Matt Dunstone pre-qual- ified for the event based on their rank- ings at the end of the 2023-24 season. Jacobs, a Canadian, world and Olympic champion, took over as skip of Brendan Bottcher’s Alberta-based team before the season began. Thomas Scoffin was crowned Yukon’s champion earlier in January. Shane La- timer will represent Nunavut a second straight year. The Brier field will be complete Feb. 9 when the Alberta and Manitoba men’s champions are crowned. — The Canadian Press Early provincial winners set for national curling championships ;