Tyler Turner, Sandrine Hamel lead Canada to quadruple medal performance at Para snowboard World Cup

BIG WHITE, B.C. – With the Paralympic Winter Games just over a month away, Canada’s Para snowboarders carved paths to four podiums this past weekend at the third stop on the World Cup circuit.

Snowboard cross events were held on Saturday and Sunday. Tyler Turner of Campbell River, B.C., led the charge with gold on Saturday and a silver on Sunday. Meanwhile Sandrine Hamel of St-Sauveur, Que., earned her first medals in two years with two bronze medal performances.

Turner, the reigning world and Paralympic Games champion in the event, took his first victory this season in five World Cup races. In addition to Sunday’s silver he also garnered a silver and bronze in the banked slalom events last month in Kuehtai, Austria.

In Saturday’s men’s lower limb 1 (SB-LL1) race, Turner beat out his two American rivals Noah Elliott and Mike Schultz in the four-man final.  Elliott turned the tables on the Canadian star with Sunday’s win while Schultz was third again.

In both those races, Chase Nicklin of Port Alberni, B.C., reached the final for fourth place each time. They were career-best results for the 21-year-old on the circuit.

In the women’s LL2 snowboard cross races, Hamel stepped on the podium for the first time since a bronze in banked slalom at the March 2024 World Cup in Mount Sima, Yukon. It was her first snowboard cross medal since February 2022.

It was the same top-three in both races with American riders Kate Delson and Brenna Clegg winning gold and silver.

Hamel and Nicklin also combined forces for Canada’s fourth place in the team event.

In the men’s LL2, Alex Massie of Barrie, Ont., and Philippe Nadreau of Blainville, Que., were seventh and 11^th on Saturday. Neither raced on Sunday.

The fourth and final stop on the circuit is next Monday and Tuesday at Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Following Sunday’s races, Turner, Hamel, Massie, Nicklin and Nadreau were all nominated to the Paralympic Winter Games team. The Games are March 6-15 in Mano Cortina.