Canadian Dominique Maltais won a silver medal in women’s snowboard cross event Sunday, bringing Canada’s total medal count to 14 at the Sochi Olympics.
Maltais, who hails from Petite-Riviere-St-Francois, Que., finished second behind the Czech Republic’s Eva Samkova on Sunday at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park.
France’s Chloe Trespeuch, who made her Olympic debut, finished third in the event.
“It’s good revenge for Vancouver,” said Maltais on Sunday. “I wanted to prove to the world that I could do better than in Vancouver.”
For 33-year-old Maltais it’s her second medal in the event after winning a bronze at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
This was the second medal of the day for Canada after Calgary’s Jan Hudec won the bronze in the men’s alpine skiing super-G, tying American Bode Miller.
GALLERY: Images of the women’s snowboard cross at the Sochi Olympics
READ MORE: Jan Hudec wins bronze medal for Canada in men’s alpine super-G
Maltais reached the finals after a thrilling finish in the semis, where she narrowly dodged American Lindsey Jacobellis who fell ahead of her.
Defending Olympic champion Maelle Ricker, of West Vancouver, B.C., crashed in the quarter-finals finishing 21st.
Qualifying for the snowboard cross event saw some scary moments as two snowboard cross riders were taken off the course on stretchers Sunday.
Twenty-one-year old Jackie Hernandez of the U.S. was approaching the end of the course when she was briefly knocked unconscious after slamming her head into the snow.
Hernandez’s crash happened moments after Helene Olafsen of Norway fell to the ground clutching her knee and was taken off the course on a stretcher.
The day’s injuries and crashes follows Saturday’s devastating injury to Russian skicross racer Maria Komissarova who had to undergo a 6 1/2-hour operation after fracturing her spine during a training run.
Get breaking Olympics news delivered right to your inbox, sign up for Global News email alerts
Comments