Both Hallie Clarke and Josip Brusic wrapped up their skeleton campaigns on a high note on March 23, winning their respective Canadian Championships races.
Clarke flew through two runs in a combined one minute and 49.53 seconds, edging out national team veteran Jane Channell in second (1:49.56). Rounding out the ladies' top three was Laura Vargas (1:52.15).
"It was a really close race. I only won by three-hundredths [of a second] ahead of Jane, and that makes it really fun racing," said Clarke. "We also have so many new recruits, and it was really special to see all of their first Canadian Championships runs."
Brusic had a slightly more sizable lead on the men's field en route to gold (1:48.64). Kyle Murray netted a silver medal (1:48.86) and Mark Lynch clocked in for bronze (1:49.52).
"First run was a tied personal best [at 54 seconds]," Brusic noted. "Second run fell off a little bit, but it was still a great day in general."
A total of 17 men and nine women dropped in from atop the Whistler Sliding Centre (WSC) on Sunday, with four more using the lower start gate at Corner No. 3.
Six athletes—Massimo Ardizzoni, Emily Bateman, Zander Greco, Julia Hamilton, Maddy Parra and Simon Salisbury—were born in 2007, the year the WSC first opened. With two-time Olympian and 15-time World Cup medallist Mirela Rahneva announcing her retirement in December, a changing of the guard is truly afoot.
"It's so great to see so many athletes that are young and hungry and excited to take the next step in the sport," remarked national team manager and technical coach Micaela Widmer.
Pursuing excellence
In addition to typical podium fare, Canadian skeleton racers have a new in-house accolade to vie for: the Pursuit of Excellence Award. Jesse Plante, who finished 12th, became the first individual to receive such a distinction.
Widmer elaborates: "Tracy and Richard Crutchley have been supporting our program for years [as volunteers], but this year we wanted to make it more official and we collaborated in making the Pursuit of Excellence award. It is to go to an athlete who really demonstrates one of our national skeleton program's values: the relentless pursuit of excellence.
"Jesse exhibits this every day with his dedication. He has one of the highest run volumes of the year [among] first-year sliders, and he's always there with a positive attitude. He takes feedback really well and overall, he has just brought a level of excellence to the program. We wanted to recognize him for that."
Clarke and Brusic both describe Plante as a man brimming with work ethic who drives those around him to be better. In their opinion, he earned the award "100 per cent" and will continue to be an asset to the program.
By all indications, Team Canada is growing in both size and momentum. Widmer feels the group has "the most positive start house it's had in years"—a sentiment echoed by multiple people at Saturday's team dinner. She credits the newcomers with infusing fresh energy into the fold.
"Skeleton is a tough sport to learn, it's a tough sport to coach," said Widmer. "You're outside for hours on end in the cold. We are passionate about this sport, and so to see these younger athletes coming in and thanking us for that, it's amazing. Coaching can sometimes be a thankless job. [Kevin Boyer, head coach Joe Cecchini] and I do it because we love the sport and we want to share that love with as many athletes as possible."
A welcome offseason respite awaits the Canadians, but much more work lies ahead. Clarke feels lessons learned from a seventh-place World Championships outing in early March will help her regain the historic title she won at that same event in 2024, while Brusic remains locked in to improve as one of his nation's top threats.
"Take nothing for granted," he said. "You don't owe anything to anyone, and every day you have to show up and take it for yourself."
