Canada’s Evan McEachran wins slopestyle silver at World Cup in Austria

Canada’s Evan McEachran won silver in the men’s slopestyle on Sunday at the freestyle skiing World Cup in Stubai, Austria.

It was the first World Cup medal for the 20-year-old from Oakville, Ont.

“It’s been a pretty amazing weekend, to say the least,” said McEachran. “It’s a huge weight off of my shoulders, especially being an Olympic qualifying year it’s really stressful to get a podium. This is my first podium in four years (on the national team) so it feels insane and I am just excited to go ski for myself. I think I’ll be able to put down much better runs in the coming events.”

Alex Bellemare, from St-Boniface, Que., was the only other Canadian athlete in the finals. He finished eighth.

On the women’s side, Elena Gaskell of Vernon, B.C., was ninth while Kim Lamarre of Lac-Beauport, Que., admitted she was somewhat disappointed with her 10th-place showing, but said she came away with the good elements she will capitalize on in the next competition.

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“It’s not what I wanted, but it’s still a good result for my Olympic qualification. I’m in a better position than I was before the Stubai event,” said Lamarre. “I made a few mistakes in my runs. Without those I would have made the final lineup. But I’m okay with the result and will build on it, because there were lots of positive elements this week.”

Quebec City’s Alex Beaulieu-Marchand decided it would be prudent to skip the World Cup in Stubai and take a few days off before the Dew Tour to rest a sore knee.

“I hurt my knee last summer in New Zealand, but just two weeks before the World Cup I was still trying to ski at 100 per cent,” he said. “Then I realized that my knee pain was keeping me from skiing my best. I thought it would be a good idea to rest so that I can fully recover in time for the next competition.”

A second skier, 2014 Olympic gold medallist Dara Howell, from Huntsville, Ont., also withdrew from this first event of the season after a minor injury sustained during training in Stubai.

The Canadian Press