Weekend Roundup: Canada clinches short track team Crystal Globe, Appiah matches career-best in Lillehammer
It was another thrilling weekend for Team Canada athletes as they continued to make their mark on the road to Milano Cortina 2026.
In short track speed skating, the Canadian Ice Maples claimed the inaugural ISU Team Crystal Globe while William Dandjinou wrapped up his season with one more win and the men’s Crystal Globe.
Cynthia Appiah secured a career-best result in women’s monobob at the IBSF World Cup in Lillehammer, while Melissa Lotholz and Skylar Sieben slid to the podium in the two-woman event. Over in Calgary, Rachael Karker thrilled the home fans watching the ski halfpipe World Cup.
But that’s not all. Read on for all the highlights you might have missed.
Short Track Speed Skating: Canada and Dandjinou capture Crystal Globes
Canada won the inaugural ISU Team Crystal Globe, finishing as the top nation in the first season of the ISU Short Track World Tour which concluded in Milan, Italy. Counting results from every race this season, the Canadian Ice Maples topped the final standings with 8731 points—1812 more than the second-place Dutch Lions.
READ: Canada wins team Crystal Globe, Dandjinou caps World Tour season with 1000m gold
William Dandjinou wrapped up the World Tour with a victory in the men’s 1000m on Sunday. But the day before, he had mathematically clinched the Crystal Globe as the top overall men’s skater on the circuit, dethroning two-time winner Park Ji-won of South Korea. Dandjinou is Canada’s first ever Crystal Globe winner.
Canadians collected two more medals on Sunday, bringing the team’s season total to 37. In the mixed relay, Danaé Blais, Florence Brunelle, Félix Roussel, and Jordan Pierre-Gilles won the silver after a video review elevated them from third place. Dandjinou, Roussel, Pierre-Gilles and Maxime Laoun closed out the day with silver in the men’s 5000m relay.
There were also a few near-podium finishes. After being involved in a crash in the women’s 1000m final, Blais settled for fourth place. Dandjinou was fourth in the men’s 500m. And the women’s 3000m relay also finished in fourth place.
Bobsleigh: Two podiums in World Cup season finale
Cynthia Appiah equalled her career best result as she took second place in women’s monobob at the IBSF World Cup in Lillehammer. Appiah finished 0.15 back of the winner, Bree Walker of Australia. After posting the second-fastest time in the first run, Appiah was able to hold her position over Germany’s Lisa Buckwitz—who claimed the Crystal Globe for the season—by 0.01 following the second run.
This is Appiah’s first podium of the season. Her only other runner-up result as a pilot came in November 2022 on the home track in Whistler.
After finishing seventh in monobob, Melissa Lotholz drove her two-woman sled with brakeman Skylar Sieben to a third-place finish. While it is Lotholz’s 20th career podium in World Cup and/or World Championship competition, it is her first as a pilot. The Canadians broke up a German podium sweep, finishing 0.02 ahead of fourth place.
It was a last minute crew change that put Sieben in Lotholz’s sled. All season, Lotholz has been racing with Leah Walkeden, but after battling illness during the week, Walkeden decided on Sunday to sit out in the hopes of giving Canada a good chance at a podium.
This was the eighth and final IBSF World Cup stop of the season. The athletes will now head to upstate New York where the IBSF World Championships will get underway in Lake Placid on March 6.
Ski Halfpipe: Karker grabs podium position in Calgary
It was a big night under the lights in the Calgary halfpipe as Rachael Karker capped off the 2024-25 FIS Freeski World Cup season with a third-place finish. Scoring 87.00 points on her third run, Karker pushed teammate Cassie Sharpe off the podium and into fourth place. Sharpe’s best score had been 86.50 on her second run in the final.
Karker now has 16 career World Cup podiums, which includes seven in Calgary dating back to 2019. Two other Canadians made it to the women’s final, with Dillan Glennie finishing sixth and Amy Fraser placing seventh. In the men’s final, Brendan Mackay secured a fifth-place finish, while Andrew Longino finished ninth overall.
Hockey: Canada to face USA in 4 Nations Face-Off final
Team Canada played two intense games at the 4 Nations Face-Off this weekend, culminating with the Canadians locking up their spot in Thursday’s championship game against Team USA.
Canada took on the archrival Americans for the first time in the tournament on Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal. To say that emotions were running high amongst both players and fans would be an understatement—the game featured three fights in the first nine seconds.
Team Canada struck first as Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the tournament, but the next two goals belonged to Americans Jake Guentzel and Dylan Larkin. With a score of 2-1 heading into the last minutes of play, Team Canada pulled goaltender Jordan Binnington for the extra skater to no avail, as Guentzel notched an empty netter to secure the U.S. victory and a spot in the championship game.
On Monday, Team Canada faced Team Finland in a must-win game at Boston’s TD Garden. Team Canada came out swinging with two goals in the first five minutes of play. Once again, McDavid started the scoring for Team Canada, followed by a goal from Nathan MacKinnon. Brayden Point added another goal to put Canada up 3-0 through the first period.
The second period saw MacKinnon score his second of the game off of an assist from Team Canada captain and fellow Nova Scotian, Sidney Crosby. The fourth goal by the Canadians spurred Finland to make a goaltending change, swapping Kevin Lankinen for Juuse Saros.
It was over halfway through the third period that Finland finally got themselves on the board with a goal by Esa Lindell. Sending Saros to the bench for the extra attacker in the final minutes of play, the Finns mounted an epic final offensive, with Mikael Granlund scoring twice within the last two minutes to make it a one-goal game. But Crosby got the empty netter to secure the 5-3 win.
Team Canada will take on Team USA in Boston on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Alpine Snowboard: Career best 4th for Moisan in Val Saint-Comê
The Canadian Alpine Snowboard Team thrilled the home fans in Val Saint-Comê, Québec during two days of PGS racing amidst heavy snowfall.
On Sunday, 20-year-old Aurelie Moisan advanced to the Small Final, finishing fourth overall. It is her best ever World Cup result, surpassing the 10th-place finish she recorded the day before. Moisan won gold at the 2024 FIS Junior World Championships. She wasn’t the only Canadian woman to get out of the qualification round on Saturday, as Kaylie Buck finished 11th overall, which is a career best result for her.
Two Canadian men made it to the quarterfinals on Saturday, as Ben Heldman and Arnaud Gaudet finished seventh and eighth, respectively. That is a career best result for Heldman, while for Gaudet, it is his best ever PGS World Cup result. Heldman followed up with a 10th-place finish on Sunday.
Snowboard Cross: Top 5 for Grondin in Cortina d’Ampezzo
After being unable to finish his semifinal heat, Eliot Grondin won the small final to finish fifth overall at the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Fellow Canadian Liam Moffatt was penalized in his semifinal and finished eighth overall.
In the women’s race, three Canadians made it to the quarterfinals, with Meryeta O’Dine finishing 10th, one spot ahead of Tess Critchlow. Audrey McManiman finished 13th.