Ottawa, Feb 9 (IANS): Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper has congratulated Justine Dufour-Lapointe and her sister Chloe on winning gold and silver, respectively, in the women’s freestyle skiing moguls competition at the Winter Games in Sochi.
Harper also congratulated Mark McMorris Saturday for his bronze in the men’s snowboard slopestyle event, reports Xinhua.
“On behalf of all Canadians, it is with both pleasure and tremendous pride, that I congratulate Justine Dufour-Lapointe, her sister Chloe Dufour-Lapointe and Mark McMorris on winning our first medals of these Olympic Games,” he said in a statement.
Harper said that once again Canadian athletes have shown that they can take on the world and win.
“The remarkable results today are a testament to their expertise, dedication and boundless Canadian spirit,” he said.
Justine, born and brought up in Montreal, won Canada’s first gold in Sochi and Canada’s second gold in the event. The first was won by Jenn Heil at the 2006 Turin Games.
This is Justine’s first medal in her first Olympics. She was the 2013 World Championship bronze medallist in moguls and has previously finished second in both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 World Cup moguls.
Chloe won her first medal in her second Olympics. She was fifth in moguls at the 2010 Vancouver Games and has previously won a gold in dual moguls at the 2013 World Championships, a silver in dual moguls at the 2011 Worlds and was named the 2008 World Cup Rookie of the Year.
Mark McMorris was born in Regina where he also currently resides. This is his first medal in his first Olympics. In snowboard slopestyle competitions, he has taken home the gold at both the 2012 and 2013 Winter X Games in Aspen in addition to winning a silver at the 2011 Winter X Games.
He also won the Snowboard World Championship silver in 2013 and another silver medal at the Winter X Games Europe in Tignes in 2012 and 2013.
Canada is represented by more than 221 athletes competing in 15 disciplines at the Sochi Games which are being held from Feb 7-23.
