Laurie Blouin

Laurie Blouin (born April 7, 1996) is a Canadian freestyle snowboarder. She is the reigning FIS World Champion in slopestyle, winning the gold at the 2017 World Championships.[1] Blouin won a silver medal in slopestyle at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Laurie Blouin
Personal information
NationalityCanadian
Born (1996-04-07) April 7, 1996
Quebec City, Quebec
Height5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Weight140 lb (64 kg)
Sport
CountryCanada
SportSnowboarding
Event(s)Big Air
ClubYves Martineau
Medal record
Women's snowboarding
Representing  Canada
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2018 PyeongchangSlopestyle
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2017 Sierra NevadaSlopestyle
Gold medal – first place2021 AspenBig air
X Games
Gold medal – first place2019 AspenBig air
Silver medal – second place2020 AspenSlopestyle
Bronze medal – third place2020 NorwayBig air
Bronze medal – third place2021 AspenSlopestyle
Bronze medal – third place2022 AspenSlopestyle
Bronze medal – third place2023 AspenBig air

Career

Blouin was an entrant at the 2017 FIS World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain. In the final of the slopestyle event, she scored a 78.00, holding off silver medalist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, who scored 77.50.[2] She also finished 1st in qualifications and 6th in the final at the Big Air event. Blouin credited the "vibe" and atmosphere of Sierra Nevada for her world championship, saying, "I was not that stressed because the weather is so incredible here [and] the vibe is so fun. Before I dropped [in], I was super focused, and I told myself I was just going to drop [in] and just have fun."[2]

Building on her world championship Blouin went to the 2018 Winter Olympics as a strong medal hopeful. Those hopes seemed to be dashed when she crashed hard in training after her snowboard cut a rut and had to be carried off the slope on a stretcher.[3] Teammate Mark McMorris would later say of her injury that "She whacked her noggin pretty good and cut up her face."[4] Defying the hard fall, Blouin had her name on the rider list for Sunday's qualifying runs. High winds delayed the qualifying; instead, the final would be two runs for all the female athletes the next day. In the final, high winds continued, but the finals were not called off, controversially, as many riders would fall in the buffeting winds. Blouin, sporting a black eye from her crash, also fell on her first run. She overcame these plights and ran a clean but easier attempt on the second run. On her third and final jump, she only tried a cap single cab underflip instead of a double. This clean run was enough for her to win the silver medal behind American Jamie Anderson. Blouin acknowledged her difficult situation, but despite it all said after that, "Now I'm here in second place, I just don't believe it. It's a dream come true."[4]

Blouin made her World Cup debut at her home resort in Stoneham, Quebec, in February 2012. Her first World Cup podium came when she finished second in slopestyle at the New Zealand Winter Games in August 2015. She claimed another World Cup silver at Seiser Alm, Italy, in January 2017. Blouin wrapped up her 2016–17 season with a slopestyle victory at a World Snowboard Tour event, the Grandvalira Total Fight, in Andorra. Blouin won a slopestyle silver medal at the X Games in Aspen on January 25, 2020.

In January 2022, Blouin was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team.[5][6][7]

References
  1. "Canadians sweep halfpipe titles at freestyle worlds". CBC Sports. February 5, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
  2. "Canadian snowboarder Laurie Blouin wins slopestyle world title". CBC Sports. March 11, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  3. "Canadian Olympic snowboarder Laurie Blouin carried off on stretcher". Rogers Sportsnet. February 9, 2018.
  4. Paul McGaughey (February 12, 2018). "= Snowboarder Laurie Blouin fights off injury, controversial course to win slopestyle silver". CBC Sports. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  5. Nichols, Paula (January 19, 2022). "19 snowboarders nominated to Team Canada for Beijing 2022". www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  6. Dichter, Myles (January 19, 2022). "'Strongest team in all of snowboarding': Canadian squad named for Beijing Olympics". www.cbc.ca/. CBC Sports. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  7. "Toutant, McMorris, Parrot, Blouin return as Canada's Olympic snowboard team announced". Canadian Press. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. January 19, 2022. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
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