Whistlerite Mercedes Nicoll was among six British Columbia athletes named to the 2010 Canadian Olympic snowboard team by Canada-Snowboard on Monday (Jan. 25).
Nicoll, who also competed at the 2006 Games in Torino, Italy, will compete on her home hill in the halfpipe, joining 17 other Canadians named to compete in halfpipe, snowboardcross, and parallel giant slalom.
B.C. placed the most athletes on the team. Ontario and Quebec each have four team members.
“The team we have for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games is solid, experienced, dynamic and ready to compete for gold, at home, in our backyard. The riders we have selected deserved to be selected following years of hard work, and stellar results in the year leading up to the Olympic Winter Games,” Christian Hrab, director of high performance for Canada~Snowboard, said in a statement.
Joining Nicoll on the team are five others from B.C., including two from Squamish: Robert Fagan (snowboardcross) and Justin Lamoureux (halfpipe). Also on the team are Maelle Ricker (snowboardcross), who currently calls West Vancouver home but who has lived in both Whistler and Squamish, along with Drew Nielson (snowboardcross) of North Vancouver. Richmond's Alexa Loo (parallel GS) is the sixth B.C. athlete.
Rounding out the women’s team are Caroline Calve (parallel GS), Sarah Conrad (halfpipe), Dominique Maltais (snowboardcross), Palmer Taylor (halfpipe) and Kimiko Zakreski (parallel GS).
Also joining the men’s team are defending world champion Jasey-Jay Anderson (parallel GS), Jeff Batchelor (halfpipe), Francois Boivan (snowboardcross), Michael Lambert (halfpipe), Matthew Morison (parallel GS), Brad Martin (halfpipe) and Mike Robertson (snowboardcross).
Whistlerite Tim Milne is the snowboardcross coach. Whistler’s Marilyn Hellier is the team’s head physiotherapist, and Whistler’s Vas Moro is also part of the physiotherapy team.
Olympic snowboarding competitions are scheduled to take place on Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver.
