After ‘hardest year’ of her life, Canada’s Hosking lands halfpipe bronze in Calgary

Canada's Elizabeth Hosking competes during the women's World Cup snowboard halfpipe event in Calgary, Alta., Friday, Feb. 21, 2025.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Bouncing back from a concussion that sidelined her for more than a year, Elizabeth Hosking served notice Friday of her intention to compete for a medal at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

Under the lights at Winsport’s Canada Olympic Park, Hosking, of Longueuil, Que., won bronze in women’s World Cup snowboard halfpipe.

The 23-year-old burst into tears in the finish area, burying her face in her hands.

“It’s incredible,” she said, over the din of the home crowd. “This whole year was a grind for me.

“This was the hardest year of my life.”

Hosking, 23, loves taking risks at high elevations, while striving to make every trick look easy.

On her third-and final run Friday, she did just that for a score of 79.25.

“Just to be Canadian out here with all the energy — I could hear the crowd from up top,” she said. “I was really trying to block it out.”

Sena Tomita, of Japan, won gold with 90.75 points. Maddie Mastro, of the United States, claimed silver with 85.25 points.

By reaching the podium, Mastro locked up the 2024-25 World Cup Crystal Globe as the overall points leader. Her American teammate Chloe Kim, ranked No. 2 in the world, did not compete in the Calgary event.

Prior to Friday, Hosking’s best finish of the year was ninth in the season-opener in China.

“To finish the season on the podium is really crazy,” she said. “I’m really proud of myself.”

That pride comes from knowing the depths of what she endured after suffering a concussion during training in the fall of 2023.

“Initially, I lost consciousness when it happened,” she said. “I spent a night in the hospital in Austria. So it was definitely a scare.”

So many times, the concussion symptoms appeared to subside, only to come back again.

“Any other injury, you can see it,” she said. “You can see a scan. You can see an X-Ray. You know what you’re dealing with and what’s going on.

“But with the brain, it’s just day to day. It could be going really good. And then you do a test, and it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re going down again.’”

At age 16, Hosking was the youngest athlete on the Canadian Olympic team at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang. She finished 19th. Four years later, she soared to sixth place on the Olympic stage at Beijing 2022.

Next up, she hopes, is Milan-Cortina 2026 — a destination that appeared out of reach on some of those dark days with no timeline for the concussion symptoms to finally subside.

“It was really, really hard having to be on the sidelines for a whole year,” she said. “But I guess knowing deep down what my goal is, that’s what I lived for.

“And I think it really came true this season at that first competition in China. I was like, ‘I’m home.’ That was the feeling I got, knowing all the hard work was worth it.”

In men’s snowboard halfpipe Friday, Japan’s Ruka Hirano won gold with 93.00 points. Yuto Totsuka, of Japan, captured silver with 89.75 points. Alessandro Barbieri, of the United States, claimed bronze with 83.25 points.

World Cup snowboard action resumes Saturday at Winsport with men’s and women’s slopestyle.

-- Vicki Hall

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2025