Canadian snowboarder Elizabeth Hosking wins World Cup gold in Calgary

Canada's Elizabeth Hosking competes during the women's World Cup snowboard halfpipe event in Calgary, Alta., Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY — Elizabeth Hosking became the first Canadian snowboarder to win a women’s World Cup halfpipe on home snow Saturday evening.

The 24-year-old from Longueuil, Que., also earned her first career World Cup victory.

Hosking’s score of 82.5 points on her first of two runs stood up for the win under the lights in WinSport’s superpipe in Calgary.

“This is so, so crazy,” Hosking said. “To get a World Cup win is insane. Doing it on home soil is such a special feeling.”

Hosking’s attempt to improve her score on her second pass was thwarted by a fall. She waited for two more women to finish before she slapped her gloves to her helmet in celebration.

“You never know what the girls are going to throw down,” Hosking said. “For sure, going into that second run, I wanted to better my score to solidify. Unfortunately couldn’t do that, I fell, so going to have to work on that for sure.

“Knowing that I was on the podium was special, but not knowing if I could stay in first was definitely some different nerves I’ve never felt before.”

Hosking finished third in Calgary last year after missing a full season with a concussion suffered during off-season training in 2023.

“Now this year, it’s just getting my feet under me and building that confidence going into the Olympics,” said Hosking, who won a silver medal at the 2023 world championship.

Shaotong Wu of China was second Saturday with a score of 77.25. Isabelle Loetscher of Switzerland was third with 76.

Hosking solidified her victory with a front-side 900 (two-and-a-half rotations) for her final element of her first pass down the 160-metre long pipe.

Calgary’s Brooke D’Hont was fifth and Calgary’s Felicity Geremia placed seventh among the women.

Australia’s Valentino Guseli won the men’s halfpipe ahead of runner-up David Habluetzel of Switzerland and bronze medallist Patrick Burgener of Brazil.

No Canadian men qualified for the final. Calgary’s Liam Gill was the top Canadian in 17th.

Japan’s streak of 30 straight men’s World Cup podiums in halfpipe came to an end Saturday.

Calgary’s halfpipe was the third World Cup of the season after the opener in China and the second stop in Copper Mountain, Colo., in December.

American star Chloe Kim, who will attempt an Olympic women’s halfpipe three-peat in February, didn’t compete in Calgary.

Japan’s Sena Tomita and Maddie Mastro of the U.S., who were first and second respectively in Calgary last year ahead of Hosking, were also no-shows Saturday.

But the Canadian, who placed sixth in the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, was stoked to stand atop the podium Saturday to the cheers of a home crowd.

“It definitely builds the confidence to prove to myself I can do it in the hard moments under pressure,” she stated.

Hosking heads to Aspen, Colo., on Sunday for the next World Cup there Jan. 7-9, where she want to further hone her form for the Olympic Games that open Feb. 5 in Milan and Turin, Italy.

“Snowboarding is super-competitive. The girls coming up are very strong,” she said. “Going into the Olympics, I just need to remember to be me and ride like me and not try to beat anyone else, but just try to focus on me and what I can do and that’s when I ride my best anyways.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 3, 2026.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press