🎾Tennis: Canadian tennis has a new champion! Leylah Annie Fernandez won her first career WTA title yesterday in straight sets over Viktorjia Golubic (pronounced GO-LUH-BICH) in the Monterrey Open. The 18-year-old didn’t drop a single set the entire tournament.

• And starting today, Fernandez and OG champ Bianca Andreescu will look for more  victory in the Miami Open. Follow along here.

🏀NBA: March is not Nick Nurse’s month. Not only has the Toronto Raptors’ head coach had to watch his team lose eight straight (dating back to February 26th), but after an outburst directed towards an official in which he threw his face mask on Friday night, Nurse was fined $50k. Salt on the wound. 

• In non-Raptor news, LA Laker LeBron James is out indefinitely with an ankle sprain he sustained in Saturday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks, and Charlotte Hornets rookie LaMelo Ball is out indefinitely with a fractured wrist. The injury bug is out for blood.

🎿Skiing: Oh, you want more Canadian champs news? We got you. Freestyle skier Rachael Karker won her first career World Cup event in the halfpipe yesterday, while Brendan Mackay took home a silver medal in the men’s event. 

🥌Curling: Talk about déjà vu. In a rematch of last year’s final, skip Kerri Einarson led Team Canada to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts victory for the second straight year, beating former champ Rachel Homan and Team Ontario last night.

🏒PWHPA: Team New Hampshire beat Team Minnesota in the first-ever pro women’s game at Madison Square Garden. But really, didn’t we all win? Check out the highlights and then mark your calendar for the next one: this weekend in Chicago.

🏒NHL: The highly anticipated showdown between Toronto Maple Leaf Auston Matthews and Edmonton Oiler Connor McDavid started on Saturday and...Matthews sat out with a wrist injury (though the Leafs still won 4–0). Fingers crossed he’ll be back in the line-up for tonight’s rematch at 10 p.m. ET.

🎿Ski cross: The ski cross World Cup wrapped up in Georgia (the country) over the weekend, where Canadians Courtney Hoffos and Chris Del Bosco won silver in the inaugural mixed team event, while Jared Schmidt won bronze and Reece Howden clinched the men’s overall title. Is it Beijing yet?

🏀NBA: Okay, so the Toronto Raptors don’t compete on ice, but they did get iced yesterday when their game against the Chicago Bulls was postponed. Thanks to COVID-19 protocols, the Raps didn’t have enough players to fill an eight-man roster, so they’ll try again at a later date.

🎿Skiing: The first women's World Cup slalom event of 2021 took place in Croatia over the weekend, and legend Mikaela Shiffrin came within 0.27 seconds of her 100th podium. Close but no cigar. Her fourth place finish was still admirable though, in a rain-soaked slalom that her greatest rival, Petra Vlhová, won instead.

• Meanwhile, Canadian Erin Mielzynski had her best showing in five years: a fifth place finish. Amazing.

🏀NBA: We’re five games into the new season, but our beloved Toronto Raptors, who a mere year-and-a-half ago were on top of the basketball world, have managed to eek out only one win so far. We’re not panicking yet, but if they can’t pull out a W against the Boston Celtics at 7:30 p.m. ET tonight, we might just start.

• In other news, Canadian superstar Jamal Murray and his Denver Nuggets, who made the Conference Finals just four months ago, are hanging around the bottom of the Western Conference. Yeesh.

🏒NHL: As the World Juniors wind down, the NHL is winding up for their January 13th start. But — and it’s a big but — the Canadian division still doesn’t have the all-clear, despite the federal government waiving the mandatory 14-day quarantine for players returning to Canada.

• Alberta and British Columbia have approved games to be played in their provinces, but Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba are still weighing the risks, as teams like the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to host games amidst local lockdowns. Time’s a tickin’.

🎿Skiing: American Mikaela Shiffrin is back on the slopes...and the podium. The two-time Olympic gold medalist hadn’t competed in 300 days since her father’s death in February, marking her longest-ever break from the sport, but she returned to the World Cup circuit this weekend, finishing second place in Saturday’s slalom event in Finland, and fifth in yesterday’s run.

💪UFC: Talk about a sister act. Valentina and Antonina Shevchenko became the first sisters to compete on the same card (meaning they both had fights in Saturday night’s event) at UFC 255. The Russian-Peruvian sisters from Kyrgyzstan each won their fights, too, with younger sister Valentina defending her UFC Women's Flyweight title. Their parents must be so proud!

⚽️MLS: Our favorite soccer news from this weekend wasn’t that the New England Revolution and Nashville SC made it through the MLS play-in round, or that Sporting KC beat the San Jose Earthquakes in dramatic penalties, or that the Orlando City SC–NYC FC referee crew was sidelined after some poor (but kind of entertaining) officiating.

• Nope, our favorite news was hearing that Kathryn Nesbitt was named the MLS Assistant Referee of the Year, the first woman to ever earn the recognition. Nesbitt also made herstory in the MLS Is Back tournament earlier this year when she became the first woman to officiate an MLS final. It can’t be an easy job, but she does it so well.

Two-time Olympian Dara Howell is truly amazing. At the ripe age of 19, Dara won a gold medal at the debut of slopestyle skiing at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. No big deal! Dara competed in the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics before being sidelined in late 2018 with a season-ending knee injury. Now she’s back with a fresh perspective, a fresh podium finish at the most recent World Cup and...Dara wants to become the best freestyle skier in the world. 

Lexie at The GIST (TG): Okay slopestyle skiing. You’re essentially tossing yourself off of cliffs and doing jumps while on sticks. How did you get into it? Were you a daredevil as a kid?

DH: I was always a daredevil! *Dara chuckles* My mom always thought I would go to the Olympics in something, but she never knew which sport because I was always doing different things. 

Growing up, my family owned a small family resort in Huntsville, ON (Pow Wow Point Lodge). My parents had it for 27 years, and my grandparents owned it for 25 years, so skiing was very much a part of my family. My granddad is actually still a skier, and he just turned 96. He still skis at 96! 

It was always in my nature to be adventurous. My older brother and I were always outside and active, plus we basically grew up on the water living in Huntsville.

I think my parents just kind of threw me on skis around 18 months old because my brother was already into it *Dara chuckles*.

c/o Dara Howell

LH: That’s so amazing. How did you get into slopestyle, especially given it was a new Olympic sport for Sochi 2014?

DH: I grew up ski racing and figure skating from an early age, those were my two biggest sports. I eventually quit those. I thought ski racing was too disciplined. And, it was cold! *Dara laughs* And figure skating I enjoyed, but I really just loved the jumps, and I wasn’t as good at the dance component. So when I decided to stop around the age of 15, my dad told me I had to get a job, so I became a Level 1 ski instructor at Hidden Valley in Huntsville and taught little kids. Then, on my off time I would hang out with my ski friends in the park (Editor’s note: the “park” is where all the jumps, half-pipes, etc. are), and got connected to doing tricks there.

Slopestyle skiing is basically downhill racing combined with the jumping aspect of figure skating, so it’s weird how it’s all come full circle and led me to this wild path.

TG: It was meant to be! In 2014, you won Gold at the inaugural Olympic slopestyle skiing event in Sochi, Russia, which is just unreal — what were your feelings going in?

DH: Going into Sochi 2014, I was hungry. I was fighting so hard because I believed in myself so much and just wanted to do the best that I could do...and I knew anything was possible. I was definitely the underdog. I wasn’t really on the radar as someone who would win and it wasn’t supposed to be my time.

So there was no real pressure, no one really knew who I was, and I was just set on what I was doing. 

I wasn’t going to let anything stop me from achieving what I knew I was capable of. 

And, my family just bought in 100%. They have always supported me and told me I can achieve whatever I put my mind to. So I came in with no expectations, other than just wanting to do my best.

I look back on it now as a blessing. At the time, it was frustrating and hard. Luckily my family was amazing and supported me.

TG: That’s unreal, but I know it wasn’t easy for you and your feelings towards winning have been complicated. Can you talk about your relationship with winning the Gold medal, and where you’re at now? 

DH: It’s definitely better. I’ve really put in the work in myself, and my skiing. And I have a bit more perspective as I get older. I now appreciate my medal more, and what my family and community did to help me get that medal. I definitely was not bitter towards it, but I had some feelings after the Olympics. I think as you get older, you learn more about yourself, and to appreciate things more. I would never take my medal for granted, it’s taught me so much about myself, both good and bad, and it’s given me so many opportunities.

TG: How important is working on, and prioritizing, the mental aspect of being an athlete? What does your physical and mental workout regime look like?

DH: The mental side is huge! I think for any athlete it is. For me personally, I’m throwing myself off of massive jumps. So, the mental side is massive because of what you’re putting your body through. And I think that’s what really makes a good athlete ⁠— having that strong mental game. I really work at allowing myself to process and properly think things through. I try to be a very smart athlete. I listen to my gut a lot and learning to trust yourself is a really important thing. The stronger you are mentally, the better athlete you are. And the more prepared you are for success.

I work with a sports psychologist and I love it. She helps me become more aware of my thought process and what I need to do to bring the tension down. Just being more aware of what’s going through your brain and making changes as you go so that you are in a healthy mindset, that will really help you be successful. 

TG: So, you’re coming off of a HUGE bronze medal at your first World Cup appearance since your season-ending knee injury in October 2018. What was that like?

DH: Honestly it was pretty wild! I tore my ACL last year in my first contest of the year, and that kind of put things on a different path for me. So coming back a couple of weeks ago with a podium finish was pretty special to me.

I think before I left for it, my dad was telling me, “expectations, not too high!” Obviously my expectations were still going to be high, but it actually went better than even I was planning. I surprised myself a little bit. Now it’s go time, and I have to find a way to keep building off of that. 

TG: That’s awesome. Now, what’s next for you? What are you working toward?

DH: I’m just focused on coming back strong. I want to be the best athlete that I can be. I don’t want to let the injury take over. Going through last year, I had to think about whether or not I was going to come back, and why I was going to come back. 

I love skiing, love pushing myself, and now...I want to be the best. And I know that’s a pretty bold statement, but I really feel if I continue to work hard and be smart, that’s a real possibility for me.

So going into this season I want to be smart with my expectations, but push myself to get on the podium. I really want to push myself in Big Air, that’s really where I see a lot of potential for me (Editor’s note: Big Air is generally one large jump versus slopestyle which is a series of jumps and tricks on a short course). I love to jump, and it’s a new discipline. It’s got this fun, intense vibe about it. Do those words even go together? *Dara laughs*  But that’s where I’m at. I want to go to X-Games. I’m going to China for a competition soon. I just want to have fun, and set myself up for success. And it’s really important to have fun, because good things happen when you do.

TG: Absolutely. That’s what sports are really all about! You’ve also launched Dara’s Women Into Sports Fund. Can you tell us more about it and why it’s important to you?

DH: Yes! My family and I started “Dara’s Fund” a few years ago. I grew up in a small community where I had a lot of support. But in a small community, it’s especially hard to find the right facilities to excel in sports. You often have to travel for the sport, and there are a lot of extra costs versus in a larger city where the resources are more accessible. So, it was important for us to give back to the Muskoka community and encourage more girls to get into sport, and help them know they can succeed and excel. Coming from a small community shouldn’t hinder young athletes, especially young girls, in any way and actually with the right support, you should be even more setup for success.

It’s really cool to see the amount of girls that apply to the fund, and all of the different sports they play ⁠— it’s really inspiring. There is a fencer that has the potential to go to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and it’s so amazing to see. If we can help support them in any way possible, even in the smallest way, that’s amazing.

It’s important for me to give back when so many people have helped, and continue to help, me along my journey. So this fund really stems from that, and now I want to be able to pay it forward and help other female athletes.

TG: That is incredible, Dara! So awesome you’re doing that. 

TG: Okay, let’s end on some rapid-fire questions.

TG:  If you could be an athlete at Summer Olympics, what sport would you want to compete in?

DH: Trampoline!

TG: So on brand for you! What are you binge watching right now?

DH: Oh my gosh I watch everything on Netflix. I just watched Supergirl — it was good!

TG: Who is your favourite athlete?

DH: Lindsey Vonn

TG: Do you believe in aliens?

DH: No!

TG: Ooh controversial! What stereotypical millennial item do you splurge on the most?

DH: Almond milk cappuccino

TG: What’s your all-time favourite concert?

DH: Dierks Bentley. I’m a country girl!

TG: Looking at your Instagram, when can we expect your pro career in golf to start?

DH: Hopefully tomorrow! *Dara laughs* I’m going for the longest drive after I’m done skiing. I’m going to get my ski coach to be my golf coach, he actually does both!

That's #thegistofit

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