In terms of sport ice cross racing is still very much in its infancy.
Red Bull staged the first official ice cross downhill race in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2001. The track was 300 meters long and it was constructed right along a series of city streets. The ice the event organizers used was sourced from a local fish market.
It would take several years for women to join the sport at the top level.
In fact when Canadian Jacqueline Legere began here ice cross career there were only races in Canada.
Legere qualified for the Red Bull Crashed Icerace in Quebec City in 2011, making her debut at the event.
Ice cross finally expanded to a few races stateside before finally joining the guys with races around the world.
That was 2016, and Legere would emerge as World Champion.
“It was the first time for a Women’s World Championship,” said Legere.
. During the 2015-16 Crashed Ice season, Legere earned a podium finish in every race except for one, finishing in fifth place in Quebec City. Her first win of the season took place in January in Munichbeating fellow Canadian Myriam Trepanier, who finished in second.
In the final race of the season, held in St. Paul, Minnesota, she finished first in the race, resulting in a first place overall rank in the world rankings.
It was a big moment for the Canadian skater who had been part of the growth of ice cross for women.
“I never thought I’d travel the world with a sport,” she said. “... I’ve gotten to travel to some really cool places.”
Interestingly, why getting to globe trot to compete, Legere said she prefers racing in Canada.
“Definitely racing closer to home because more family and friends get to come out,” she said upon reflection of her favourite places to race, pointing to races in Ottawa and Quebec City first.
“And I really liked Japan and Fenway Park.”
The tour stop at the venerable baseball stadium home of the Boston Red Sox was the first time Red Bull Crashed Ice had built a course in a stadium setting.
“It was definitely a different vibe. It was really cool being in a stadium,” said Legere.
So, for those unfamiliar with ice cross, four competitors wearing hockey skates race down an inclined sheet of ice at speeds of up to 80 kilometres an hour while maneuvering hairpin turns, jumps and the flailing arms of the other racers.
For Legere, a hockey player in her youth, the attraction to the sport was a natural.
“I’ve done a big mix of extreme sports,” she said, adding ice cross tends to bring together elements of other sports she loves, with hockey topping the list. “... It was something I really wanted to try. It really intrigued.”
One trip down the course, which Legere said was “less technical” back then and she was hooked. “I loved it.”
Today courses have evolved to be more technical in general with individual courses having their quirks.
“Each course has kind of a different style,” said Legere adding she likes the technical aspects, although she, like all elite athletes in the sport trains for various aspects of a course. Training includes the obvious of flat ice skating but also includes inline skating skateboard parks too.
For Legere the training has paid off. After winning the inaugural women’s championship in 2016, she repeated in 2017, then finished second in both 2018 and 2019, before being crowned the 2020 champ based on points after the season was cut short due to COVID-19.
While Legere said she would have loved to skate for the most recent championship she added “I worked really hard last season” to accumulate the points and lead the pack when the season ended.
The sport has definitely grown in the last decade plus, especially for women.
“When I started no one even knew women skated. We were never on TV. Now we have a full series. We get TV time,” said Legere.
And she sees bigger things for ice cross ahead, including the founing in 2015 of the All Terrain Skate Cross (ATSX) Federation to promote and set up rules and guidelines for downhill sports on skates around the world.
There have been talks about ice cross in the Winter Olympics.
There is now a junior division, and in the US kids are ice cross racing, all of which are positives, said Legere.
“There’s been some good momentum the last few years,” she said.
In the short term however, Legere 28, just hopes they can get back to racing in 2021, so she can defend her most recent championship.
