MONTREAL – No less than eight Quebecers have been selected by Snowboard Canada as part of the team of 19 snowboarders who will represent the country at the Beijing Winter Olympics in the four disciplines on the program.

Thus, Laurie Blouin, Maxence Parrot and Sébastien Toutant will be there in Slopestyle and big jump; Arnaud Gaudet, will be parallel giant slalom; Eliot Grondin and Audrey McManiman will compete in snowboard cross; while Elizabeth Hosking will be at the halfpipe. Halfpipe coach Brian Smith is the other Quebecer who is part of the delegation.

As with most Winter Games disciplines, COVID-19 has presented its own set of challenges to the qualifying series on the World Cup circuit and at other major venues. Some disciplines had to extend their qualifying period due to a large number of event cancellations while other disciplines kept the original period.

Parrot had already qualified for the slopestyle/high jump team based on his results during the 2020-21 winter season. The rest of the men’s team, including Mark McMorris, who will be in his third Olympics, vied for the last three spots at stake.

McMorris will try to become Canada’s first three-time Olympic medalist in snowboarding, having finished third on the slopestyle podium in Sochi and Pyeongchang. Toutant will want to defend his Olympic title with a big leap.

Canada has won 11 Olympic medals in snowboarding (four gold, four silver and three bronze), including Blouin’s and Parrot’s silver medals in slopestyle in South Korea.

The snowboard events will be contested from February 5 to 15 at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou and Shougang Jump Venue in Beijing.

Here is the full list of selected athletes and coaches:

Half Moon

Brooke D’Hondt (Calgary, AB)

Elizabeth Hosking (Longueuil, QC)

Derek Livingston (Aurora, ON)

Michael Slaughter Jr. (Mountain Home, Arkansas), Coach

Brian Smith (Saint-Sauveur-des-Monts, QC), Coach

Parallel giant slalom

Megan Farrell (Richmond Hill, ON)

Arnaud Gaudet (Montcalm, QC)

Hannes Mutschlechner (San Vigilio di Marebbe, Italy), Coach

Ingemar Walder (Innervillgraten, Austria), Coach

Slopestyle / Big Jump

Jasmine Baird (Georgetown, ON)

Laurie Blouin (Quebec, QC)

Mark McMorris (Regina, SK)

Maxence Parrot (Bromont, QC)

Darcy Sharpe (Comox, BC)

Sebastien Toutant (L’Assomption, QC)

Brooke Voigt (Fort McMurray, AB)

Adam Burwell (Regina, SK), Coach

Elliot Catton (Collingwood, ON), Coach

Chris Witwicki (Calgary, AB), Coach

Snowboard Cross

Zoe Bergermann (Erin, ON)

Tess Critchlow (Big White, BC)

Eliot Grondin (Sainte-Marie, QC)

Kevin Hill (Vernon, BC)

Audrey McManiman (St-Ambroise-de-Kildare, QC)

Liam Moffatt (Truro, NS)

Meryeta O’Dine (Prince George, BC)

Jake Holden (Halton Hills, ON), Coach

Maëlle Ricker (West Vancouver, BC), Coach