Three different women's winners in the three Red Bull Crashed Ice races this season provides ample testimony to the increasingly competitive women's Ice Cross Downhill World Championship. Amanda Trunzo of the United States is leading the pack and up against two Canadians, Jacqueline Legere and Myriam Trepanier, for the championship that will be settled in the season finale in Ottawa, Canada.
Trunzo, a former college hockey player at Dartmouth, could win the 2016/17 championship if she finishes first or second in Ottawa while defending champion Jacqueline Legere, who also works as a stuntwoman, is currently in second place overall but could win back-to-back titles if she wins and Trunzo finishes third or worse.
Trepanier, a former college hockey player who helped the University of Minnesota Duluth win the 2008 national championship, could also climb from third place overall to first with a victory in Ottawa if Trunzo finishes third or worse.
Legere got her title defense off to a strong start with an impressive victory in the season-opener in Marseille, France on a remarkable race track built into the Mediterranean city's famous harbor. Thanks to powerful cooling machines and technology advances that made it possible to make and preserve ice in such a warm weather climate, the Marseille race proved that the world's fastest sport on skates, where athletes hit 80 km/h while barreling down obstacle-filled ice tracks four-at-a-time, can be held virtually anywhere. Trunzo took second while Trepanier was fourth behind American Sydney O'Keefe.
Amanda Trunzo (left) and Jacqueline Legere (centre) were on the podium at the season opener in Marseille. Will one of them be celebrating a title win this weekend or can Myriam Trepanier steal the glory? Photo: Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool.
Trunzo then moved into first place at the second race of the season in Jyväskylä-Laajis, Finland with a clear-cut victory down the only natural ice track of the season, a grueling 630-meter long track ahead of Finland's Camilla Ojapalo in second and France's Sandrine Rangeon in third. Legere had an off-night and ended up fifth while Trepanier failed to make it even to the semi-finals and had to settle for ninth place.
But Trepanier, a passionate skater and skier, bounced right back with a victory in the third race of the season in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was Trepanier's second career victory after she also took first place at the Quebec City race in 2015/16. Trunzo could have clinched the championship with a win in Saint Paul and she was indeed leading the field at one point late in the race before crashing on one of the final jumps, which left her fourth in the race but still in the overall lead.
Trunzo has 2,300 points out of a possible 3,000 for the three Red Bull Crashed Ice races while Legere is within striking range in second overall on 1,810 points and Trepanier just 20 points back on 1,790. O'Keefe is in fourth place overall with 1,410 points.
Watch it Live
Red Bull Crashed Ice Ottawa will broadcast LIVE on redbullcrashedice.com and Red Bull TV on March 4th at 8.30 PM EST (1:30 AM GMT).
Red Bull TV is available on connected TVs, gaming consoles, mobile devices and more. For a full list of supported devices visit about.redbull.tv.
If you miss the event or simply want to watch all the action again, the replay will be available on demand a few minutes after the event.