Calgarian Kerri Muir wins the women's division at the 2010 Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship in Quebec City
Photo courtesy Red Bull Crashed Ice
QUEBEC CITY, Que. (March 20, 2010) Rising above the field of 120 skaters from 15 nations and 32 heats were brothers Kyle and Scott Croxall of Toronto, Ont., who turned Red Bull Crashed Ice 2010 into a family affair, taking home first and third place. In the women's field, the first-ever 2009 female champion, Kerri Muir of Calgary, Alta., earned bragging rights for the second year in a row with another first place victory.
Martin Niefnecker of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, earned the title of Red Bull Crashed Ice World Champion after accumulating a total of 1,800 points from his tour stops in Munich (Jan. 16), a first-place victory, and his second place finish in Quebec City.
More than 120,000 fans witnessed 64 male and 16 female daredevils hurtle to the bottom of a colossal urban ice track that wound, curved and ripped half a kilometer through the streets of Old Quebec. Red Bull Crashed Ice is like a combination of hockey, downhill skiing and boardercross: the first one to cross the finish line wins.
"Competing against my little brother has been amazing," said Kyle Croxall. "He took the third place spot that I had last year and I couldn't be prouder of him. If he beat me, I wouldn't have cared. I'd just be so proud of him like he is for me." And only the second-ever female winner of Red Bull Crashed Ice proved once again women can rock the ice in 2010.
"I'm so happy, but I don't know how I did it," said Muir. "I feel like I blacked out and somehow just stayed on my feet. The second time around was just so much sweeter because the competition was just that much better!"
Following the Croxall brothers (Kyle, first; Scott, third) and the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Champion Martin Niefnecker who placed second, was Louis Philippe Dumoulin of Blainville, Que., who took home a fourth place finish. This year's Women's Division once again heralded the fastest women on skates. Following Kerri Muir's lead was Megan Vermillon of Edmonton, Alta., in second place, Kailee Ryan of Calgary in third, and fourth-place Salla Kyhala of Saskatoon, Sask. The top four finishers in each division skate away with not only bragging rights, but took home $5,000, $3,000, $1,500 and $500 respectively.
Taking in the action was Canadian Vancouver 2010 Olympic gold medallist (Skeleton), Jon Montgomery, who is considering trading in his now famous sled for skates.
"I think this would be something I would definitely want to do," said Montgomery. "I brought my skates just in case there was an outside chance I might actually get to go down the track!"
