Disgruntled Bilodeau aside, Canada soars in men’s freestyle skiing

The prospects for a Canadian Olympic medal in freestyle moguls and halfpipe skiing look very good after a weekend of World Cup events in Calgary.

In the moguls competition on Saturday, Canadian men and women captured two medals each, although Alex Bilodeau of Montreal was a little ticked with his second-place finish behind teammate Mikael Kingsbury of Deux-Montagnes, Que.

The source of Bilodeau’s annoyance remains unknown. Bilodeau, the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal on home soil at the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Games, refused to be interviewed on the hill and blew off a scheduled conference call after his event.

He relaxed a little on Twitter, albeit in cryptic fashion.

Vicki Hall of the Calgary Herald says a familiar Olympic irritant — judging — may be the reason.

In women’s moguls, Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal edged out the acknowledged Olympic favourite, Hannah Kearney of the United States, for gold, while Justine’s older sister Chloe won the bronze.

On Friday, Justin Dorey of Vernon, B.C., Noah Bowman of Calgary and Matt Margetts of Penticton, B.C., finished in that order in the men’s half pipe. As Hall writes, the sweep was even more impressive because Mike Riddle of Sherman Park, Alta., the 2011 World Cup champion, sat out the event to rest a bruised foot.

The Canadian freestyle team heading to the Olympics in Sochi next month will be named Jan. 20. Most of the scrutiny that day will focus on the selections for the men’s halfpipe, which is expected to have four slots available and five men — Simon d’Artois of Vancouver finished fifth Friday — in the mix.

The Olympic biathlon team, meanwhile, is already set.