Dara Howell headed to Olympics for the second time

Freestyle Canada, the national organization that oversees the sport and selects the athletes for Canada’s Olympic team, announced today that Huntsville native Dara Howell will be part of the team heading to PyeongChang, South Korea, for the 2018 Olympics. Howell was the first woman to earn gold when slopestyle skiing made its official debut at the Olympics in Sochi, Russia in 2014. She was just 19 at the time.

She’ll be joined by fellow Canadian female freestylers Kim Lamarre, who won Silver at Sochi, and Yuki Tsubota, who qualified at Sochi but crashed in the finals. (See the full 2018 Olympic Freestyle Team here.)

In a conversation with Doppler last fall, Dara said that she’s been more focused than ever before after taking some time off from the sport to regroup following her gold medal win.

“I probably am enjoying it a lot more than I used to,” she said. “Skiing hard, training hard, working hard. I’ve been through a lot over the last few years so to finally be at this stage and feel happy and excited… just taking advantage of the opportunity that is there, making myself proud, making my family proud. It’s really fun.”

Dara’s parents, Dee and Doug Howell are thrilled that she’ll be returning to the Olympics. “Very excited for Dara. She has worked really hard to earn an Olympic spot,” said Doug. “Dee and I are so proud of her and overwhelmed by the community support for Dara.”

The Women’s Slopestyle qualifier and finals in PyeongChang will be held on February 17, 2018 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. (8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET). It’s certain that many Huntsville eyes will be tuned in to the broadcast.

In 2014, the Muskoka Ski Club and Hidden Valley Highlands Ski Area (HVHSA), where Dara learned to ski, held a middle-of-the-night viewing of the 2014 Sochi Olympics slopestyle qualifiers and finals. The Members’ Lounge at the club erupted into cheers and a few tears when Dara won gold. The club will hold a similar event this year, says HVHSA’s Communications and Events Manager, Courtney Payne — stay tuned for details.

Fans at Hidden Valley Highlands Ski Area erupt into cheers as Dara Howell wins gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics (Photo: Hidden Valley Highlands Ski Area)

Huntsville has a second local connection to this year’s Olympics. Chris Kelly, who helped the Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 2011, was one of 25 players named to Team Canada’s Men’s Olympic hockey team on January 18. He bought property in the Huntsville area in the fall of 2017. Kelly played 13 NHL seasons with the Bruins and the Ottawa Senators, and has been playing with the Belleville Senators this season on a professional tryout agreement.

Canada’s men’s hockey team won the gold medal at the past two Olympics, in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014.

Chris Kelly (Photo: nhl.com)

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