Cassie Sharpe

Biography

Cassie Sharpe dominated the competition at PyeongChang 2018 to win gold for Canada’s first Olympic medal in women’s ski halfpipe. After taking the lead on the first final run, she laid down an even better second run, earning a score that couldn’t be beaten. 

Sharpe added a silver medal in her second Olympic appearance at Beijing 2022, sharing the podium with bronze medallist teammate Rachael Karker as they produced one of two double podiums for Team Canada at those Games.

Sharpe announced her arrival as a major podium threat when she won silver in her debut at the FIS World Championships in 2015. Because the timing conflicted with the Winter X Games, her success was discounted by many who felt that she hadn’t competed against the world’s best halfpipe skiers. But Sharpe proved she was no fluke by winning her first World Cup gold medal just a couple of weeks later against a full field in Tignes, France. 

In January 2016, Sharpe made her X Games debut with a fourth-place finish in Aspen. She unknowingly competed with a stress fracture in her back that had occurred in December 2015 but wasn’t diagnosed until an MRI after the event. Wearing a back brace to hold everything together, she went on to win X Games gold in Oslo in late February. 

Returning to Tignes, France in March 2017, Sharpe earned her second career World Cup victory. While attempting a new trick during qualifying, she hit the deck and badly broke her thumb. She taped it up to compete in the final and after securing the gold medal became the first woman to ever land a switch cork 720 in competition. She later had surgery to reconnect the ligament and remove a bone fragment in her thumb. 

Sharpe dominated the 2017-18 World Cup season, recording victories in three of the four events in which she competed to win the Crystal Globe for halfpipe. She added a gold medal at the Dew Tour and a bronze medal at the X Games in Aspen.

She was just as impressive in 2018-19, winning three World Cup medals, including two gold, to again claim the Crystal Globe for halfpipe. She won her second career silver medal at the world championships and captured the gold medal at the X Games in Aspen. 

Sharpe competed in just one World Cup event in the 2019-20 season but took a familiar spot atop the podium. She added a bronze medal at the X Games in Aspen. Sharpe returned to the X Games in 2021 and won the silver medal. But during her third run down the pipe, she took a hard fall and tore her ACL. She underwent surgery in February and spent the summer doing rehab. After getting back into competition in December 2021, she finished fourth at the Dew Tour and at the World Cup in Calgary. 

A Little More About Cassie

Getting into the Sport: Started skiing at age 11 and was immediately competitive with her two brothers… In 2004 her parents enrolled her in Bumps and Jumps at Mount Washington and she started competing in moguls, aerials and slopestyle… Won her first halfpipe competition in 2012, hooking her on that discipline… Outside Interests: A massive bookworm who travels with books of all shapes and sizes… Always has a deck of cards and at least four other games that she forces teammates to play with her… Enjoys hiking, camping and berry picking in the off-season… Would like to be a movie stuntwoman after her skiing career but has also discovered a passion and talent for home renovations… Odds and Ends: Favourite motto: You don’t have to be perfect to be amazing!… Role model is Sarah Burke for everything she did as a pioneer and lobbyist of halfpipe skiing… Younger brother Darcy is also a member of the 2022 Olympic Team, competing in snowboard slopestyle and big air…