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“Unfortunately, I wasn’t, but now I will do my best to medal for Canada at the 2026 Italian Winter Olympics.”
Richardson is ranked Alberta’s fastest 18-year-old giant slalom skier and second in the world and has lately been competing with fellow Canadian team members in Europe.
Her mother Lynne Richardson, who grew up in Edmonton, was on Alberta’s ski team and competed in World Cup races before an acute injury.
Lynne studied at the University of Alaska, where she met and married fellow student and ski racer Grant Richardson, from New York’s Greek Peak ski resort.
“Canmore seemed the perfect place for a family home. My parents settled there, and today own and operate a physiotherapy clinic.”
Richardson, who when younger won both the Under-14 and Under-16 Alberta championships and a slalom championship in 2019, says two of her biggest fans are her Edmonton grandparents, Ivan and Mary Agnes Radostits.
“They were both good skiers, and my first race for many seasons was at Edmonton’s Rabbit Hill Ski Resort,” she says. “My grandpa was always there to support me.”
Says her grandpa: “Britt’s ambition was always to ski race at the world’s highest level. She is now living her dream.”
“I will be cheering for my Olympic teammates this week as they show the world what Canada can do,” she says.
In the pink
A group of hockey moms and their female friends have formed an organization that plans to support many local causes, beginning with the Lois Hole Hospital Women’s Society.
“Our idea is to build a better sense of fellowship and community among all women who support their hockey-playing children while also reaching out to other women to join us,” says Jill Fragle, president of the Women’s Community Society, founded by the group last summer
The society is an off-shoot of the Canadian Athletic Club (CAC), formed in 1937 by community league members who recognized a need for young athletes to play in a more competitive environment.
Fun, creative ideas abound in the group, and one had moms bring suits their hockey-playing sons had outgrown to a sale last year.
“Families that ranged from having Under-13 AA team players to Under-18 AAA team members answered the call,” says society vice-president Kim Corbett. “The suits sold at very competitive prices, with monies going back to donating families.”
Through the season last year, all 10 CAC hockey teams selected a Player of the Month, while a successful Christmas Market supporting the Lois Hole Women’s Society, attracted hockey mums and the public at large.
Games in February are themed as Hockey Loves Mums and Special Women in their Lives.
Games will have a Pink at the Rink theme, with players donning pink hockey jerseys donated by Canuck Technologies.
To the rescue
Stratford’s Adam Luther stepped in with four days’ notice Saturday to sing the lead role of Rodolfo in Edmonton Opera’s production of Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme at the Jubilee Auditorium.
The opera, which premiered in 1896, is one of the world’s favourites and the tear-jerking duet sung by bohemians Rodolfo and Mimi opera fans say is one of the most moving ever written.
“We reached out to Adam, who last sang for us as Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute in 2015. He also sang the role of Rodolfo for Against the Grain Theatre, a bar in Toronto, and at Minnesota Opera with Miriam Khalil, who plays our Mimi.”
Says Luther: “It’s been five years since I’ve sung this role, so getting the music back into my brain and the vocal line back into my body has been quite the adventure. But when the music is so beautiful, it’s one that brings you a lot of satisfaction.”
The opera runs Feb. 8 and 11 with advanced safety protocols, including the offer to audience members of free KN95 face masks.
Source: EdmontonJournal
