Kelsey Serwa

Kelsey Serwa (born September 1, 1989) is a retired Canadian freestyle skier who was a member of the Canadian national ski cross team. She won a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and a silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. She is the 2011 FIS World Champion and two times Winter X Games champion. In addition, she has won a bronze medal at the 2010 X Games.

Kelsey Serwa

Kelsey Serwa in Calgary (2014)
Personal information
Nationality	Canadian
Born	September 1, 1989 Kelowna, British Columbia
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)
Website	kelseyserwa.com
Sport
Country	Canada
Sport	Freestyle skiing
Club	BC Ski Cross
Team	Canadian Ski Cross Team
Achievements and titles
World finals	Gold Medal at 2011 World Championships in Deer Valley
Olympic finals	Silver Medal at 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi Gold Medal at 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang
Highest world ranking	3rd in Ski Cross World Cup (2009, 2011)
Medal record Women's freestyle skiing Representing  Canada Olympic Games 2018 Pyeongchang Ski cross 2014 Sochi Ski cross World Championships 2011 Deer Valley Ski cross Winter X Games 2011 Aspen Ski cross 2016 Aspen Ski cross 2010 Aspen Ski cross

Competitive career

Serwa won a national championship in 2009 at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, defeating world champion Ashleigh McIvor.[1] Serwa won her first world cup event on January 13, 2009 at the Alpe d'Huez course after these finals were canceled on the 2009–10 Freestyle Skiing World Cup.[2] Serwa won her first outright world cup race later that season at Lake Placid on January 24, 2010.[3]

At the 2010 Winter X Games two weeks before the Olympics, Serwa managed to win a bronze at the famous cash event, fellow countrywoman Ashleigh McIvor had finished second.[4] Serwa was a member of the Canadian Olympic team that competed in Vancouver in her home province of British Columbia. Serwa's bronze at the Winter X Games and third overall ranking on the world cup put her in as a medal favourite at the Olympics in Vancouver. She advanced to the semi-finals, but finished third in her heat and did not make the medal final. However, she competed in the "small final", which she won, finishing fifth overall.

During the next season Serwa won the gold at the X Games with a dramatic finish flying 150 feet in the air and crashing out badly injured, but the champion.[5] Serwa carried her X Games winning momentum into the 2011 World Championships. There she qualified as the fourth fastest skier, Serwa then went on to finish first in the final ahead of teammate Julia Murray.[6] With the victory she completed the seasonal sweep of the two biggest ski cross events in the world.

On February 21, 2014, Serwa won silver in women's ski cross during her second Olympics, finishing behind gold medalist and Canadian teammate Marielle Thompson.

Serwa suffered a training accident in December 2016 and considered retirement from ski cross, but ultimately returned to the sport following knee surgery. She subsequently earned a place on Canada's ski cross team for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.[7] Serwa went on to win the gold medal in women's ski cross, with her teammate Brittany Phelan winning the silver medal.[8]

On July 4, 2019, Serwa announced her retirement from competitive ski cross, after ten years on the national team.[9]

Personal life

Serwa's grandfather, Clifford Jack Serwa, was a co-founder of the Big White Ski Resort, and later a longtime member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia representing Okanagan. Serwa married Stan Rey, a retired competitive ski cross athlete, in 2019. She began studying kinesiology at the University of British Columbia at Okanagan.[10]

World Cup results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[11]

Season standings

Season	Age	Overall	Ski cross	Cross Alps Tour
2009	19	12	3	N/A
2010	20	11	4	N/A
2011	21	7	3	N/A
2012	22	29	9	N/A
2013	23	19	4	N/A
2014	24	73	17	N/A
2015	25	did not compete		N/A
2016	26	31	8	N/A
2017	27	134	24	17
2018	28	27	7	6
2019	29	32	8	N/A

Race Podiums

• 8 wins – (8 SX)
• 20 podiums – (20 SX)

Season	Date	Location	Discipline	Place
2008–09	5 January 2009	St. Johann in Tirol/Oberndorf, Austria	Ski Cross	3rd
	20 March 2009	La Plagne, France	Ski Cross	2nd
2009–10	13 January 2010	Alpe d'Huez, France	Ski Cross	1st
	24 January 2010	Lake Placid, USA	Ski Cross	1st
	12 March 2010	Grindelwald, Switzerland	Ski Cross	1st
2010–11	18 December 2010	Innichen, Italy	Ski Cross	2nd
	12 January 2011	Alpe d'Huez, France	Ski Cross	1st
	16 January 2011	Les Contamines, France	Ski Cross	2nd
	13 March 2011	Branas, Sweden	Ski Cross	2nd
	19 March 2011	Myrkdalen-Voss, Norway	Ski Cross	2nd
2011–12	17 December 2011	Innichen, Italy	Ski Cross	1st
	18 December 2011	Innichen, Italy	Ski Cross	1st
2012–13	23 December 2012	Innichen, Italy	Ski Cross	1st
	15 January 2013	Megève, France	Ski Cross	2nd
	19 February 2013	Sochi, Russia	Ski Cross	1st
2013–14	21 December 2013	Innichen, Italy	Ski Cross	2nd
2015–16	20 December 2015	Innichen, Italy	Ski Cross	2nd
	28 February 2016	Bogwang, South Korea	Ski Cross	2nd
2017–18	7 December 2017	Val Thorens, France	Ski Cross	3rd
2018–19	20 January 2019	Idre, Sweden	Ski Cross	3rd

Olympic results

• 2 medals – (1 gold, 1 silver)

Year	Age	Ski Cross
2010 Vancouver	20	5
2014 Sochi	24	2
2018 Pyeongchang	28	1

World Championships results

• 1 medal – (1 gold)

Year	Age	Ski Cross
2009 Inawashiro	19	5
2011 Deer Valley	21	1
2013 Voss	23	DNS^[a]
2015 Kreischberg	25	did not compete
2017 Sierra Nevada	27
2019 Solitude Mountain	29	5

a. ¹ Kelsey Serwa suffered a knee injury in the training and was unable to compete in the race.[12]

References

1. "Kelsey Serwa & Dave Duncan Crowned this years Canadian Champions at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary". Pacific Sport. January 13, 2010. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
2. "Canadians Savour Long Awaited Wins". Toronto Star. January 13, 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
3. "Double gold for Canada in skicross". CBC News. January 24, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
4. "Canadian ski cross team takes 5 of 6 podium spots". Vancouver Sun. January 31, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
5. Gary Kingston (February 2, 2011). "Serwa hurtin' but good as gold". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
6. "Del Bosco, Serwa win ski cross worlds". CBC Sports. February 4, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
7. "Canada's Marielle Thompson looks to cap improbable comeback in women's ski cross". CBC Sports. February 21, 2018. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
8. "Canada's Kelsey Serwa wins gold, Brittany Phelan grabs silver in women's skicross at Winter Olympics". The Globe and Mail. February 22, 2018.
9. Spencer, Donna (July 4, 2019). "Canada's Kelsey Serwa retires from ski cross as reigning Olympic champion". CBC Sports.
10. MacNaull, Steve (November 28, 2020). "Catching up with the Okanagan's favourite Olympic gold medalist". Kelowna Now.
11. "Kelsey Serwa". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
12. "Ski acrobatique: le Canada survole les Mondiaux". lapresse.ca (in French). La Presse. Retrieved February 23, 2018.

External links

• Kelsey Serwa at the International Ski Federation
• Kelsey Serwa at the Canadian Olympic Committee
• Kelsey Serwa at the International Olympic Committee
• Kelsey Serwa at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• CBC Sochi 2014 profile
• Alpine Canada profile