Calgary, Alta. (February 14, 2023) — Canada beat the #1 and the #2 seeded countries on its way to a bronze medal in today’s team parallel at the 2023 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Courchevel and Méribel, France. This is Canada’s third medal at these world championships, and Canada’s first medal in the team parallel since a silver at the world championships in 2015.

Racing for Canada in the team parallel today were Britt Richardson (Canmore, AB), Erik Read (Canmore, AB), Jeffrey Read (Canmore, AB) and Valérie Grenier (St-Isidore, ON).  This is a first world championship medal for the Read brothers, as well as for Richardson and Grenier.

Competing in a bracket style competition under a bright blue sky, and a hot sun, on the bottom of the Roc de Fer track in Méribel, Canada opened by sweeping the four races against Slovenia. Canada’s opponent in the quarterfinals was #1 seed Switzerland. After the four races, the competition was tied at two victories each. Canada secured the win due to its two best times bettering the Swiss’ two best times.
Canada fell to the eventual gold medalists the USA in the semis, to move into the small final against the #2 seeded Austrians. With Canada down 2 to 1, E. Read stood at the top of the hill needing to win his race, and to cross the finish line in under 23.47 seconds. With his teammates cheering from the finish, Read won his race in under 23 seconds to secure the bronze medal for Canada.

“It’s pretty cool to come away with a world championship medal,” said E. Read. “Standing in the start, I knew that I had to win but I didn’t know about the time requirement. I had a good mix of nerves and excitement and when I came across the finish line and wasn’t sure if it was enough. I looked around and these guys started cheering and I knew then that we’d got a medal.”

“This is just the best way to start my world championships,” said Richardson, competing in her first ever world championship race. “I couldn’t think of a better way to do it, and with such a fun and supportive team it’s amazing. It was so cool to be out there racing with this group.”

“It was a fantastic day, so great to get a team result,” said Mark Tilston, Men’s Team Head Coach. “The four athletes really pushed, and risked, but skied technically well. It’s special that it’s a team win, because teamwork is a strength of this group. The athletes and the staff are an amazing group of people who always come out and give their best. It’s great to see them get a world championship medal. Really excited for everybody.”

“Today was such a wonderful representation of the teamwork that it takes to be successful” said Women’s Team Head Coach, Karin Harjin. “We usually see only one athlete on the podium, but there’s always a team supporting them. Other athletes, coaches, techs, physio, everyone plays an important role and today was a great depiction of the teamwork that is required to stand on the podium.”

Championship racing continues on Wednesday February 15th with the individual parallel and wraps up with the men’s slalom on Sunday February 19th.  For more information on the world championships, including the full schedule, please visit the FIS website at fis-ski.com.

CBC Sports will be providing extensive coverage of these world championships. To learn more, please visit CBC Sport at cbc.ca/sports/Olympics.

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About Alpine Canada

Alpine Canada is the governing body for alpine, para-alpine, and ski cross racing in Canada, as well as for Canadian ski coaches, providing education, certification, insurance, and compliance with the coaching code of conduct. With the support of valued corporate partners and donors, along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee, and the Coaching Association of Canada, Alpine Canada develops Olympic, Paralympic, World Championship, and World Cup athletes to stimulate visibility, inspiration, and growth in the ski community.