Calgary, AB. (Feb 18, 2024) — Jeff Read (Canmore, AB) skied to a second-place finish in the men’s downhill in Kvitfjell, NOR, on Sunday morning, capturing the first FIS Alpine World Cup podium finish of his career, continuing a strong weekend for Canadian men’s ski racing, after Cameron Alexander (North Vancouver, BC) finished third in the downhill on Saturday.
After matching his previous World Cup career best with a sixth-place finish in the downhill, Read kicked it up a notch, storming out of the start sporting the third bib and putting down a time of 1:09.40, landing him in the leader’s seat until Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria came down with the eighth bib.
“The stars aligned, it’s a track that I love and have some speed on, and the skiing was just right today, and I ended up with a good clean run, good enough for second, not quite enough speed to catch Kriechmayr in first, but it was a really tight race, and I’m really stoked to end up on the podium.”
Krichemayr, who sits second in the FIS World Cup super-G ranking, won the shortened race in a time of 1:09.23, while Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt, the discipline leader, and Italy’s Dominik Paris tied for third, finishing two one-hundredths of a second behind Read’s mark.
“This is a track that is definitely one of our best, if not for sure our best,” Read said post-race. “There is something about the snow, I think, being a bit similar to home, and terrain that we’re really comfortable on, and we have a lot of confidence, so it kind of clicks every time we’re here, and it’s nice to finally be able to capitalize on it for myself.”
Starting with the 20th bib, Alexander posted yet another positive result for himself in Kvitfjell, a place where he has reached the podium twice prior. His time of 1:09.44 landed him just 0.02 seconds from a three-way tie for third.
“I’m very happy with how I skied today, and I was able to execute my plan for the most part all the way down. Its tough to be so close to the podium, but that’s just racing sometimes, and I can look back on today and be proud of my result,” Alexander said.
“I’m very happy for Jeff; the potential to do it has been there for a while for him, so to see him put it together is awesome and just goes to show how strong a group we have with him being the fourth member of our team to secure a World Cup podium.”
With the podium finish and significant success on the penultimate speed weekend of the 2023-24 World Cup schedule, Read was able to push his ranking to seventh in the discipline, cracking the top 25 and qualifying him for the final race of the season in Saalbach, AUT.
Alexander, ranked 20th in super-G after Sunday’s race, will also compete at the World Cup finals and will be joined by fellow Canadian Jack Crawford, 12th, who was one of 10 skiers to ski out of the gates in Sunday’s super-G.
Aside from two Canadians in the top five in the event, Riley Seger (North Vancouver, BC) finished 42nd, just ahead of Kyle Alexander (North Vancouver, BC), who finished 43rd. Brodie Seger, (North Vancouver, BC) rounded out Canadian finishers in 47th.
While the next and final speed races don’t come until March 14-17 in Saalbach, Canadian men’s skiers are back in the gates for giant slalom and slalom events in Palisades Tahoe, USA from Feb. 24-25, and Aspen, USA from March 1-3.
Canada had no women competing at the FIS Ski World Cup women’s super-G at Crans Montana, SUI.
Next races: (link to FIS Calendar)
- Women’s alpine head to Val di Fassa, ITA for two SG Feb. 24-25
- Men’s alpine is in Palisades Tahoe, USA for GS and SL Feb. 24-25
- Ski cross head to Reiteralm, AUT for races Feb. 24-25
- Para-alpine move to Hopfgarten, AUT and race SL on Feb. 27-28
Follow Canada’s Ski Team this season on Alpine Canada’s website, across our social media accounts and subscribe to our newsletter.
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Mark Halliday
Alpine Canada
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