Alpine Canada Alpin – Calgary, Alta. (February 13, 2016) – Canada Ski Cross is back in action after a few weeks of hiatus on the World Cup circuit. The team is in Idre Fjall, Sweden for the first-ever World Cup ski cross race in this location. 

It was another great day for the team who captured two more World Cup podium finishes. Whistler, B.C.’s, Marielle Thompson and Montreal, Que.’s Chris Del Bosco, both finished the day in second-place. It was a tough battle for both Thompson and Del Bosco as they fought to make it through each round on this new World Cup track. Del Bosco went into the big finals with the first-place red bib and just missed out on a first-place finish. Del Bosco currently sits in third-place in the World Cup rankings. Thompson was fourth out of the gate in the final round but managed to fight her way into a second-place finish, holding her overall second-place World Cup ranking. 

“This track is a little different than some of the others on the World Cup circuit. It has a long straight away with big jumps and lots of rhythm sections,” says Thompson of the new venue and course. “The start was challenging but I’m very happy with my second-place finish. I’ll be looking for more tomorrow!”

Due to tough weather conditions, including high winds, athletes only had two attempts to master the start of the track. The FIS calls this venue, “one of the most original designs ever seen on the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup tour, with an ultra-technical opening sequence that gradually gives way to an extended final straightaway that is almost certainly the longest ever seen in World Cup ski cross action.” There are three huge jumps leading into a complex roller section just before the finish, the possibilities for challenges and passing in the final drag race before the finish line are limitless. 

“It was tough to get fired up with a couple days off and only two training runs, two days ago,” said Del Bosco of the weather conditions that hindered training runs. “I feel really good to be back on the podium on the World Cup circuit after my result at the X Games. I’ve been skiing well and I can hopefully take today’s result and build on it for tomorrow’s race.” 

Mathieu Leduc from Comox, B.C. had a great day, qualifying all the way through to the semi-finals where he crashed, resulting in a small final placing. Leduc did not race in the small finals due to his crash. 

In the men’s final, Slovenia’s Filip Flisar was first, followed by Del Bosco, with Austria’s Christoph Wahrstoetter in third-place and France’s Bastien Midol in fourth-place. 

In the ladies’ heats, current World Cup leader, Anna Holmlund from Sweden took first-place, followed by Thompson, with Sweden’s Sandra Naeslund in third-place and France’s Alizee Baron in fourth-place. 

Over in Switzerland, today’s women’s downhill race was cancelled due to over 40cm of snowfall and has been rescheduled for Sunday at 2:30AM MST. The alpine combined race scheduled for Sunday has been cancelled to accommodate the downhill and will not be replaced this season. 

This week also celebrates two important milestones in ski racing, as well as our promising future in the sport. 

On February 13th, 1976, Kathy Kreiner captured a gold medal in the Innsbruck Olympic Winter Games in giant slalom, the only gold medal for Canada in the entirety of the Games. This week also marks the two-year countdown until the 2018 PeyongChang Winter Olympic Games where Alpine Canada Alpin athletes will be chasing podium finishes. 

Brief NorAm Update

There have been a series of NorAm races underway and the Canadians have been cleaning up on the circuit. Yesterday, Candace Crawford and her brother, Jack Crawford, both captured first-place finishes in the super G race at Whiteface Mountain, NY. Candace has also nabbed two second-place finishes in the alpine combined and giant slalom races, while Jack nabbed another first-place finish in the alpine combined race. Valérie Grenier finished just 0.86 seconds back from Candace in the super G race for a one, two Canadian finish on the super G podium. A full NorAm update will be released in the following days. 

Ladies’ Ski Cross

2 – Marielle Thompson

18 – Kelsey Serwa

Men’s Ski Cross

2 – Chris Del Bosco

8 – Mathieu Leduc

20 – Tristan Tafel

24 – Ian Deans

28 – Kevin Drury

33 – Brady Leman

49 – Louis-Pierre Hélie

Click here for the official ladies’ results. 

Click here for the official men’s results. 

For further information or press inquiries, please contact Ashley Shantz at ashantz@alpinecanada.org or call 587.226.3007.

 

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