Four podium finishes, two cancelled races, and a handful of top-20s
Yes, it was a wild weekend on the slopes for Canada’s World Cup skiers.
Marielle Thompson of Whistler, BC made it a weekend to remember as she claimed two victories on the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup in Val Thorens, France. Thompson won Friday’s race in a thrilling finger-tip photo finish over teammates Georgia Simmerling (Vancouver, BC), who took second place.
On Saturday, Thompson repeated her heroics with another win, with Simmerling being relegated to the small final, which she won.
Brady Leman (Calgary, AB) continued the celebrating for Alpine Canada Alpin athletes on Saturday when he finished third in the men’s ski cross event at Val Thorens. It was Leman’s first podium finish of the 2014-15 season. Louis-Pierre Helie (Berthierville, QC) finished 20th in the same race.
In Friday’s men’s ski cross event, Chris Del Bosco (Montreal, QC) was 10th, Leman finished 17th and David Duncan (London, ON) grabbed the 20th spot.
Over on the alpine side, two women’s races were cancelled in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria. The women’s downhill on Saturday and Super-G on Sunday couldn’t be held.
In men’s ski racing, Dustin Cook (Lac-Sainte-Marie, QC) had Canada’s only placement of the weekend when he finished 22nd in Saturday’s Giant Slalom at Adelboden, Switzerland. Phil Brown (Toronto, ON) and Erik Read (Calgary, AB) did not advance to Run 2 of the race. Trevor Philp (Calgary, AB) and Ford Swette (North Vancouver, BC) did not finish the race.
The men’s slalom was held on Sunday, but Read, Philp, Julien Cousineau (Lachute, QC) and Brown didn’t qualify for the second run.
The next World Cup alpine event is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 13, with the women’s slalom taking place at Flachau, Austria.
Story and Photo courtesy of Alpine Canada
