Feb. 25 was a watershed day for Brittany Phelan, who raced to the inaugural World Cup triumph of her career.
The decorated ski cross athlete stood atop the podium in Reiteralm, Austria next to silver medallist Marielle Berger Sabbatel of France and two Swiss ladies who tied for bronze: Talina Gantenbein and Margaux Dumont.
India Sherret (Cranbrook, B.C.) found herself in ninth, and Marielle Thompson (Whistler) placed 13th. Thompson continues to lead FIS season rankings by a 22-point margin, with Phelan punching into third in that department.
"It feels awesome to finally get the win today, it’s been a long time coming,” said a smiling Phelan in a press release. “It’s about time. This is my 17th World Cup podium and it’s been a bit of a joke that I’m always the bridesmaid and never the bride, so to cross that line in first and to get the win feels amazing!
"I love this track [in Reiteralm]. It was a little slower today with the fresh snow and awesome that they were able to get the race in. It’s a bigger track with lots of technical and tactical aspects and I love putting the puzzle together."
The Mont-Tremblant, Que. native, who won silver at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, now owns 105 World Cup starts: 71 in ski cross and 34 in alpine skiing.
On the men’s side, Reece Howden (Chilliwack, B.C.) paced Canada in 11th. Gavin Rowell (Prince George) was 17th, Jared Schmidt (Ottawa, Ont.) 21st and Carson Cook (Edmonton, Alta.) was 24th. Howden maintains an 18-point lead in the season standings.
Canadian ski cross athletes next travel to Veysonnaz, Switzerland for a March 16 event.
