Marielle Thompson and the Canadian ski cross program have made history.
Canada took silver on Feb. 26 in mixed team ski cross at the 2023 Freestyle World Ski Championships thanks to Thompson, competing at her seventh Worlds event, and Cultus Lake's Reece Howden in his third.
In so doing, the BC Olympians have won the first mixed team silver medal in FIS World Championships history.
A milestone effort
Racing on the same day, and just a few hours after the individual event that was delayed due to weather conditions, Thompson and Howden sprang into action in Bakuriani, Georgia under sunny and blustery conditions. Canada dominated the semifinals and faced eventual winner Sweden, as well as Italy and France in the final.
Under the team format, men raced first in the finals with Canadians having a slight advantage heading into the women's race. Yet Swedish powerhouse Sandra Naeslund emerged on top once again, relegating Canada to second.
This is Thompson’s third World Championships medal, and the very first for Howden.
“It was a big day with the singles and the team in the same day,” said Thompson in a press release. “Reece was skiing so well today, he gave the team a great opportunity and I’m really happy with the result. Our team here was so supportive, they were cheering the whole day and thank you to everyone watching back in Canada. It was a long race day, the longest one ever, so thank you for the support.”
“It’s pretty special to be sharing the podium with Marielle,” added a smiling Howden. “She’s done so much in this sport, and it’s a big deal to have this piece of history with her. We’re usually an individual sport so it’s cool to be racing on behalf of someone, with a teammate like Marielle. It was a lot of fun and I’m really happy to be leaving the world championships with some hardware.”
Naeslund and her compatriot David Mobaerg raced to gold, while Federico Tomasoni and Jole Galli earned bronze for Italy.
Results roundup
Kevin Drury of Toronto, Ont., coming off a bronze medal in his last World Championships, battled his way to the men's small final and won it to place fifth overall. Brady Leman from Calgary, Alta. ended up seventh in his seventh Worlds appearance. Meanwhile, World Championships newcomer Jared Schmidt of Ottawa, Ont. rounded out the Canadians in 17th.
“The team performed really well today,” said ski cross head coach Stanley Hayer. “There were some small mistakes in the individual races that kept us off the podium, but the team came back really motivated for the team event and delivered a silver medal. Marielle and Reece are always near the top in World Cup races and they were solid today. The conditions this week were challenging but the athletes really focused and stepped up today.”
Canadian ski cross athletes return to competition March 12 in Veysonnaz, Switzerland. Visit the Alpine Canada website for more information.
