Heading into the fifth and final stop on the Freeride World Tour (FWT), Whistler Freeride Club graduate Olivia McNeill found herself sitting just off a podium position, 2,305 points behind American Lily Bradley in third.
With a more than 2,000 point spread between her and the podium positions, McNeill’s chances of reaching the top three were slim when she stepped up to start her run in Verbier, Switzerland on Saturday, March 26.
Option One: finish first. Even though that wouldn’t have gotten her the top spot, it would have more than likely been enough to vault her into second place, with third place guaranteed. Option Two: finish at least two spots higher than Bradley or Norway’s Hedvig Wessel.
Dropping in last, after both Bradley and top-ranked Jessica Hotter crashed in their runs, McNeill just needed to beat one of the remaining four skiers to clinch that podium spot. And she made no mistake.
Putting down a clean run, McNeill grabbed third place in Verbier and with it, the third spot on the podium for the 2022 FWT.
With her podium finish, McNeill became the first ever Canadian woman skier to land on the FWT podium and the first Canadian to accomplish the feat since Logan Pehota in 2016.
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