Broderick Thompson of North Vancouver, British Columbia stunned the skiing world on Thursday with a bronze medal in a men’s super giant slalom competition in Beaver Creek, Colorado. For Thompson, it was his first career World Cup medal. However, what made the bronze medal unexpected was the fact that he started 35th, when it is very uncommon for alpine skiers to land on the podium when they are not among the first 30 skiers to go down the hill.
Thompson posted a time of 1:09.56. Marco Odermatt of Switzerland won the gold medal with a time of 1:08.61. Matthias Mayer of Austria won the silver medal with a time of 1:09.39. Thompson earned a medal by three one-hundredths of a second over Andreas Sander of Germany, who had a fourth place time of 1:09.59.
This was the first World Cup men’s super giant slalom race of the 2021-22 Alpine Skiing season. There was to be a race in Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada this past Sunday, but it was moved to Bormio, Italy on December 30 due to heavy snowfall in the Canadian Rockies. A men’s downhill race scheduled for Lake Louise was moved to Beaver Creek, Colorado on Sunday as well.
Broderick Thompson is the brother of Canadian Olympic gold medalist Marielle Thompson. At the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Marielle Thompson placed first in the women’s ski cross.
