In a shocking result, Cameron Alexander of North Vancouver, British Columbia has won a World Cup men’s downhill ski race in Kvitfjell, Norway on Friday. The reason why Alexander’s gold medal was stunning was because there were zero signs of him even contending this week. In his three previous races this year, Alexander was extremely slow down the hill in placing 40th, 46th and 58th.
However there must be something about Kvitfjell, and only Kvitfjell that suits Alexander’s style of skiing. It was in Kvitfjell where Alexander posted his best World Cup result prior to Friday, as he was 10th there two years ago.
Alexander actually shared the gold medal with Niels Hintermann of Switzerland. Both Alexander and Hintermann had a first place time of 1:44.42. Due to the fact there were two gold medalists, there was not a silver medalist. Matthias Mayer of Austria won the bronze medal with a time of 1:44.54. Alexander beat fourth place finisher Beat Feuz of Switzerland by 0.19 seconds. Feuz had a time of 1:44.61.
Alexander becomes the first Canadian skier since 2014 to win a World Cup men’s alpine downhill race. Ironically, Erik Guay of Montreal, Quebec, also won in Kvitfjell in 2014. With the win, Alexander moves to 22nd in the World Cup standings with 100 points. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway is the World Cup men’s downhill leader with 490 points. The World Cup men’s downhill win for Alexander will boost his confidence as he prepares for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
