Canadian Olympic bronze medalist James Crawford of Toronto, Ontario won the gold medal on Thursday in the men’s super giant slalom at the 2023 World Alpine Skiing Championships in Courchevel, France. This was Canada’s first medal at the 2023 World Alpine Skiing Championships. The men’s events are occurring in Courchevel, while the women’s events are in Meribel. Crawford won his Olympic bronze medal in the men’s combined at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
In the men’s super giant slalom on Thursday, Crawford had a winning time of 1:07.22, and won by the slimmest of margins. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway won the silver medal with a time of 1:07.23, only one one-hundredth of a second back of Crawford. Alexis Pinturault of France won the bronze medal with a time of 1:07.48. Crawford reached the podium by 0.37 seconds over Marco Odermatt of Switzerland, who has a fourth place time of 1:07.59.
This was the 15th gold medal for Canada in the history of the World Alpine Skiing Championships. Canada is ninth all-time. Austria leads with 101 gold medals.
Crawford is the second Canadian ever to win the gold medal in the men’s super giant slalom art the World Alpine Skiing Championships. The first was Erik Guay of Montreal, Quebec, who won gold in 2017 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The gold medal for Crawford will give him confidence as he prepares for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
