Canadian Olympic gold medalists Marielle Thompson of North Vancouver, British Columbia, and Brady Leman of Calgary, Alberta each won World Cup ski cross medals in Veysonnaz, Switzerland on Saturday. Thompson, who won a gold medal in the women’s ski cross at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, won the silver medal in Veysonnaz. Leman, who won the gold medal in men’s ski cross at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, won the bronze medal in Veysonnaz.
In the women’s ski cross on Saturday, Sandra Naeslund of Sweden won the gold medal, and Fanny Smith of Switzerland won the bronze medal. Thompson won the fourth quarterfinal heat and second semifinal heat, before reaching the podium. In the men’s ski cross on Saturday, Leman placed behind gold medalist David Mobaerg of Sweden, and silver medalist Simone Deromedis of Italy. Leman meanwhile finished second behind Canadian Jared Schmidt of Ottawa, Ontario in the qualification heat, and second to Deromedis in the quarterfinal and semifinal heat. It is interesting that Leman reached the podium without winning a single heat.
The World Cup ski cross races in Veysonnaz were the final races of the year for men and women. Thompson finished in third place among the women with 549 points in the World Cup standings. Naeslund won with 1150 points. Leman finished in eighth place among the men with 296 points in the World Cup standings. Ryan Regez of Switzerland won with 559 points.
