Canadian Olympic gold medalist Marielle Thompson of North Vancouver, British Columbia won her 25th World Cup gold medal on Tuesday in women’s ski cross in Arosa, Switzerland. The World Cup gold medal for the Olympic gold medalist from the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi comes two months before the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
In Tuesday’s competition, Thompson was one of two Canadian medalists in the women’s event. She was joined by bronze medalist Zoe Chore of Kimberley, British Columbia. Meanwhile, Jared Schmidt of Ottawa, Ontario won the bronze medal in the men’s World Cup ski cross event.
Thompson went undefeated through the competition. She won all four of her races. For Chore, it was her first World Cup medal. She won a medal despite not winning any heat. Chore was placed in the same heat as Thompson each time and finished second thrice before finishing third in the Big Final. Switzerland’s Fanny Smith won the silver medal.
In the women’s World Cup ski cross standings, Thompson is in fourth with 184 points and Chore is in 15th with 81 points. Just how deep is Canada’s women’s ski cross team? There are currently six skiers ranked in the top 15.
In men’s action, Schmidt won his second World Cup men’s ski cross medal. He previously finished third in Bakuriani, Georgia on February 27, 2021. Florian Wilmsmann of Germany won gold and David Mobaerg of Sweden won silver on Tuesday. Schmidt is in 14th place in the 2021-22 World Cup men’s ski cross standings with 78 points. Terence Techiknavorian of France is the World Cup leader with 268 points.
