Two Canadians reached the Olympic podium in women’s ski cross on February 23 at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. Kelsey Serwa of Kelowna, British Columbia won the gold medal and Brittany Phelan of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec won the silver medal.
This is the second consecutive time at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games that Canadians won gold and silver in women’s ski cross. Four years ago at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Marielle Thompson of North Vancouver, British Columbia won the gold medal and Serwa won the silver medal. It was also the third consecutive time a Canadian woman won Olympic gold in women’s ski cross. At the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Ashleigh McIvor of Vancouver, British Columbia won gold.
In winning Olympic gold in Pyeongchang, Serwa becomes the first ski cross racer ever (man or woman) to win two Olympic medals in ski cross racing, Fanny Smith of Switzerland, the 2013 world champion, won the Olympic bronze medal in Pyeongchang.
Serwa and Phelan placed second and third in seeding on Thursday. Ironically it was Thompson who finished first. However Thompson fell in the first heat of the elimination round and failed to qualify for the quarterfinals. Phelan and Serwa both won their heats in the elimination round and the quarterfinals. Phelan and Serwa then placed first and second respectively in the semifinals.