Marielle Thompson wins World Cup women’s ski cross race in Switzerland

Marielle Thompson (Andy Mielzynski, Canadian Olympic Committee) (with permission)

Canadian Olympic gold medalist Marielle Thompson of Vancouver, British Columbia won the gold medal in a women’s ski cross World Cup in Veysonnaz, Switzerland on Sunday. It was one of three freestyle skiing medals Canadians won on the weekend as Canadian Olympic gold medalist Brady Leman of Calgary, Alberta won the silver medal in the men’s World Cup ski cross competition in Veysonnaz and Elena Gaskell of Vernon, British Columbia won the bronze medal in the women’s World Cup big air skiing competition in Quebec City, Quebec.

In the women’s ski cross competition, Thompson won her quarterfinal, semifinal and big final heats. Sandra Naeslund of Sweden won the silver medal and Alizee Baron of France won the bronze medal. Thompson, who won the gold medal in women’s ski cross at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, finished the World Cup season in third place with 656 points.

In the men’s ski cross competition, Leman won his qualification and semifinal heats and was second to Robert Winkler of Austria in the quarterfinals. In the big final, Leman was behind gold medalist Jean Frederic Chapuis of France and ahead of bronze medalist Bastien Midol of France. Leman, who won the gold medal in men’s ski cross at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, finished fourth in the World Cup standings with 419 points.

In the women’s World Cup big air skiing, Gaskell posted a score of 158 points in the final, to beat fellow Canadian Yuki Tsubota of Vancouver, British Columbia by two points. Tsubota was in fourth place with 156 points. Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland won the gold medal with 178 points and Kea Kuehnel of Germany won the silver medal with 160.5 points. With the bronze medal, Gaskell won the crystal globe in women’s big air skiing, as she had 210 points, 10 more points than Gremaud. The medals for Thompson, Leman and Gaskell will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. 

 

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