Marielle Thompson wins 4th ski cross World Cup gold of season
Doubling back after a silver Saturday, Whistler, B.C., skier Marielle Thompson won her fourth World Cup gold of the season Sunday at a ski cross event in Idre Fjall, Sweden.
Thompson, the reigning Olympic champion, won gold after Saturday's winner and home favourite, Anna Holmlund of Sweden, failed to qualify for the big final, her first time missing one this season.
"I tried to ski my best all day today and be patient with the course," Thompson said. "There were opportunities to make big moves on the bottom portion of the track which I capitalized on a couple times today. The track was a lot faster today and the weather was perfect. It could not have been a better day."
Sandra Naeslund of Sweden finished silver and Alizee Baron of France won bronze. Holmlund won the B final to finish fourth.
Thompson's win closes the overall standings gap on Holmlund's lead but with three of the final five races this season cancelled, it's unlikely she'll catch the Swede, who has 816 points on the season to Thompson's 607.
Kelsey Serwa of Kelowna, B.C., who finished with silver to Thompson's gold in Sochi, finished seventh Sunday.
In the men's competition, Canadians finished fourth, fifth and sixth.
Berthierville, Que.'s Louis-Pierre Hélie made his first World Cup big final, finishing fourth. Montreal's Chris Del Bosco, and Calgary's Brady Leman, finished first and second in the B final.
"It's been a goal of mine for four years to be in the spot I was today and today I really thought I could win it," said Hélie about his performance. "I had some good fight in me all day and, in the end, I think I was thinking about the podium a little too much."
The Canadian ski cross team next heads to South Korea to race in what will be the 2018 Olympic course.
