Reece Howden from Canada, left, and Brady Leman from Canada, speed down the track at the Ski Cross World Cup Team race in Arosa, Switzerland, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. Canadians collected three medals in World Cup ski cross Wednesday led by Reece Howden's silver in the men's races. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Keystone, Gian Ehrenzeller
INNICHEN, Italy – Canadians collected three medals in World Cup ski cross Wednesday led by Reece Howden’s silver in the men’s races.
Canadian men ranked second to fourth with Howden of Cultus Lake, B.C., Calgary’s Brady Leman and Kris Mahler of Canmore, Alta., finishing in that order behind winner Mathias Graf of Austria.
The three Canadians and Graf raced head-to-head against each other in the final.
“I’ve never raced with three Canadians in the big final before,” said Howden, whose runner-up result was his 11th podium in 34 World Cup starts. “It’s pretty unique and special for the team to pull that off.”
Marielle Thompson of Whistler, B.C., was third in the women’s final.
Canada’s team is back in the start gates Thursday in Innichen, Italy, in the fifth World Cup of the season.
Leman, the 2018 men’s Olympic gold medallist, reached the top three for the first time this season.
“I’m stoked to be back on the podium,” Leman said. “It fired me up to race the final with Reece and Kris. It’s too bad that we didn’t get the sweep, but we’ve got another chance at it tomorrow.”
Howden and Thompson rank second overall in the men’s and women’s World Cup standings respectively this season.
“All the heats were super tight with some great racing,” said Thompson, an Olympic silver medallist in Beijing in February.
“I had a bit of a battle out there today and made lots of passes so that’s a positive. I think it’ll be even more exciting tomorrow with all the things people learned today.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 21, 2022.
