Canada's Guimond, Oatway claim bronze medals at Para alpine skiing World Cup in Austria

Canada picked up two more medals at the Para alpine skiing World Cup in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, with Alexis Guimond and Kurt Oatway each reaching the podium on Saturday.

Guimond, a 23-year-old from Gatineau, Que., skied to bronze in the men's standing super-G in one minute 14.86 seconds, while Calgary's Oatway claimed bronze in the men's sitting super-G in 1:16.34.

"I'm happy with my approach today," Guimond said in a release. "I just wanted to go out there and make the most out of this race series. After a couple of wooden spoons, I wanted to close the speed series with intention and some hardware.

"I put down a solid run with some decent skiing. It was a solid effort. Happy to be back on the podium."

Oatway overcame adversity to secure the podium finish after battling an illness coming into the Austrian races. The 2018 Paralympic super-G champion finished fourth in the opening downhill after a bobble on the final jump.

The 38-year-old also switched his sit-ski midway through this season.

"This race series was long and fraught with many troubles," Oatway said. "Coming back from two years of COVID and a season-ending injury last year along with switching sit-skis hasn't been easy, and while hitting the podium today felt good, there is a lot of room for improvement not only this year but in the seasons to come."

Frédérique Turgeon, who won women's standing downhill gold and silver in Austria, did not finish her run in the women's standing super-G on Saturday.

The Canadian Para alpine skiing team will return to action in upcoming slalom races in Kitzbuehel, Austria (Feb. 28-29) and their next speed event in Sella Nevea, Italy (March 9-12).

The FIS Para alpine skiing World Cup wraps up with slalom and giant slalom races in Cortina, Italy from March 13-17.