Canada's Thompson victorious in ski cross World Cup opener, Drury wins bronze

VAL THORENS — Canada's Marielle Thompson raced to a gold medal at the opening event of the World Cup ski cross season.

Thompson, who won the women's ski cross Crystal Globe as the overall winner last season, finished ahead of three-time World Cup ski cross champion Fanny Smith of Switzerland to take the big final. Germany’s Daniela Maier was third.

Thompson, from Whistler, B.C., now has 32 career World Cup wins and 68 total podium finishes.

“After all the training and preparation this summer it’s really satisfying to get a result like this,” said Thompson. “It was tough, tight racing today and I focused on sticking to my plan and not making too many mistakes."

India Sherret of Cranbrook, B.C., and Ottawa's Hannah Schmidt both raced in the small final, placing fifth and eighth overall, respectively.

On the men’s side, Toronto's Kevin Drury claimed bronze with teammate Reece Howden of Cultus Lake, B.C., finishing fourth in the big final. Italy’s Simone Deromedis won gold, followed by Germany’s Florian Wilmsmann.

It's Drury’s 14th career World Cup podium, but his first since January 2022.

"This feels absolutely incredible," said Drury, who raced for the first time since sustaining a knee injury in February. "To think that just a few months ago I was on the fence about retiring. My knee felt awesome today and I had a feeling that if my body felt good that I could ski like I used to."

Another set of races is scheduled for Friday in Val Thorens before the circuit continues with races Monday and Tuesday in Arosa, Switzerland.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press