Canada's Reece Howden wins gold at World Cup ski cross event in Austria
CBC
The winningest men's ski cross racer in history added to his total on Thursday.
Canada's Reece Howden won a record-extending 24th World Cup ski cross gold medal of his career on Thursday in Montafon, Austria.
The Cultus Lake, B.C., native, with his sixth victory in 12 races this season, padded his lead atop the overall season standings. Howden, a three-time Crystal Globe winner as overall season champion, has 843 points this campaign and is closing in on a fourth title.
"This was a good track with some fun, tight racing," Howden told Alpine Canada. "Visibility was a little challenging for most of the day, but the sun came out for the big final and that helped because it was hard to see before that.
"Shoutout to the team and to the techs for their hard work in figuring out the wet, new snow, conditions. We’re excited to head back to Canada and to race on home soil at Craigleith [Ski Club near Collingwood, Ont.] next week.”
Italy's Simone Deromedis was Friday's silver medallist and is Howden's closest challenger in the overall standings, but sits 247 points behind the Canadian with four races left in the season.
Alex Fiva of Switzerland rounded out the podium in bronze-medal position.
Ottawa's Jared Schmidt was second in the small final and sixth overall while Kris Mahler of Canmore, Alta., finished 20th and Kaleb Barnum of Fernie, B.C., 24th.
On the women's side, Ottawa's Hannah Schmidt placed fourth in the women's big final, her fourth top-five finish this season.
Teammate Marielle Thompson of Whistler, B.C., a three-time winner in Montafon, was ninth while Tiana Gairns of Prince George, B.C., finished 12th.
Sweden's Sandra Naeslund picked up another gold medal while Germany's Daniela Maier and Italy's Jole Galli won the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Naeslund leads the season standings with 968 points, which is 165 points clear of Maier, her next closest competitor.
Schmidt is the top Canadian in the overall standings, sitting in seventh with 393 points.
There are two stops left in the World Cup ski cross circuit this season.
The Milano-Cortina Winter Paralympics officially opened Friday amid the tensions of war in the Middle East, and with some countries boycotting the opening ceremony because of the return of the Russian flag to the global sports stage.
Iran will not participate in the Milan Cortina Paralympics because its only athlete set to compete can't safely travel to Italy amid the intensifying Middle East conflict, the International Paralympic Committee said Friday.
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