Canada’s Marielle Thompson claims first ski cross win of World Cup season

VAL THORENS, France — Marielle Thompson of Whistler, B.C., won the first women’s World Cup ski cross race of the season Friday.

The reigning Olympic women’s champion took advantage of a crash involving Swedish teammates Anna Holmlund and Sandra Naesland in the final to secure the win.

“I could have been a bit better out of the start, but I was close behind the two Swedes most of the way down,” Thompson told The Canadian Press from Val Thorens, France.

“The two girls in front of me actually ended up crashing into each other. Coming into the last turn I was able to avoid them and ended up winning, so that was kind of a surprise considering where I was in that heat.”

Thompson, 24, led her quarter-final heat from start to finish, but her semifinal was also dramatic.

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Running third for most of it, Thompson pipped Canadian teammate Kelsey Serwa of Kelowna, B.C., in a photo finish for second and the right to move onto the final.

“I ended up moving on with a pretty good reach of my arm,” Thompson said.

Serwa dropped to the consolation final to finish eighth ahead of Georgia Simmerling of West Vancouver, B.C., in ninth.

In the men’s race, Montreal’s Chris Del Bosco and Toronto’s Kevin Drury were the top Canadians in fourth and seventh respectively.

The men and women will race a second World Cup in Val Thorens on Saturday.

Thompson has won the overall women’s World Cup ski cross crown twice in her career in 2012 and 2014.

“I’ve been skiing well in our camps leading up to here and then mostly well on race day so I think it bodes well for the rest of the season,” Thompson said.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow where I can fix a few of my mistakes and hopefully ski a little bit better.”

The Canadian Press