Alexander wins bronze in the downhill in Bormio, Grenier 4th in giant slalom
Cameron Alexander won a bronze medal in the FIS Alpine World Cup men’s downhill event held in Bormio, Italy.
On the legendary Stelvio course, only France’s Cyprien Sarrazin and Austria’s Marco Odermatt managed to surpass the Canadian skier.
“It feels really good to be able to get a podium on a track like this,” Alexander said. “This track is such a battle and a fight the whole way down [so] it’s rewarding to stand on the podium here.”
Alexander steps onto an FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup podium for only the second time in his career. He had previously won the downhill event in Kvitfjell, Norway, in March 2022. It is worth noting that he also earned bronze in the downhill event at this year’s FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Courchevel, France.
The native of North Vancouver is on a good streak as the big events of the season in Wengen and Kitzbühel are just around the corner. He also finished 10th in the downhill and 7th in the super-G at Val Gardena two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Jack Crawford finished in 8th place, securing his fourth Top 10 of the season.
Brodie Seger and Jeffrey Read, the other Canadians taking part in the event, finished in 46th and 51st place, respectively. Kyle Alexander did not take the start.
A super-G event is scheduled for tomorrow.
READ: Cameron Alexander wins downhill bronze at world championships
Grenier narrowly misses the podium
The women, on the other hand, were in Lienz, Austria, for two technical events.
In the giant slalom, Valérie Grenier finished in fourth place, just 18 hundredths of a second away from the podium.
American Mikaela Shiffrin secured her 92nd career victory, finishing ahead of Italy’s Federica Brignone and Sweden’s Sara Hector.
Occupying eighth place after the first run, Grenier posted the third-best time in the second run to close in on the leaders and finished just shy of the podium.
“I struggled on the first run like a lot of people, but I am very happy with my second run,” Grenier said. “It was a super fun run. I was really going for it and it felt good to be in the leader’s chair for a bit. I’m feeling confident in my skiing the last few months, I feel that I can recover from my mistakes and that confidence is helping me be consistent.”
Nevertheless, there is a slight disappointment for Grenier, who had hoped to step onto the podium for the first time since last March.
“Fourth place stings a little because you are so close to the podium, but it was a good day,” said Grenier.
This marks the best result of the season for the Ottawa native and her fifth Top 10.
Cassidy Gray did not qualify for the second run, while Sarah Bennett and Britt Richardson did not complete their first run.
The skiers will be back on the Tyrolean slopes tomorrow for the slalom event.
READ: Valérie Grenier claims first career World Cup gold in Slovenia
