Innichen, ITA (December 20, 2021) - The Canadian ski cross team has added one more medal to their haul for the calendar year with Marielle Thompson placing third in the final race of 2021.

“Today was great,” says Marielle. “I improved a lot, especially in my starts, I nailed the starts today compared to yesterday and landed myself on the podium.”

The Italian course holds special meaning to the 29-year-old racer; she may have accumulated an impressive hardware collection through her career, but it all started here.

“I love coming back to Innichen every year, it’s where I had my first World Cup podium,” she explains. “I love the course, it’s a lot of fun.”

Teammate Hannah Schmidt was not far behind in fourth place, with half of the big final wearing the maple leaf. This finish is her career-best on the World Cup circuit so far.

“It was an exciting day, I had really good solid heats. I raced like I know how I can race. It was a tough final but I’m very happy with the results,” says Hannah.

Kevin Drury, Courtney Hoffos and Britt Phelan all dominated in the small finals, placing fifth, fifth and sixth overall respectively.

It’s never an easy feat to make it to the finals, but today’s race held some especially exciting skiing with close finishes in almost every run.

“I was lucky enough to see some of the girls’ heats, and some of them seemed really crazy,” says Kevin. “Super clean skiing and lots of passing everywhere.”

“Every single heat I just squeaked by, there were some really good battles,” Courtney adds.

For more information or media inquiries please contact:
Kylie Robertson I Manager of Communications 
krobertson@alpinecanada.org I 403-777-3204

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Alpine Canada is the governing body for alpine, para-alpine, and ski cross racing in Canada, as well as for Canadian ski coaches, providing education, certification, insurance, and compliance with the coaching code of conduct. With the support of valued corporate partners and donors, along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee, and the Coaching Association of Canada, Alpine Canada develops Olympic, Paralympic, World Championship, and World Cup athletes to stimulate visibility, inspiration, and growth in the ski community. In 2020/21, Alpine Canada celebrated 100 years of rich tradition in competitive skiing in Canada.