For Media And Other Inquiries:
Get in TouchThe good times continued for the Canadian Para Alpine Ski Team on Thursday, as Kurt Oatway picked up his second win of the 2025-26 season in the men’s sitting category of the World Cup downhill in Tignes, FRA, while Alexis Guimond picked up a second straight third-place finish in the men’s standing category.
Taking on a bluebird day on the French slope after a snowstorm delayed racing on Wednesday, the 41-year-old Oatway skied a smooth line through the first portions of the course, before a more aggressive charge at the end pushed him into first place.
The Netherlands’ Jeroen Kampschreur had gone down just before him and had set the leading pace, before Oatway surpassed his time by 0.69 seconds, pushing the Dutch skier down to second spot. Norway’s Jesper Pedersen claimed third, 0.85 seconds behind Oatway’s winning mark.
“The snow was faster, and I cleaned up some sections I overskied in the last race, which led me to success,” said Oatway. “After winning both training runs and coming up a bit short in yesterday's race, it feels good to punch into the top spot today, and this week's results are encouraging for the future.”
With the victory, Oatway now has 11 World Cup wins in his career, as well as 31 podiums. It was also his second win of 2026, with his four podiums bringing him to ninth in the overall World Cup ranking.
Meanwhile, Guimond continued his own success in his category, making the most of the second half of his run, having lost his line with a late arrival off a jump midway through the course. For him, the second straight third-place finish wasn’t quite satisfying, despite being his 10th podium of 2025-26 and 47th of his career.
“Great performance today, but honestly, I am quite frustrated about my mistakes,” Guimond said. “The higher steps of the podium were definitely in my grasp today. Fractions of seconds were at play today, and unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the clock. Aside from the mistakes, it has been a good couple of days here in Tignes. Overall, I’m very satisfied with the level of skiing I was able to bring through these past few days and the season so far.”
Switzerland’s Robin Cuche came away with the men’s standing victory for the second day in a row with a finish of 1.22 seconds ahead of Guimond, while second place honours went to France’s Arthur Bauchet once again, who finished just 0.1 seconds ahead of Guimond to complete the identical podium as Wednesday’s race.
In the overall World Cup ranking, Guimond now sits third in his category.
Outside of the two podium performances, Brian Rowland (Merrickville, ON) finished 10th in the men’s sitting category and Michaela Gosselin (Collingwood, ON) claimed sixth in women’s standing in a challenging run.
Not far from Tignes, Canadian skiers at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympics also continued their preparation for the Olympic programme with the second men’s downhill training run in Bormio, ITA. Cameron Alexander (North Vancouver, BC) finished as the top Canadian in 10th, ahead of Jack Crawford (Toronto, ON) in 22nd, Brodie Seger (North Vancouver, BC) in 23rd, Jeffrey Read (Canmore, AB) in 29th and Riley Seger (North Vancouver, BC) in 32nd.
The first women’s downhill training run at the Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA, was cancelled due to snowfall.
Canada’s Para Alpine Skiers return to the Tignes slope for super-G on Friday, while the Olympic men and women take on a Friday training run ahead of Saturday’s men’s downhill.
Follow Canada’s Ski Team this season on Alpine Canada’s website, across our social media accounts and subscribe to our newsletter.