Canadian Cameron Alexander finished third in the Kvitfjell downhill of the men’s Alpine Skiing World Cup on Saturday, after an event where his compatriot Jeffrey Read placed sixth.
Fifth to take to the track, Alexander, who is from British Columbia, negotiated the Norwegian track in one minute 44.81 seconds, 19 hundredths of a second behind the winner, Niels Hintermann of Switzerland.
For Alexander, who is 26, it was a third career World Cup podium — all earned in downhill — and his second of the season.
On December 28, he also placed third in Bormio, Italy. On March 4, 2022, Alexander also won the Kvitfjell downhill, tied with Hintermann.
“It feels good to be back on the podium here,” said Alexander, via an Alpine Canada press release.
“This track suits me very well, as does our entire team. So, I hope we come back to it every year. The track was great today. [Les responsables] have done an excellent job of preparing over the last two days after a good snowfall. It was a very good race overall,” added Alexander.
For his part, Read, an Albertan also aged 26, stopped the clock at 1:45.36, a hundredth of a second ahead of the Swiss Marco Odermatt and the American Ryan Cochran-Siegle.
Read thus ranked in the top-10 in a World Cup event for the fifth time in his career, and for a second time since the start of the season. This record includes a seventh place in a downhill held in Kvitfjell on March 5, 2022.
It was also his second best career performance, one place shy of his fifth position in the super-G at the World Cup Finals in Soldeu, Andorra, last season.
“It’s a track we’re very confident about, and Cam and I have spent a bit more time here in the European Cup. So we were able to take that experience and really go for it,” explained Read, in the Alpine Canada press release, about Kvitfjell.
“I am very happy to collect another top-10 in my career. It’s starting to add up and I’m working to be more consistent,” the Albertan also mentioned.
A rare occurrence for Odermatt
Hintermann felt he took his second career victory at Kvitfjell without going as fast as he could have.
“I didn’t have the feeling that my descent was perfect. I felt like it was possible to go half a second or a second faster. It’s quite important to find a rhythm from start to finish and maintain a high speed. It’s not the toughest track we have in the World Cup, but it’s quite difficult to be fast,” added Hintermann.
The Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr (1:44.70) reached the second step of the podium, eight hundredths of a second behind the winner.
As for Odermatt, this is only the third time in 19 starts this season – all disciplines combined – that he did not complete an event on the podium. He won 10 of those races, including his first World Cup downhill in Wengen in January.
“My performance was okay. There are maybe one or two places where I could have gained one or two hundredths of a second,” analyzed Odermatt, the reigning world champion in downhill.
Odermatt still increased his lead at the top of the discipline ranking since Cyprien Sarrazin, his main rival for the downhill title, did not participate in the race.
The French Ski Federation said Sarrazin fell and injured his left calf during Friday’s training session.
Winner of two downhills in Kitzbühel last month, Sarrazin is also Odermatt’s most serious rival in the general classification.
A super-G must take place on Sunday to complete this weekend in Norway.