(Bakouriani, Georgia) Canada’s Marielle Thompson finished first in her qualifying heat of the ski cross at the Freestyle Skiing World Championships.
Thompson completed the distance in one minute, 25.52 seconds (1:25.52). She was followed by Sweden’s Sandra Näslund (1:25.76) and Germany’s Daniela Maier (1:26.60).
A 2-14 Olympic gold medalist, Thompson will face three Austrians — Sonja Gigler, Katrin Ofner and Andrea Limbacher — in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Thompson is seeking a second world title after winning at Deer Valley in 2019.
The other three Canadians in contention failed to qualify. Courtney Hoffos, Tiana Gairns and Hannah Schmidt finished in 17 respectivelye18e and 19e squares.
Among the men, Jared Schmidt took third place in his wave, behind the Japanese Satoshi Furuno and the Swedish David Mobärg to advance to the round of 16.
Fellow countrymen Reece Howden (17e), Kevin Drury (29e) and Brady Leman (31e) also qualified.