Canada's Cam Alexander earns World Cup downhill bronze in Norway
North Vancouver, B.C. native won at Kvitfjell in 2022
Cam Alexander of North Vancouver, B.C., raced to a World Cup bronze medal in the men's downhill in Kvitfjell, Norway, on Saturday.
The Canadian's time of one minute 44.81 seconds was 29-hundredths of a second behind gold medallist Niels Hintermann of Switzerland.
Hintermann edged out runner-up Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria by 0.08 seconds for his second downhill win, nearly two years after his triumph at the same resort in Norway.
"It feels good to be back on the podium here; this place has been very good to me and our team as a whole, so I hope we keep coming back every year from now on," Alexander said to Alpine Canada.
"The track was amazing today. They did great prep from the two days before when it snowed a bunch, so it was a very good race all around."
WATCH l Alexander adds another World Cup medal:
Dominant skier Marco Odermatt was absent from the podium, finishing seventh. Jeff Read of Canmore, Alta., was sixth, securing his second-best result of the season.
"It's a track that we're really confident on, and Cam and I have spent a little extra time here with the Europa Cup, so we were able to draw on that experience and really throw down," Read said about Kvitfjell.
"I'm stoked to have another top 10 on the career; it's starting to add up and hopefully, trying to make those more consistent."
Alexander started the weekend with good memories of the Kvitfjell event, having won there in 2022 in a shared victory with Hintermann. It was his second World Cup medal of the season.
Hintermann has six podiums in downhill, including three in Kvitfjell, and won a combined event in Wengen seven years ago.
Following a run where he seemed to miss some of his usual fluency, Odermatt shared seventh position with American racer Ryan Cochran-Siegle, 0.75 seconds off the winner.
It was only the third time in his 19 starts across all disciplines this season that Odermatt didn't finish in the top three. He won 10 of those races, including his first in downhill in Wengen in January.
"My run was OK. There were maybe one or two spots where I could have gained one or two-hundredths of a second," said Odermatt, the downhill world champion.
Sarrazin sits out
Odermatt extended his lead in the discipline standings as his main competitor for the downhill title, Cyprien Sarrazin, sat out the race.
The French ski federation said Sarrazin crashed and injured his left calf in training Friday. Sarrazin, who won two downhills in Kitzbuehel last month, is also Odermatt's closest challenger in the overall standings.
Odermatt said he didn't hold back in the race because of his rival's absence.
Sarrazin's teammate Nils Allegre had a nasty crash in the race as he slid off the course into the safety netting.
Allegre, who won his first World Cup race at a super-G in Germany three weeks ago, stayed down for a while but the French skier ultimately got up.
The French ski federation said he sprained his left knee and bruised his right shoulder, and would travel back to his native country for further tests on Monday.
For Morse and Negomir, it marked career-best results.
A super-G on Sunday concludes the race weekend in Norway. The circuit returns in Palisades Tahoe, Calif., next week.
With files from The Associated Press
