Brittany Phelan wins 1st ski cross World Cup gold to cap medal-filled February
Fellow Canadian Marielle Thompson maintains lead in World Cup standings
Brittany Phelan won her first-ever women's ski cross World Cup gold medal on Sunday.
Competing on the World Cup circuit since 2016, the 32-year-old had placed on the podium 16 times prior, but finally was able to stand on top of it after the women's big final in Reiteralm, Austria.
Phelan held off Marielle Berger Sabbatel of France for the victory after Swiss athletes Talina Gantenbein and Margaux Dumont crashed partway through the race, finishing in a tie for third in the four-athlete race.
"It's been a long time coming," Phelan said following her 105th World Cup start, 71 in ski cross and 34 on the alpine circuit. "I've think I've probably had the most second-place [finishes] on the whole circuit. Just to put it all together today, I felt good on the track from the first training run.
"[It was] a good fight with Marielle Berger, to hold her off and come away with my first win after … 16 years of racing World Cup, both alpine and ski cross. It's amazing.
"I love this track," Phelan continued. "It was a little slower today with the fresh snow and awesome that they were able to get the race in. It's a bigger track with lots of technical and tactical aspects and I love putting the puzzle together."
WATCH | Phelan strikes gold in Austria:
A native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., Phelan capped a strong month of February, in which she also won silver medals in both Alleghe, Italy, on Feb. 3 and Bakuriani, Georgia, on Feb. 10.
The three-time Olympian won 2018 Olympic silver in Pyeongchang, South Korea and placed in the top five four years later in Beijing.
Phelan also competed at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia as an alpine skier, making the transition to ski cross shortly after, in part due to a calf injury.
WATCH | Phelan reflects on her 1st World Cup victory:
Marielle Thompson of Whistler, B.C., coming off of three straight World Cup gold, placed 13th on Sunday after not finishing her quarterfinal heat, while India Sherret of Cranbrook, B.C., was ninth overall.
Thompson maintained her spot atop the World Cup standings with 832 points, now narrowly outpacing Berger Sabbatel's 810 points in her quest to earn a top-three finish for the sixth straight season.
Phelan follows behind with 632 points in third, looking for her first top-three finish since 2018 when she was third.
In the men's competition on Sunday, Reece Howden, of Cultus Lake, B.C., was Canada's top finisher in 11th, but still held onto top spot in the standings with 566 points.
Alex Fiva of Switzerland was fourth and trails Howden in the standings by 18 points.
Youri Duplessis Kergomard of France, and Italians Simone Deromedis and Terence Tchiknavorian earned gold, silver and bronze, respectively, on Sunday.
Other Canadian men's results:
- Gavin Rowell (Prince George, B.C.) — 17th
- Jared Schmidt (Ottawa) — 21st
- Carson Cook (Edmonton) — 24th
