Canadian alpine skier James Crawford secured a silver medal in a closely contested men’s World Cup super-G race on Sunday in Kvitfjell, Norway.
The 27-year-old from Toronto finished 0.38 seconds behind Italian Dominik Paris, who claimed his second victory in three days. Slovenia’s Miha Hrobat followed in third, 0.47 seconds behind the leader. Crawford achieved his sixth career World Cup podium on a course shortened due to fog, leading for five racers before settling for second place.
“Super happy with the day,” Crawford said via Alpine Canada. “You really had to be on the gas pedal today and be willing to put it on the line. I was able to ski smoothly from top to bottom and bring speed from section to section.”
Crawford clocked a time of 1:09.36, securing the runner-up spot behind Paris. His result propelled him into the top 10 of the super-G standings heading into the World Cup Finals from March 22-27 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
The performance continues Canada’s strong track record in Kvitfjell, where the country has earned five podiums in the last three seasons. Crawford previously won silver in 2022, his first career podium. Canadians Manuel Osborne-Paradis (2009), Erik Guay (2010, 2014), and Cameron Alexander (2022) have also claimed victories on the Norwegian course.
“Canadians have been notoriously fast here in Kvitfjell,” Crawford noted. “A lot of us feel comfortable here as the snow is similar to what we grew up skiing on in Canada. That helps us bring our best skiing and push from top to bottom.”
Crawford, the 2023 super-G world champion, made history in January as the first Canadian skier in 42 years to win the prestigious World Cup downhill in Kitzbuehel, Austria.
Meanwhile, Paris, who had only one World Cup race win in three years, secured back-to-back victories with Sunday’s super-G triumph following his downhill win on Friday. He was the only racer to break clear in a tight field where, excluding him, the top 30 competitors—including six from the U.S.—were separated by less than a second.
“The feeling was amazing,” the 35-year-old Paris said. “Seeing the green light in the finish, that’s nice.”
Source: Swifteradio.com
