North Vancouver skier Cameron Alexander did something no Canadian has done since 2014 on Friday (March 4): he won a World Cup downhill race.
The 24-year-old member of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club actually shared top spot on the podium with Switzerland’s Niels Hintermann, with both putting up identical times of one minute, 44.42 seconds on the Olympiabakken course in Kvitfjell, Norway. It was the first downhill World Cup win for a Canadian since Erik Guay won on the same course eight years ago.
Alexander’s win was a shocker on course, as he started with bib No. 39, long after the race favourites had finished. Hintermann completed his race more than half an hour before Alexander matched his time. Alexander’s only other top-10 finish on the World Cup circuit came in the same downhill race in 2020, and he missed almost all of the 2020-'21 season after suffering a severe knee injury.
"I know I can ski fast here. I know I have speed ... all I had to do was just let go and try to give it my best,” Alexander said after the race. “That’s what I did and what do you know? I'm on top of the podium It's surprising but at the same time this is what I do the sport for – it feels really good."
Alexander didn’t qualify for the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, and instead spent extra time training and competing in European Cup races in Kvitfjell, and the extra practice on the course seemingly paid off today.
"To win in the same place that somebody like Erik [Guay] has ... to be at the same level as he was at the same race, is crazy, phenomenal," Alexander said. "He has obviously shown greatness throughout his career in this sport and he is someone I looked up to coming up as a ski racer."
-with files from Associated Press
