Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway won a second straight men’s downhill to start the World Cup season, and Canada’s James Crawford was third Saturday in Colorado.
The 25-year-old Crawford reached the World Cup podium in downhill for the first time in his career, posting a time of one minute 42.88 seconds for third, 0.79 behind Kilde and 1-100th ahead of fourth-place Matthias Mayer of Austria at Beaver Creek Resort.
Kilde, who dealt with an illness all week in training, powered through the challenging Birds of Prey course in 1:42.09 ahead of runner-up Marco Odermatt of Switzerland (1:42.15).
Kilde opened defence of his World Cup downhill title by taking the season-opener a week ago in Lake Louise, Alta.
WATCH | Crawford tops 5-man Canadian contingent in 1:42.88:
Olympic bronze medallist Jack Crawford of Toronto placed third at the World Cup men’s downhill in Beaver Creek, Colo.
Four other Canadians competed in Saturday’s race, led by Jeff Read of Canmore, Alta., in 44th of 61 finishers (1:45.13). He was followed by Brodie Seger of North Vancouver, B.C. (46th, 1:45.24), Broderick Thompson of Whistler, B.C. (52nd, 1:45.57) and Vancouver’s Sam Mulligan (59th, 1:47.88).
The Beaver Creek crew members had the course in solid shape a day after a downhill race was cancelled due to high wind and snowfall.
Odermatt extends podium run
Kilde reached speeds around 121 kilometres per hour in picking up his eighth World Cup downhill victory. That tied him with Kjetil Jansrud for the third-most downhill wins in the World Cup discipline among Norwegian men. The total trails only Aksel Lund Svindal (14) and Lasse Kjus (10).
Odermatt has been on the podium in all four World Cup races this season as he tries to defend his overall World Cup title. The 25-year-old finished third in the opening downhill of the season last weekend. He’s also won a giant slalom race and a super-G.
Switzerland’s Beat Feuz, who won the Olympic downhill gold medal in Beijing last February, tied for ninth.
The Beaver Creek stop on the circuit comes to a close Sunday with a super-G race at 12 p.m. ET. Odermatt will be the favourite after holding off Kilde in the opening super-G last weekend.
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WATCH | Kilde captures World Cup gold in Lake Louise:
The Norwegian racer clocked in at 1:47.98 to place 1st in the men’s downhill competition at the FIS Alpine World Cup stop in Lake Louise, Alta.
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