The door was open to Hannah Schmidt to compete in a second Ski Cross World Cup final this season. Unfortunately, the door closed at the last moment in their semi-final race at the Veysonnaz World Cup in Switzerland on Sunday.
The Mont Tremblant athlete finished her day in seventh place after finishing third in the small final.
In the grand final, Canada’s Tiana Gairns finished third, just ahead of her compatriot Marielle Thompson. Gold went to the Swiss Fanny Smith and silver to the French Jade Grillet-Aubert.
In an all-Canadian semifinal, Schmidt took control of the race as soon as he exited the starting gate. The 28-year-old built a 5-metre lead at half-time but on the track she lost speed in the rolls and was edged out by Thompson and Gairns.
Schmidt was undeterred when she shared her impressions with Sportcom after the race.
“Honestly, it was one of my best runs today. [dimanche]. After the last corner, the guys behind were sheltered from the wind and I made a mistake [en passant mal les rouleaux] ” commented the silver medalist at the second World Cup in December in Val Thorens, France.
“I’m still happy with my day because I’ve had minor injuries over the past few weeks, so it feels good to ski with confidence! »
Participation in a semi-final with three training partners brought the Ottawa-born skier a special seal of approval.
“It’s almost more comfortable to ski with teammates, but it’s also stressful because you don’t want to cause falls. We are still more competitive than in training. »
Jared Schmidt, Hannah’s brother, was 17e of the men after the stop in the second round. Canadian Reece Howden was third behind Sweden’s David Mobaerg and Japan’s Ryo Sugai.
The ski cross World Cup course will be moved to the Ontario resort town of Craigleith for the final stop of the season, which begins Thursday.
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