Jack Crawford becomes first Canadian to win Kitzbuhel downhill event in 42 years
Cameron Alexander finishes third in rare double podium.
Jack Crawford picked up the first downhill skiing World Cup win of his career on Saturday, and became the first Canadian to win on the famed Streif course in Kitzbuhel, Austria in 42 years.
One of the last racers to compete, and after most of the pre-race favourites had gone, Crawford flew down the track in a time of 1:53.64, beating Swiss racer Alexis Monney by 0.08 seconds.
Cameron Alexander finished third, 0.22 seconds back of Crawford, to make it a rare double podium for the Canadians.
For Crawford, his first win came after over 100 starts on the World Cup circuit, so to finally do it at an iconic event like this makes it extra special.
“I've been looking for my first World Cup win for a while and for it to come in Kitzbuehel is surreal. I don't have words to describe the feelings," said Crawford to the media afterwards. “I've had good speed for a while now and I was able to go out today and ski free, with no expectations, and just send it from top to bottom.
“I'm still a little in shock but I think I'll feel the win when I'm hoisting the Kits trophy tonight with my teammates and my parents.”
The last Canadian to win the downhill in Kitzbuehel was Todd Brooker in 1983. Ken Read finished third that day to make it a double podium for Canada, echoing the result on Saturday.
It has been over a decade since two Canadians shared the podium in a downhill World Cup event. In February 2012 Jan Hudec won gold and Erik Guay took bronze in Chamonix, France.
"To celebrate this with Cam in third is incredible," said Crawford. "And it's special to be associated with Todd Brooker and Ken Read. They are legends who have played a role in supporting me in my career."
After Saturday’s result Alexander is in sixth and Crawford sits seventh in the season's downhill Crystal Globe standings.
The alpine world championships begin in ten days at Saalbach-Hinterglemm, another Austrian resort. Crawford was the gold medallist in Super-G, while Alexander finished third in downhill at the 2023 world championships in France. That came after Crawford took the bronze medal in the combined event at the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
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