Manuel Osborne-Paradis narrowly defeated in men's World Cup downhill

A week made a huge difference for Canada's Manuel Osborne-Paradis, who finished a close second in Saturday's men's World Cup downhill in Kvitfjell, Norway after placing 36th on Feb. 28 in Germany.

Hannes Reichelt claimed his second straight World Cup downhill victory Saturday, travelling down the Olympiabakken course in one minute 29.65 seconds to beat Osborne-Paradis by 0.30 seconds (1:29.95) and Werner Heel of Italy by 0.38​.

"I'm so happy that it worked out and happy to be on the podium," Osborne-Paradis, a 31-year-old native of North Vancouver, B.C., said in a statement released by Alpine Canada. "I want to get good results and I want to be part of the show and it's fun when you actually are."

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Six years ago, Osborne-Paradis won the men's downhill in Kvitfjell, and at one point during Saturday's competition was the fastest-clocked skier at 150 kilometres per hour.

He now has three podium finishes in Kvitfjell after winning the 2009 downhill and finishing second in 2013 in the super-G.

"I like the course," understated Osborne-Paradis. "You can take the risk. It's not a death-defying race by any stretch. You have to know when to push it and when you can just take it easy. It's a great course for me."

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It has been an inconsistent World Cup season for Osborne-Paradis, who began with a second-place finish in the downhill in Lake Louise, Alta., in November and seventh in the opening super-G before tailing off.

While Osborne-Paradis was skiing faster than ever before, it contributed to a pair of high-speed and high-impact falls before the world championships in February.

"I've been dealing with multiple issues, falling a lot and my body not being 100 per cent," he said.

Other Canadian results:

• Benjamin Thomsen, Invermere, BC: 17th (1:30:41)
• Morgan Pridy, Whistler, BC: 48th (1:31:54)
• Broderick Thompson, Whistler: 56th (1:32.66)
• Larisa Yurkiw, Owen Sound, Ont: 11th in women's downhill (1:42.72)

Reichelt, the super-G world champion, cut the gap on discipline leader Kjetil Jansrud to just 24 points going into the final race of the season.

"I had my doubts on whether I could manage it because I like it a little harder," Reichelt said of the soft snow and warm conditions. "It felt a bit like the Austrian championships in spring."

The in-form Austrian was also quickest in Thursday's opening training session and on all three days including training at Garmisch-Partenkirchen last weekend.

It was Reichelt's 11th career victory and third successive downhill podium finish. It also ensured that Austrian skiers have been triumphant in all five races since the world championships.

Reichelt has 485 points ahead of the final downhill race at Meribel, France on Mar. 18, putting pressure on Jansrud, who could have claimed the discipline title on home snow.

Two mistakes cost the Norwegian dearly as he finished 0.54 off the pace.

"Not a downhill I hoped for, for sure, but I think I skied pretty well actually. I was a little surprised coming down and being behind and, well, yeah, it doesn't really flow as good as it used to," the home favorite said.

Reichelt was happy to prolong the suspense.

"It's good the [title] race is still on so there is still some action at the end and everything's not already decided," said the 34-year-old Austrian, who is looking for his first downhill title. "The crystal globe is a big goal of mine."