Canada's Marielle Thompson captures ski cross World Cup opener

Reigning Olympic champion Marielle Thompson of Whistler, B.C., overcame some mistakes to win the FIS ski cross World Cup opener in Val Thorens, France on Friday.

After lagging in the top section of the 1,200-metre track, the 24-year-old pulled into the lead for good after Sweden's Anna Holmlund crashed into teammate Sandra Naeslund.

"I'm happy to have the first win of the season," Thompson told Alpine Canada. "I'm hoping to ski better [Saturday] since I made a few mistakes today. I'll be focusing on the start tomorrow and hoping to dial it in a bit more."

Thompson posted back-to-back victories in last year's doubleheader race on the same track, a staple on the tour since 2013 and one of its longest.

Thompson defeated Kelsey Serwa for gold at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and got the best of the Kelowna, B.C., native in Friday's semifinal. Serwa led the entire way until Thompson closed the gap over the final feature and prevented her teammate from advancing to the next heat by a photo finish.

Serwa dropped to the consolation final to finish eighth ahead of Georgia Simmerling of West Vancouver, B.C., in ninth.

In the men's race, Montreal's Chris Del Bosco and Toronto's Kevin Drury were the top Canadians in fourth and seventh respectively.