Canada earns World Cup ski cross golden sweep on home snow
Thompson caps off Crystal Globe-winning season with victory at Blue Mountain
Marielle Thompson found herself in an unfamiliar position in Sunday's ski cross final — in second spot after winning her previous three heats in wire-to-wire victories.
- Marielle Thompson wins gold to clinch ski cross Crystal Globe
- Canada scores double gold in World Cup ski cross
But the most consistent ski-cross racer on the planet simply bided her time as if she was stalking prey, and when she zoomed past Sandra Naeslund of Sweden halfway down the hill, a roar went up from the crowd at Blue Mountain Resort.
Thompson capped her thoroughly dominant World Cup season with a victory, and was presented with her third Crystal Globe as the season's overall champion.
"I think any time I'm behind in a heat I just sit and try to be patient," the 24-year-old from Whistler, B.C., said. "I know there's that big long straightaway at the end and I just needed to wait for my chance and I'm glad it worked out in the end."
The victory was Thompson's seventh on the season, and kicked off an excellent day for Canada.
On the men's side, Brady Leman and Christopher Del Bosco secured gold and silver medals, respectively.
Canada was presented with the Nation's Cup as the top team on the season.
The solid result was the perfect final tune-up for the freestyle world championships which begin Tuesday in Sierra Nevada, Spain.
Thompson, who won gold at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, will have an Olympic-sized target on her back both in Spain and next year in Pyeongchang.
"Obviously it feels great having the confidence going into [the world championships], and then it will make me work extra hard in the summer because I know everyone is going to be gunning for me going into next season," Thompson said. "So I'm going to have to be on top of my game."
Thompson, who took gold in Russia last weekend to clinch the title, defeated Sweden's Sandra Naeslund by .08 seconds, while Ophelie David of France finished third.
Thompson and Leman also produced a golden sweep for Canada last month in Sweden.
"It was a super fun day," said Leman, who was fourth in Sochi. "Amazing atmosphere, crowd was awesome, tons of family here so that was cool, and I was able to have an awesome performance. Great way to end the World Cup season and take some momentum into Sierra Nevada."