North Van skier Cameron Alexander bags bronze in first world championship race
It has been an impressive world championship debut for local skier Cameron Alexander, who will be returning from the 2023 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in France with a bronze medal in men’s downhill.
The North Vancouver sportsman beat fellow teammate James (Jack) Crawford, from Toronto, to the podium, clocking in at one minute 47.94 seconds.
“This means everything,” said Alexander.
“I’m very, very happy, it’s the greatest feeling in the world. The guys here are so fast, I knew that I had to bring my best skiing and to push all the way down.”
He said he had begun talking to himself in the final moments, gearing himself up to ensure he kept pushing.
In the Sunday race, Alexander had started 20th on the challenging l’Éclipse track in Courchevel, delivering a solid run from top to bottom to whizz past Crawford and the other skiers.
He came 0.89 seconds behind gold winner Marco Odermatt of Switzerland, while Crawford, who was racing two days after his gold medal performance in the super-G, finished fifth – making it his second top 5 of this world championships.
Alexander said Crawford’s gold had given all the team a boost of confidence.
“Our group really pushes each other in training and his win showed us that our best skiing has a shot at the podium,” he said.
“We’ve all been working so hard for so long; I know that it’s just a matter of time for the rest of the guys. [We’re] going to celebrate this and [are] looking forward to building on it.”
While Alexander and Crawford bagged impressive spots in the top 5, fellow North Vancouver sportsman Brodie Seger, who had finished second in the final downhill training, did not manage to finish the race at all.
After an awkward post-jump landing injured his right knee, Seger had to be taken off the hill via stretcher.
The championship racing continues on Tuesday with the team parallel before wrapping up on Sunday, with the men’s slalom.
Mina Kerr-Lazenby is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
