Canada's Erik Guay wins downhill bronze at Val Gardena

Canadian skier Erik Guay raced to a third place finish on Saturday in a shortened World Cup downhill event due to heavy snowfall at Val Gardena, Italy.

Vancouver's Osborne-Paradis finished 7th

Canada's Erik Guay finished third in the World Cup men's downhill, in Val Gardena, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012. (Alessandro Trovati/Associated Press)

Downhill world champion Erik Guay of Canada took the bronze medal in a shortened World Cup downhill on Saturday because of heavy snowfall and low visibility.

The Mont-Tremblant, Que., skier finished in one minute 29.06 seconds for his first World Cup medal of the season. He finished 14th in Friday's super-G.

Guay raced through thick fog and extremely poor visibility to stand in first place until racers starting 35th and 39th made the most of improving conditions to move in front and deny him a victory.

American skier Steven Nyman won gold while Rok Perko of Slovenia, another late starter, finished second, 0.19 seconds behind Nyman's time of 1:28.82.

"I'm pumped that from top to bottom I was attacking and skiing well. I did pretty much everything I had to do," said Guay. "I definitely feel like I was one of the better skiers out there today. I had a little bit tougher conditions but (the late starters) took advantage of their start position well.

It was Guay's 18th career World Cup medal. The 31-year-old now sits only two behind Steve Podborski, who holds the Canadian record for World Cup podiums with 20.

"Two more podiums and I will [tie] Steve's record," said Guay. "I don't spend my nights dwelling on it but to be able to say I'm the best skier in Canadian history would be something special."

Guay's teammate Manuel Osborne-Paradis, of Vancouver claimed a seventh-place finish.

Overall World Cup leader Aksel Lund Svindal was fifth.

Women's super-G cancelled

The women's World Cup super-G race in the Alpine resort of Val d'Isere has been cancelled because of poor weather conditions.

Organizers decided to call off Saturday's race due to heavy snowfalls in the morning and poor visibility. It has not yet been decided when the race will be rescheduled.

A giant slalom is scheduled Sunday for the nearby resort of Courchevel.

Lara Gut of Switzerland won Friday's downhill in a race in which defending World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn of the United States crashed out.