McIvor wins silver in World Cup skicross

Canada's Ashleigh McIvor raced to a second-place finish in skicross at a freestyle World Cup event Sunday at San Candido, Italy.

The Olympic gold medallist from Whistler, B.C., lost to Fanny Smith of Switzerland. Heidi Zacher of Germany was third, while Anna Holmlund of Sweden, who won Saturday's race, was fourth.

McIvor, who was in third place midway through the final, was heading toward the finish line behind Smith and Holmlund. She said she felt the win was within reach but came up just short.

"I know Fanny is a really good skier, she’s super dialled-in with her technical ability. So I just stayed right on her the whole way down and waited for an opportunity to get by Anna," said McIvor.

Smith and McIvor eventually overtook Holmlund.

"I pulled out to pass [Fanny] off the last jump and didn’t quite catch her," said McIvor, who said she was pleased with the result, particularly considering the previous day’s seventh-place finish.

"Yesterday I was pretty frustrated with myself," she said. "I had strong starts. I just kept blowing it at the same corner."

Silver for Serwa

McIvor's medal comes a day after Kelsey Serwa of Kelowna, B.C., finished second in a skicross World Cup on the same hill.

McIvor also said she's enjoying a less stressful post-Olympic year.

"This course was so much fun. There was nice weather. There is a really positive atmosphere and positive energy flowing," said McIvor. "It was a really intense race.

"There was some good solid passes here and there. That’s the way skicross should be, it’s a spectator sport. There should be lots of passing and some jostling here and there."

Scott Kneller of Australia won the men's final, finishing ahead of Switzerland's Alex Fiva and John Teller of the United States, with Tomas Kraus of the Czech Republic taking fourth.