Norwegians crowd parallel podium at alpine worlds

Norwegian skiers collected three of the six medals in the individual parallel events at the Alpine skiing world championships on Wednesday.

Maria Therese Tviberg of Norway and Alexander Schmid of Germany won gold in the women's and men's races, respectively.

Tviberg beat Wendy Holdener of Switzerland in the women's final and Schmid beat Dominik Raschner of Austria in the men's final.

Norwegians earned bronze in both events, with Thea Louise Stjernesund finishing third in the women's event and Timon Haugan in the men's event.

"We train it every year. Not everybody prepares for it," Tviberg said. "We think every medal counts and we try to go for it."

Norway also finished second to the United States in the team parallel race on Tuesday, having won the world title two years ago — to go with team event bronzes at the last two Olympics.

Tviberg cried after the semifinal when she realized she had earned the first individual podium result of her career, then threw her white gloves into the air after the final.

"It's really emotional for me," she said.

WATCH | Men's and women's parallel:

FIS Alpine world ski championships: Men's and women's parallel

2 years ago

Duration 2:02:15

Watch the men's and women's parallel races at the FIS Alpine world ski championships in Meribel, France.

Holdener earned her second silver of the competition, having also finished second in the combined race that opened worlds.

Stjernesund took the bronze when local favorite Marie Lamure of France lost her left ski midway down in the small final.

Schmid helped Germany to the silver medal in the team event at last year's Beijing Olympics and was on the team that took bronze at the last worlds, when he finished fourth in the individual parallel.

Four of Schmid's five World Cup podium results have also come in either individual or team parallel.

"I'm really proud of myself," Schmid said.

Racers took a rope tow back up to the finish after each of their runs in the four-round, direct elimination event.

A day prior, the Canadian team of Valerie Grenier, Jeffrey Read, Britt Richardson and Erik Read captured bronze in the team parallel event.

WATCH | Canadians capture bronze:

Canada wins record-tying 3rd medal at Alpine worlds with bronze in mixed team parallel event

2 years ago

Duration 19:49

Valerie Grenier, Jeffrey Read, Britt Richardson and Erik Read gave Canada a record-tying bronze medal in the mixed team parallel event at the FIS Alpine world ski championships in Meribel, France. Despite tying Austria with two wins apiece in the small final, Canada won the tiebreaker because Valerie Grenier posted the fastest time among the women and Jeffrey Read posted the fastest time among the men.

Tuesday's bronze in the team parallel event matches Canada's medal total of three from the 1958, 1968 and 2017 worlds. 

WATCH | Read reacts to historic medal:

Erik Read on Canada's team bronze: 'Pretty cool to walk away with a medal'

2 years ago

Duration 0:52

CBC Sports' Brenda Irving interviewed Valerie Grenier, Britt Richardson and Erik and Jeffrey Read after they won a bronze medal in the mixed team parallel event at the FIS Alpine world ski championships in Meribel, France.