Marielle Thompson battles to ski cross World Cup silver

Marielle Thompson raced her way to a silver medal in the big final of a ski cross World Cup event in Idre Fjall, Sweden, on Saturday.

It's the second silver medal this season for the 2014 Olympic champion from North Vancouver, B.C., and her third podium. 

Heidi Zacher of Germany won the race, followed by Thompson, while Fanny Smith of Switzerland took bronze.

This is Thompson's 34th career-podium on the World Cup circuit.

"The conditions were pretty challenging with a lot of wind and aggressive, slow snow, so we had to make some adjustments," said Thompson. "But I skied really well in every heat and managed to be patient in the final where I was fourth going into the final straightaway. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's race and hopefully make an improvement on second."

Rounding out the Canadian results, Brittany Phelan was fifth while Pyeongchang champ Kelsey Serwa was seventh.

"I'm really happy with my skiing today, technically and tactically," said Phelan. "I got a bit unlucky in semis that resulted in me crashing, but I'm really happy to have won the small final and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

WATCH | Marielle Thompson takes silver in Sweden

Marielle Thompson claims silver in World Cup ski cross

6 years ago

Duration 3:30

Canadian Marielle Thompson places 2nd in the big final of a ski cross World Cup event in Idre Fjall, Sweden.

Alex Fiva of Switzerland took the win on the men's side, while Bastien Midol of France and Daniel Traxer of Austria rounding out the podium.

Only Montreal's Chris Del Bosco, Calgary's Brady Leman and Toronto's Kevin Drury competed in the eights, with none able to move forward.

Del Bosco was the top Canadian, finishing 20th, while Leman and Drury landed in 22nd and 28th respectively. Zach Belczyk of Banff, Alta., and Kevin MacDonald of Mississauga, Ont., were 37th and 41st.

WATCH | 2014 Olympic champ Thompson featured in an episode of Don't Cross Me:

Real story of Marielle Thompson's 'free' car, told here

6 years ago

Duration 4:43

2014 Winter Olympic ski cross champion Marielle Thompson is asked some peculiar questions by CBC Sports' Anson Henry in another episode of Don't Cross Me.