Canada's Jack Crawford keeps coming up big on skiing's brightest stages
Clutch performer adds stunning world title to his Olympic bronze
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Almost exactly one year from the day he captured an improbable Olympic bronze medal, Canadian ski racer Jack Crawford pulled off an even bigger surprise today at the alpine world championships in France, slaying several giants of the sport to win gold in the men's super-G.
The 25-year-old from Toronto, who'd never reached the podium at the world championships and has never won on the World Cup tour, put down a fearless run on a fast course to clip reigning World Cup super-G champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway by 0.01 of a second. Kilde was a double medallist at last year's Olympics and currently ranks second in the World Cup super-G and overall standings.
Crawford also defeated Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, the reigning World Cup overall champ who is dominating again this season. Odermatt has reached the podium in all six World Cup super-G races, including four wins, but he finished fourth today despite the course being set up by a Swiss coach to play to his strengths.
The Moment | Canada's Jack Crawford shocks the world in men's super-G in France:
France's Alexis Pinturault pinched the bronze from Odermatt, two days after the Frenchman won the world title in the combined event (a super-G/slalom hybrid) in his hometown of Courchevel.
"Honestly, I'm in disbelief," said Crawford. "Winning a race in general has been a dream of mine since I was young. For it to come in a world championships is amazing."
Crawford's gold is just the fourth by a Canadian man in the history of the alpine world championships, which started in 1931, and the first since Erik Guay won the men's super-G six years ago. Canadian women have captured 11 world titles, but none since Mélanie Turgeon's downhill win 20 years ago.
Crawford is earning a reputation for rising to the occasion at the biggest events. He arrived at the Beijing Winter Olympics last February without a single top-level medal to his name and promptly almost stole a downhill bronze, placing fourth by an agonizing 0.07 of a second. Undaunted, Crawford rebounded to take bronze in the combined on Feb. 9.
Since then, Crawford has captured his first three medals on the World Cup circuit — first grabbing silver in a super-G last March before adding a downhill silver and bronze this season. He currently ranks sixth in the downhill standings and 12th in the chase for the overall crystal globe, emblematic of the top all-around ski racer on tour.
WATCH | Crawford reflects on world super-G gold with CBC Sports' Brenda Irving:
A decade ago, Crawford played on a school hockey team with Connor McDavid, who's also from the Toronto area. The experience showed Crawford that he'd better focus on skiing. "I don't doubt that I could have been a pretty good hockey player, but watching him kind of cruise around the ice is a similar way that I watch Odermatt ski," Crawford said today. "For some reason, he's just better than everybody else." Read more about Crawford's stunning super-G world title and watch highlights and analysis of his victory here.
The alpine world championships take a break tomorrow before resuming with the women's downhill Saturday and the men's downhill Sunday. Watch them both live at 5 a.m. ET on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
WATCH | Canadian Olympian Stemmle discusses Crawford's gold:
