Canada's Cameron Alexander speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill race, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Gabriele Facciotti

BORMIO, Italy - Canada's Cameron Alexander earned World Cup bronze in men's downhill on Saturday at the host venue for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.

This is the North Vancouver, B.C., native's fourth career podium and second year in a row finishing third in Bormio, Italy.

"This place has been good to me the last couple of years, and it feels great to be back on the podium," said Alexander. "You really need to push here and be on top of your skis the whole way down.

"I’ve managed to do that the last couple of races here and got some good results.”

Alexander, who won Friday’s training, was sixth out of the gate and stood in second until Switzerland's Alexis Monney, the eventual winner, came down 13 racers later.

Alexander finished 0.72 seconds behind Monney, to push Italian skier Mattia Casse off the podium by seven hundredths of a second — much to the disappointment of the passionate local fans.

Two other Canadian men raced the Stelvio, with Toronto's James Crawford coming in 17th and Jeffrey Read of Canmore, Alta., placing 34th, missing out on scoring World Cup points by just 0.14 of a second.

"It'll be great to have the Olympics here in '26," said Alexander. "It’s a track that we have a ton of experience on, and a track that I’ve had some success on.

"I think I’ll bring some good confidence to my skiing here, and it should be exciting."

Monney claimed his first World Cup victory in a downhill after a rare mistake from his lauded teammate Marco Odermatt.

It appeared as if Franjo Van Allmen, fourth out of the gate, was set to triumph after the big names failed to beat his run down the famed Stelvio course in Bormio.

But Monney, who started 19th, put down an even bolder run to finish 0.24 seconds ahead of his compatriot in a Swiss one-two.

Monney had never been on a World Cup podium before and had only two top-10 finishes to his name — 10th in Wengen in 2023 and eighth in Kitzbühel last January.

“It is a crazy day,” Monney said. “It is amazing and I am happy. It will be one of the best memories of my life.

“I came to the start and the plan stayed the same as this morning and yesterday. I was really focused and I knew that what I had in my head was good.”

Odermatt was fifth, 0.80 behind Monney, but it could have been worse for the defending downhill champion had he not made an extraordinary recovery.

Odermatt made an uncharacteristic error mid-course that sent his skis in opposite directions, but the three-time overall champion somehow managed to get back into position to finish and remain top of the downhill and overall standings.

“I am lucky to be on my feet,” said Odermatt, who lost even more time as his near-crash caused his airbag to open.

“Fortunately, that was the first time in my life that it deployed," Odermatt said. "A false deployment and yet I believe that the airbag had to deploy at that moment. It was anything but a natural movement.

"And that’s why I’m glad it opened, even though there are certainly easier things than riding with an open airbag.”

Odermatt was full of praise for his younger teammates.

“This is really amazing," he said. “They ski so well, they deserve everything that comes to them. I’m really happy to be a part of their success a little bit, although they do it themselves.

“In our team, nobody is the boss. We are all on a similar level, we try to help each other, we try to have fun, they are all very kind, funny guys.”

The Swiss team is dominating the downhill this season. Justin Murisier won the first downhill in Beaver Creek and Odermatt triumphed in Val Gardena last weekend, where Van Allmen also finished second.

They occupy the top four positions in the downhill standings: Odermatt leads from Van Allmen, Murisier and Monney.

“It is really cool, we have a really great team spirit," Van Allmen said. "Marco is not just happy when he wins, he is also really happy when another one wins, or does a great result. It gives us motivation.”

Ryan Cochran-Siegle walked away from a huge crash on the slope set to be used for the 2026 Winter Olympics. The American skier appeared on course for at least a podium place after leading following the first three splits, until he made a miscalculation and crashed through a gate.

He was swiftly back on his feet, though, much to everyone's relief, especially after a horror crash for last year's winner Cyprien Sarrazin in training on Friday.

The French skier is recovering after an operation on Friday night to drain a bleed near the brain.

On Sunday, there is a super-G scheduled in Bormio.

— With files from The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 28, 2024.

News from © The Associated Press, 2024