Branas, Sweden – Canada’s Marielle Thompson and Brady Leman will head to next week’s World Cup finals leading the race for a coveted Crystal Globe after moving to the top of the overall women’s and men’s ski cross standings with first and fourth place finishes, respectively, in Branas, Sweden, on Saturday.

Thompson, of Whistler, British Columbia, claimed her second victory and fifth podium of a breakout season after leading the women’s final from start to finish to open up a 10-point lead over French veteran Ophelie David in the ski cross World Cup rankings. Leman, of Calgary, Alberta, wrote the next chapter of his storybook comeback from injury by finishing fourth in the men’s final to reclaim the red leader’s bib and move seven points ahead of Switzerland’s Alex Fiva in the race for the men’s World Cup title.

Canada’s ski cross team has won the Nations’ Cup as overall ski cross World Cup champions for the past three years but Canada has never won an individual ski cross Crystal Globe. This year’s title races will be decided at back-to-back men’s and women’s races in Grindelwald, Switzerland, next weekend.

“It would be really cool to do it in one or the other or even both in the same season,” said Canadian head coach Eric Archer of the race for men’s and women’s Crystal Globes. “At this point you can’t really count your chickens because it is a tight race and it has been flip-flopping the last few races.”

Thompson, 19, recorded her first career World Cup podium with a third-place finish in the season-opener in Innichen/San Candido, Italy, on Dec. 17, and she’s been on a tear ever since. On Saturday, she used her explosive start to power to victory in the quarter-final, semifinal and then the final.

“The start was definitely a big part of the race. In the final I heard a few screams out of the start – girls getting tangled up – so I was glad I got out of there in front,” Thompson said.

Switzerland’s Emilie Serain was second and French veteran Ophelie David was third. Thompson leads the ladies’ World Cup standings with 490 points and David sits second with 480. Switzerland’s Katrin Mueller, who was fourth on Saturday, is third in the World Cup standings with 405 points.

“It’s pretty cool to have the red bib,” Thompson said. “I didn’t really expect that this year but it’s definitely a good spot to be standing in going into the last two races. It’s so tight on the women’s side as well. I don’t want to get my hopes up. I just want to keep it going.”

Leman, who had a long road back to the World Cup circuit after breaking his leg three times, won his first heat, placed second in his quarter-final and then powered his way from third to first in a thrilling semifinal. In the final he found himself in second place and decided to push for the win.

“Just coming into the turn I came up a hair short on the double and lost my skis at the turn and loaded up and . . . went off course,” Leman explained. “The other two guys went by me and as I was coming back in there was a little bit of contact with one of the other racers which probably slowed both of us down and caused me to miss a gate.

“My mentality in the final was to try and win. I was taking risks and unfortunately made a little bit of a mistake. It’s weird to be kinda happy and disappointed all at once. To get all the way to the finals and finish fourth is definitely disappointing.”

Finland’s Jouni Pellinen won the men’s final ahead of Slovenia’s Filip Flisar and Austria’s Andreas Matt – last year’s Crystal Globe winner. Leman now leads the men’s ski cross World Cup standings with 425 points. Switzerland’s Alex Fiva is second with 418 points and world champion Chris Del Bosco, of Montreal, Quebec – who was ninth on Saturday – is fifth with 346 points.

“It was nice to get the red bib back after it was all said and done,” Leman said. “I’m really trying not to think about it too much, just because it’s such a tight race. There are five or six guys within 100 points and there’s still 200 points up for grabs. It’s an unbelievable position to be in to have this chance coming back off injury this year. It would be unreal to close out but I’m just going to take it race to race.”

Canada leads the overall ski cross Nations’ Cup standings with 1,903 points. Switzerland is second with 1,672 points. The final two World Cup races of the season are scheduled for March 10 and 11 in Grindelwald.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Ski Cross World Cup
Branas, Sweden – Mar. 3, 2012

Women:

Men: