Jack Crawford and Cam Alexander bring a combination of confidence and hunger to the world alpine ski championship.
The duo recently electrified ski racing when Toronto’s Crawford became the first Canadian in 42 years to win the downhill on Kitzbuhel’s historic and gnarly Streif course in Austria.
Alexander of North Vancouver, B.C., joined his teammate on the podium in third for Canada’s first double podium in a World Cup downhill since 2012.
The biennial world championship starting Tuesday at the Austrian resort in Saalbach-Hinterglemm will be their first races since Kitzbuhel.
Sunday’s downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, was cancelled due to fog.
The world championship is a performance indicator on the Canadians’ road to the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy.
Crawford, called “Jack” more often than “James”, is the defending world super-G champion. Alexander was a downhill bronze medallist two years ago in Courcheval, France.
“Standing on the super-G podium, that was incredible,” Crawford recalled. “That was a huge success for my career, being able to claim a world champs medal.
WATCH | What Canadians need to know about alpine worlds:
Our CBC Sports team previews the Alpine World SKI Championships in Saalbac, Austria.
“There’s other things I’d like to be able to accomplish at the world championships like a downhill. It would also be very cool to be able to contend again to defend my super-G title. I don’t know how many times in a career you get that opportunity.
“For me, going into the world championship, it’s just about staying hungry and really trying to find every little thing I can do to be faster.”
Starting Tuesday at 9:15 a.m. ET, live streaming coverage through the 13-day event will be available on CBCSports.ca, CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
The championship opens Tuesday with team parallel slalom followed by women’s and men’s super-G on Thursday and Friday respectively. The women’s and men’s downhills go Saturday and Sunday respectively.
WATCH | Crawford earns maiden World Cup victory in Kitzbuhel downhill:
Canada’s Jack Crawford wins the men’s World Cup downhill race on the famed Hahnenkamm in Kitzbuhel, Austria with the winning time of 1:53.64.
”Give it everything you’ve got’
Crawford’s super-G crown two years ago in Courcheval inspired Alexander for the downhill race there.
“Winning would be really special. It was very cool to see Jack do that last time. It gave me a little bit of boost for the downhill,” Alexander said. “I give him a little bit of credit there. I look forward to laying it all out there. These one-shot races are a unique opportunity where you just have to give it everything you’ve got. If you mess up, you mess up.
“You always take confidence from big results, but you need to continue to always be looking to go super hard because everybody is going to be really hard and pushing all the time and that’s what it takes every race. I can’t expect because I did well in one spot that I’m going to be good at the other.”
The 2023 world championship was Canada’s most successful, and this year’s team is poised for more success.
“Our Canadian women have really supported each other, and pushed one another, with some showing great resilience in coming back from injuries,” said Laurent Praz, head coach of the national women’s team. “There have been some very positive results from Britt [Phelan], Laurence [St-Germain] and Val [Grenier], and really from all the athletes this season.”
St-Germain, the reigning women’s slalom champion from Saint-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que., is one to watch Feb. 15 as she attempts a repeat.
Grenier, who hails from St-Isidore, Ont., is a two-time World Cup winner in giant slalom. The women’s GS is Feb. 13 in Saalbach.
Canada roster
- Ali Nullmeyer, Toronto
- Amelia Smart, Invermere, B.C.
- Britt Richardson, Canmore, Alta.
- Brodie Seger, North Vancouver, B.C.
- Cam Alexander, North Vancouver
- Cassidy Gray, Panorama, B.C.
- Erik Read, Canmore, Alta.
- Jack Crawford, Toronto
- Jeffrey Read, Canmore, Alta.
- Laurence St-Germain, Saint-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que.
- Riley Seger, North Vancouver
- Val Grenier, St-Isidore, Ont.
Alexander and Crawford, both 27, rank sixth and seventh in the world in downhill, with Alexander holding the No. 7 spot in super-G.
The latter discipline is the strength of the Canadian men. While they were held off the podium, five finished in the top-30 in Kitzbuehel’s super-G.
WATCH | Alexander races to bronze in Kitzbuhel downhill:
Cam Alexander from North Vancouver, B.C., finishes third in the men’s World Cup downhill race in Kitzbuhel, Austria. Alexander joins the winner and countryman Jack Crawford on the podium.
“There’s a lot of hyper-fixation right now on this result in Kitzbuhel, which was awesome and a great achievement,” said men’s downhill coach John Kucera, who was the men’s world downhill champion in 2009 in Val-d’Isere, France.
“Nobody in this room is surprised. We’ve been at this level for a while. It’s cool that it came together in Kitz because it’s such a famed venue, but for us, it’s important that we don’t want to get over-comfortable or overly confident.
“The team has delivered consistent results and shown steady improvement this season with guys in the mix at every race,” Kucera told Alpine Canada. “There have been some big moments, like Jack and Cam’s Kitzbühel podiums, and there have been equally important results like Brodie [Seger] being in the points in seven of his eight races this season.”
Saalbach’s season-ending men’s downhill was cancelled last year due to bad weather, although the men got a super-G in that weekend.
“Saalbach is a course we have a decent amount of experience on,” Alexander said. “There’s flat and it’s technical. We can excel in any of those. Hopefully it’s a spot that, if we put it together, it’ll be a good day.”
World championships mimic the performance-on-demand environment of an Olympic Games, so Saalbach offers a mindset dress rehearsal for Bormio’s Olympic course in just over a year.
“Olympic Games and world championships are special because you only get so many in your career to compete in and they’re races that aren’t every year,” said Crawford, who was the alpine combined Olympic bronze medallist in 2022.
“Being able to show up to those races through a career and be able to claim medals is super special.”
