Ski Cross World Cup in Nakiska – Twice third place: Viva and Smith convince – Sport

• Alex Fiva and Fanny Smith finished third at the Ski Cross World Cup in Nakiska (Canada).
• Victory goes to Canada for both men and women.
• World Cup leader Sandra Naslund has injured her knee.

Alex Fiva was actually on the verge of being knocked out: in the semi-final heat he was in third place with seemingly no chance before the two Germans in front of him, Florian Wilmsmann and Niklas Bachsleitner, fired at each other. The Graubünden native took advantage and reached the final – his first since returning after tearing his cruciate ligament in December.

Fiva also got off to a very poor start in the final round, but worked their way up one place and thus onto the podium. Third place equates to a 30th podium finish for the experienced Graubünden driver. The win went to local Rhys Howdin ahead of Terence Cheknavorian of France.

The other Swiss men remained unachieved: Jonas Lehnherr was eliminated in the quarter-finals, and Gilles Martin was also eliminated one round earlier.

Smith was kept at bay by a Canada double

Fanny Smith once again provided the second light from a Swiss perspective. Vaudois also came in third, her 72nd World Cup podium. Smith – who was actually a starter – also fouled out early in the final, but capitalized on a mistake by France's Marielle Berger Sabatiel. Above, locals Hannah Schmidt and Marielle Thompson celebrated a double victory.

Talina Gantenbein came in fifth place as the second best Swiss woman: she stumbled narrowly in the semi-final and then won the small final. She led one race: both opponents fell early. The competition consisted of only 3 contestants because Sandra Neslund, the World Cup leader and dominant champion last winter, did not compete in the semi-finals after successfully reaching the quarter-finals. According to preliminary information, the Swedish woman injured her knee while driving.

Sistine Cousin, in the second race in San Candido She celebrated her first World Cup win, but this time she couldn't go any further. In a tight quarter-final heat with the aforementioned Näslund and Berger Sabbatel, the 24-year-old was eliminated from Geneva on her debut. She had no chance and lost a huge two seconds to finish second.