Third consecutive victory for Jared Schmidt at Ski Cross World Cup

Jared Schmidt has scored a third consecutive victory on the FIS Ski Cross World Cup circuit. Following his gold medals in Val Thorens and Arosa, Schmidt won the first event in Innichen, Italy, on Thursday. His sister Hannah Schmidt, who also won gold in Arosa last week, took bronze in the women’s race.

Schmidt led the men’s final from start to finish, managing to hold off a late surge from Frenchman Nicolas Raffort. Another Frenchman, Youri Duplessis Kergomard, took third place. Unlike the race in Arosa, where the skiers started in the rain, the weather conditions in Innichen today were conducive to fast racing.

This third win in a row keeps Schmidt in first place in the overall men’s ski cross World Cup standings. He won his first career World Cup race less than a fortnight ago in Val Thorens at the second World Cup race of the season.

Canadians Carson Cook and Reece Howden took second and fourth place respectively in the small final to finish sixth and eighth in the event.

In the women’s final, Hannah Schmidt finished third, ahead of France’s Marielle Sabbatel Berger at the photo finish. Sweden’s Sandra Naeslund, winner of the discipline’s crystal globe for the last two seasons, won the race ahead of Switzerland’s Fanny Smith.

This is Hannah Schmidt’s second medal of the season, after she and her brother Jared achieved a golden double last week in Arosa. The 29-year-old now has a total of three World Cup medals in her career.

In the women’s small final, Marielle Thompson took second place, finishing sixth in the event, while Brittany Phelan finished fourth, good for eighth in the standings.

A women’s event and a men’s event will be held on Friday, also in Innichen.