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In the last World Cup winter, three exceptional athletes shared the victories in the speed disciplines: Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (6 downhills, 2 super-G), Vincent Kriechmayr (4 downhills) and Marco Odermatt (6 super-G). This mega trio is likely to face stiff competition this season from the resurgent South Tyrolean Dominik Paris (victorious downhill in Val Gardena) and from the Canadian James Crawford. The 26-year-old from Ontario has already fulfilled a lifelong dream with the gold medal in the Super-G at the recent World Championships.
Over the summer, Crawford has become even more consistent. In Val Gardena he finished in the top 6 three times in three races. And this week in Bormio he finds an avenue where he can make even better use of his excellent skills.
Coach threatens: “He still has enormous reserves!”
In the last training session, James, who is called Jack by his teammates, lost 2.49 seconds to Kilde’s best time. But Canadian speed assistant coach Jonas Haehlen says very coolly: “Crawford didn’t even come close to revealing his cards in training, he has enormous reserves.”
Former Swiss ski head coach Martin Rufener was instrumental in Crawford’s brilliant development. When the Bernese Oberlander was head coach in Canada between 2012 and 2019, he built a “Future Group” around Crawford and Alexander Cameron (World Cup bronze winner downhill), which is still led today by ex-world downhill champion John Kucera.
Marco Odermatt also became aware of his North American cohort early on. «In 2010 I took part in the Canadian Whistler U16 race. If I remember correctly, James won that time. Like me, he is now a member of the Red Bull team. That’s why I know him well, but privately we don’t have a very close relationship.”
It is quite possible that Odermatt and Crawford will come relatively close to each other on the podium in Bormio.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
