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Canadian Para skiers Kurt Oatway and Mollie Jepsen won gold medals at a World Cup stop Saturday in Saalbach, Austria.
Oatway won gold in the men’s sitting super-G race, a day after he took bronze in his first race of the season.
The Calgary native scored Saturday’s win with a time of one minute, 6.25 seconds. The Netherlands’ Niels de Langen (1:06.29) took silver, while Italy’s Renè De Silvestro (1:06.59) rounded out the podium with bronze.
“It was a tight race today, first to fifth was separated by just 0.59 seconds, and being the first sitter down I was sitting on edge for a while but managed to pull off a win today,” Oatway said in a release. “The course set was very challenging, and I could have cleaned a few things up but results speak for themselves.
“It also feels good being on the top spot after dealing with injuries for about a year. These races are setting me up on a solid foundation moving into the rest of season.”
Jepsen, of West Vancouver, B.C., won the women’s standing super-G race in a time of 1:08.35. It marks her eighth podium in 11 races this season.
“I am super happy with today,” Jepsen said. “I’ve been pretty frustrated with my skiing all week and knew I had more in the tank. I skied the way I know I can and have been in training and am really happy to end the Saalbach series with a win.
“It’s been a long time since I took the top spot in a World Cup. After all my injuries I wasn’t sure I would ever wear a leader bib again and I am stoked to walk away with it and even more confidence into the rest of the season.”
Russia’s Varvara Voronchikhina (1:08.40) took silver while France’s Aurelie Richard (1:08.53) snagged bronze.
Michaela Gosselin, of Collingwood, Ont., finished fifth in 1:14.06.
In the men’s standing super-G race, Canadian Alexis Guimond came away with a bronze medal.
The native of Gatineau, Que., won Friday’s super-G event, but finished 0.88 seconds behind France’s Arthur Bauchet (1:03.84) on Saturday. Russia’s Aleksei Bugaev (1:04.45) earned the silver medal.
“It was a good effort today,” Guimond said. “Had some really good skiing sprinkled in there, but made mistakes that cost me. Overall really happy with the way I skied, and the level I brought in this race series. Happy to close it out with a podium.”
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