Combaluzier and Jepsen back on podium at World Para Snow Sports Championships

Photo: Michaela Gosselin ( courtesy of IPC)

LILLEHAMMER, Norway – Alpine skiers Katie Combaluzier of Toronto and Mollie Jepsen of West Vancouver won a silver and bronze medal respectively in the women’s giant slalom races on Thursday at the World Para Snow Sports Championships.

Their podium performances brought Team Canada’s medal total to 10 (five silver and five bronze) after eight days of competition.

In the women’s sitting GS, Laurie Stephens of the U.S. won the gold medal followed by Combaluzier, a national team rookie looking to earn a berth on her first Paralympic team for the Games in March. Shona Brownlee of Great Britain was third.

‘’I still have lot of room for improvement,’’ said Combaluzier. ‘’I’m hungry for more work.’’

Eight-time Paralympic Games champion Marie Bochet of France was the victor in the women’s standing GS clocking two minutes and 30.65 seconds. Varvara Voronchikhina of the Russian Paralympic Committee was second in 2:31.25 and Jepsen third in 2:31.44.

It was Jepsen’s third medal of the competition – she also took silver in the Super G and bronze in the downhill. Including this season’s World Cups she has reached the podium in all nine of her international races so far in 2021-22.

‘’At the end of the day I’m happy with the result but it wasn’t my best skiing,’’ said the 22-year-old Jepsen, a quadruple medallist at the 2018 Paralympic Games. ‘’I was more aggressive on the second run after leaving some stuff on the first run.’’

In the same race Michaela Gosselin of Collingwood, Ont. was sixth.

Canada’s Para snowboarders are back in action at the worlds on Friday with the snowboard cross after winning four medals in the banked slalom last Friday. Also on the schedule is the men’s slalom in alpine skiing.

These worlds also feature Para nordic skiing (cross country and biathlon) but the Canadian Para nordic team decided to skip the event and pursue their training at home.

For more information, please visit the event’s official website at Paralympic.org/lillehammer-2021.

Live streaming of the competition is available via the International Paralympic Committee’s YouTube channel.