Marcoux, Jepsen, Guimond return to World Cup podium

KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia – Mac Marcoux and his guide Tristan Rodgers remained undefeated this season while Mollie Jepsen and Alexis Guimond each added a silver medal in Monday’s giant slalom races to open the third stop on the Para alpine skiing World Cup circuit.

In the men’s visually impaired GS, Marcoux and Rodgers continued their dominant season clocking a two-run time of one minute and 50.68 seconds. Paralympic Games champion Giacomo Bertagnolli took the silver in 1:53.95 and Marek Kubacka of Slovakia was third in 1:54.01.

Marcoux and Rodgers, in their first World Cup season together, won all five races (three super G’s and two GS) at the season opening stop earlier this month in Veysonnaz, Switzerland.

With the exception of Frédérique Turgeon, the Canadian skiers did not compete at the second stop this past weekend in Italy.

Absent all of last season due to injury, Marcoux, from Sault Ste Marie, Ont., has now won his last 10 World Cup races going back to 2018 according to his World Para Snow Sports stats sheet.

Meanwhile Jepsen also continued her solid start to the 2020 campaign after she sat out 2019 after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

In the women’s standing GS, China’s Mengqiu Zhang took the gold in 1:59.57 over two runs. Jepsen, from Whistler, had the fastest second run but it wasn’t enough to catch Zhang as she clocked 1:59.77 overall for her fifth World Cup medal this season. Mel Pemble of Victoria was fifth.

In the men’s standing GS, Arthur Bauchet of France also won a 10th straight World Cup race clocking 1:50.00 with Guimond second in 1:53.10 and Thomas Walsh of the U.S. third in 1:53.30. 

Guimond is also off to a hot start with four medals so far on the circuit in 2020.