Ski Cross, Men

The difficult course saw multiple crashes that took out many of the favorites. Canadian Christopher Del Bosco and Swiss Alex Fiva both went out in the 1/8th-finals, while Austrian Andreas Matt, the 2010 silver medalist, failed to make the semi-finals. The final came down to three Frenchmen, led by 2013 World Champion Jean-Frédéric Chapuis, and Canadian Brady Leman. The result was as unlikely as it could be as Chapuis won the gold medal, leading a French medal sweep, followed by Arnaud Bovolenta and Jonathan Midol.

Despite Chapuis’s 2013 World title, he had won only one World Cup race in 32 starts, and Bovolenta and Midol had never even made a World Cup podium previously. Bovolenta’s previous best result was a sixth place earned earlier in the season at Val Thorens, while Midol’s best World Cup finish was a fourth place in 2012/13 at Les Contamines. Midol’s brother, Bastien, was much better known, having won the silver medal at the 2013 Worlds. Jonathan Midol fell shortly before the finish of the final and sprawled across the finish line for his bronze, but Leman could not contest the medal, having skidded and fallen early in the final run, conceding the medals to the French threesome.

The carnage from the course was best typified in the first quarter-final, won by Switzerland’s Armin Niederer, who was the only skiier to cross the line standing. Behind him three skiiers crashed and fell near the finish, with Russian Yegor Korotkov finishing second as he rolled over the line.