SKI CROSS:

Matt wins Grindelwald ski cross, Del Bosco 3rd

March 3, 2011 

GRINDELWALD, Switzerland — Austrian Andreas Matt came from behind to claim men’s ski cross gold at the FIS World Cup in Grindelwald, Switzerland, on Thursday.

The 28-year-old Olympic silver medallist cemented his place at the top of the World Cup standings in the process after his chief rivals Chris Del Bosco of Canada and American John Teller were involved in a tangle that took them out the running in the final.

Finn Jouni Pellinen had to settle for silver again after also finishing second in this year’s World Championships at Deer Valley, while current world champion Del Bosco took bronze to stay second in the overall standings.

The 27-year-old Philip Gasser gave the home crowd something to cheer about when he finished first in the consolation final to take fifth on the day, while Great Britain’s Peter Whelan failed to qualify for the heats.

In the women’s race Norway’s Marte Hoeie Gjefsen gave herself an early birthday present when she took gold ahead of former world champion Ophelie David and German Heidi Zacher.

Hoeie Gjefsen, who turns 22 on Sunday, was the fastest qualifier for the final and held off David, 34, and Zacher, the current World Cup leader, to lead from start to finish in the final.

French veteran David, 34, rolled back the years to snatch silver on the line from Zacher while home favourite Fanny Smith crashed out early on in the final and had to settle for fourth.

Earlier on, the German Anna Worner won the women’s consolation final after narrowly missing out on a place in the final while Britain’s Emily Sarsfield lost out in the quarters.

Canada’s Kelsey Serwa was 10th and Danielle Poleschuk 11th.

“It’s just kind of the way it goes,” said Del Bosco. “The first three heats were really good but the start in the final wasn’t my best.

“The draft was pretty big here and we got pulled in weird spots. I was staying a little out of the draft but John got pulled and I landed (after a jump) with one of my skis between his legs. I managed to stay up but lost speed.”

Canada’s men dominated qualification Wednesday with five skiers finishing in the top 10. But all five Canadians were bunched together in the bottom half of the draw and only Del Bosco made it through to the final.

Whistler’s Davey Barr, who finished seventh overall, was eliminated at the semifinal stage in a heat won by Del Bosco. Dave Duncan of Golden, B.C., and Toronto’s Nik Zoricic went out in the quarterfinals and finished ninth and 11th, respectively. Brian Bennett of Quesnel, B.C., who was second-fastest in qualification, was 17th.

“It was good to see the depth of the men’s team coming back,” said Eric Archer, Canada’s head coach, who added that as the snow became softer the bottom of the course became ripe for drafting and passing. “Everyone except Brian moved into the quarterfinals. Zoricic was out front in his heat but he was kind of a sitting duck.”

“I think everybody would have liked to do a little better but it’s tough,” said Del Bosco of the Canadians having to battle against each other in the same part of the draw.

“We are all skiing well so hopefully it will be the same thing in qualifying on Saturday and we will be spread out in the finals.”

On the women’s side, world champion Serwa, of Kelowna, B.C., and Calgary’s Poleschuk were eliminated in the first heats of the day. Serwa, who had been hoping to make up ground on overall World Cup leader Heidi Zacher of Germany, also fell victim to drafting lower down the course in her quarterfinal. She finished 10th overall, with Poleschuk placing 11th.

“The girl was able to sit in her draft,” said Archer of Serwa’s heat, in which the X Games champion was third behind Germany’s Anna Woerner and Austria’s Katrin Ofner. “There’s not much you can do about that.”

The Canadian team headed straight on the road after Thursday’s event, with the next World Cup race set for Sunday at Meiringen-Hasliberg, Switzerland.

— Canada Ski Cross and Eurosport contributed to this report

Grindelwald men's World Cup ski cross results

Grindelwald women's World Cup ski cross results