Canadian exceptionalism in sports was on full display at the World Cup Ski Cross at the Nakiska Ski Resort in Kananaskis.
Reece Howden and Hannah Schmidt represented Canada at the event and added two gold medals to their hardware collection.
Measuring 6’3”, Howden’s nickname is Big Rig. The 25-year-old from British Columbia earned his first World Cup victory in Nakiska in January 2020.
Last month’s World Cup at the Nakiska Ski Resort was a trip down memory lane for Howden.
To mark the occasion, he earned his tenth career World Cup victory at the same place he earned his first.
Howden is a powerhouse who has won the overall men’s title two of the last three years. But his win at the World Cup was his first this season.
“I just had to believe in the system, believe in what I’ve been doing, working on in the gym and stuff like that, and just have faith that eventually things are going to start to work out,” said Howden.
Howden started skiing when he was two years old. He was an alpine skier until he was 17 when he switched to ski cross.
Howden enjoys backcountry skiing, mountain biking, hiking, wakeboarding, and snowmobiling when he isn’t performing on the slopes.
Can’t Miss Schmidt
Born in Ottawa, but a resident of Calgary, 29-year-old Schmidt earned her second win this season at the World Cup.
Schmidt earned her first World Cup win a month earlier in Arosa, Switzerland, where she and her brother Jared were winners.
“Having friends and family down at the finish when you cross a line, there’s no other feeling, I would say,” Schmidt expressed.
Schmidt was also the first woman to finish first in back-to-back races on Canadian snow since Marielle Thompson, who won five races in a row between 2012 and 2017.
Thompson also competed at the World Cup in Kananaskis and placed second right behind Schmidt.
Schmidt is no stranger to adversity. During the 2019 season, her season ended early after a crash that resulted in a fractured tibia plateau.
She needed surgery to install a titanium rod in her leg, but after eight months of rehab, she joined the World Cup team in 2020.
Similar to Howden, Schmidt was an alpine skier before she started competing in ski cross at 25 years old.
When she retires, Schmidt wants to use her criminology degree to become a police officer.
She enjoys camping, learning German, disc golf, knitting, crocheting, and mountain biking in her downtime.
A Trip To Switzerland
Marielle Thompson earned her first World Cup win since 2021 at the World Cup ski cross in St. Moritz, Switzerland, a week after the World Cup in Kananaskis.
Thompson won both her quarterfinal and semifinal races earlier in the event. In the finals, she bested Switzerland’s silver medalist Fanny Smith.
“It feels like a long time coming. I haven’t won a race in quite some time, so I’m stoked,” said Thompson.
Schmidt earned the bronze medal at the World Cup event in Switzerland but remains first in the World Cup, standing with 529 points.
Howden missed the podium by a hair’s breadth in the men’s competition.
But Howden is still second in the circuit with 331 points, 22 points behind teammate Jared Schmidt.
Howden, Schmidt, Thompson, and the many Canadian athletes who competed in the World Cup are shining examples of Canadian excellence in sports.
