World Champs Idre Fjäll 2021 – Ski Cross preview
Feb 09, 2021·Ski Cross
It wasn’t an easy path to get here, but the world’s best ski cross athletes have made it to Sweden and are ready to get out of the start gate at the premier event of the 2020/21 season – the Idre Fjall 2021 FIS Ski Cross World Championships.
Due to the development of the covid-19 pandemic and the implemented measures by the Chinese health authorities and government, the originally scheduled FIS Freestyle, Freeski and Snowboard World Championships in Zhangjiakou (CHN) had to be cancelled earlier this season. However, the disappointment of that news was soon wiped away when the organisers in Idre stepped up to offer a solution for the ski and snowboard cross competition at their iconic venue.
Putting in an enormous amount of effort in an extremely short timeframe, the organizing committee in Idre Fjäll and the Swedish Ski Association have been able to put together the necessary preparations to host the major event of the FIS Ski and Snowboard Cross season, and the appreciation for their efforts is unanimous across the ski and snowboard cross families.
The ski cross teams have selected athletes who will be representing their nations in the battle for the prestigious world championships medals ahead of the big event. Each nation has four spots per gender and the minimum requirement for an athlete to be nominated is 50 FIS points. The defending world champions are additionally guaranteed a spot to represent their respective nations.
Defending champions and who to watch - women
On the women’s side the defending champ is Canadian veteran Marielle Thompson, and the 28-year-old comes into Idre Fjall looking strong so far in 2020/21 World Cup action with five podium spots so far in seven competitions, though she is yet to earn a victory this season. Along with her Utah 2019 gold medal, Thompson also owns a bronze medal from the Voss-Myrkdalen 2013 world champs.
Thompson is no stranger to the podium here in Idre Fjall, as she managed to jump into the top-3 here seven times already, including two podiums at the Idre World Cup competitions in January. Clearly the Canadian enjoys the Swedish track, and with her history of rising to the occasion at big events (she’s also the Sochi 2014 Olympic gold medalist), you can expect big things from Thompson this week in Idre.
Swiss rival Fanny Smith is entering these World Championships riding high after setting a new all-time World Cup record in ski cross with the most World Cup victories ever for a man or woman, which is 27.
Two of those 27 wins came here at the course in Idre Fjall last month, possibly giving Smith a competitive and mental edge over her rivals ahead of the world champs race. With four wins and six total podiums in seven events so far this season, Smith has built a significant lead in the women’s World Cup rankings, and will be entering the World Championships as the strongest racer in the women’s field.
And then there’s Smith’s World Championships history to take into account, as the 28-year-old has medals in all four of the last world championships, beginning with her win in 2013 at Voss-Myrkdalen. After that it was the bronze medal at Kreischberg 2015, and then silver medals at the following World Champs in Sierra Nevada 2017 and Utah 2019.
Bronze medallist from 2019 Alizee Baron (FRA) made a strong comeback this season after an injury-forced break last year. Making it into the big finals twice in a row at the season-opening double races in Arosa (SUI), she took no time regaining her confidence for racing.
And, just in time for World Champs, the French athlete returned to the top of the podium with a win a few weeks ago at the second of the three Idre Fjall World Cup races, before following that up the next day with a second-place finish, showing she’s got what it takes for medal finish come time for World Champs competition.
Baron is sitting in third position at the World Cup standings behind Smith and Thompson and has one bronze World Championship medal in her bag so far, but could very well add to tally that this week.
After the trio of 28 year-olds who currently stand atop the World Cup standings, there are a handful of other athletes who should also be in the mix on the women’s side of things.
The host nation Sweden had to battle with a few set-backs so far this season, as 2019/20 ski cross crystal globe winner and Sierra Nevada 2017 World Champion Sandra Naeslund suffered from some knee problems at training ahead of the season and was not able to enter a World Cup competition this season so far.
However, Naeslund has been back on snow since January, and it seems that her rehab process has been going well, as she’s slated to make her comeback at Idre Fjall and join the fight for the World Championship medal on home soil. We can’t wait to see her back in the start gate.
Maiden World Cup winner at the opening competition in Arosa this year, Alexandra Edebo, showed that she was in great shape entering the season, however a heavy crash in Val Thorens forced her to take a step back from competition for a few weeks of recovery time. But great news for the host nation are that Edebo will also be back in the field to increase chances for a medal on home soil.
Defending champions and who to watch – men
The defending World Champion on the men’s side is Francois Place of France, and the 31-year-old has looked strong so far in 2020/21 by grabbing third place on home soil in Val Thorens, while also earning a third-place finish in the first of the three Idre Fjall competitions earlier this season. As well, Place also has a third-place finish in Idre from the 2019/20 edition of the event.
Place also seems to have a penchant for stepping up at big events, as he grabbed the bronze medal at the Sierra Nevada 2017 World Championships in what was his first season of ski cross World Cup competition, before he had even earned a World Cup podium. With two medals in two tries at World Championships competition, Place will be looking to make it three-for-three in Idre.
Olympic Champion Brady Leman (CAN) is also one to watch at major events. Not only did he win at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, but a year later he earned the silver medal at the Utah 2019 World Championships.
Leman has struggled somewhat so far in 2020/21, with his best result a 13th place finish at the first Idre competition back in January. However, the 34-year-old does have one win and one second place finish in Idre from previous seasons.
Kevin Drury is the bronze medallist from Utah 2019. However, Drury will not be able to compete this week after a crash in Val Thorens in December where he broke his leg.
Then there’s some of the younger athletes who have emerged as tour leaders this World Cup season, like current World Cup leader Reece Howden (CAN). With three wins in his last four World Cup competitions, including one in Val Thorens before Christmas and then back-to-back wins in Idre in the two most recent World Cups, the 22-year-old Canadian has more than proven his abilities on long, technical courses.
And, of course, having already gone back-to-back on the course where the World Champs are going down, Howden clearly has an edge over the rest of the field that could be hard for those other athletes to overcome.
The Swedish team maybe enjoys a slight advantage with the course on home soil and David Mobaerg and Viktor Andersson have been performing quite strong this season so far.
Mobaerg claimed his maiden World Cup podium in Arosa at the season opener, while Andersson grabbed one victory there in Arosa and earned one runner-up result at the first Idre Fjall race in January. With the extra motivation of World Champs, the Swedes could be tough to beat down as they hunt for a home podium.
And, finally, there’s the Swiss team to look out for, as Ryan Regez has been stepping up his game with three second places this season. The Swiss skier proved before that Idre is a course that he likes with back-to-back podiums here last season, of which one was a win. As well, Regez’s teammate Jonas Lenherr fought his way into the big final twice in a row in January, showing that he also wants to be in the mix for the Swedish podium spots.
Competition programme:
Women’s and men’s qualification: Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 12:30 CET
Women’s and men’s finals: Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 12:30 CET
WATCH LIVE:
Qualifications live on Wednesday, February 10 at 12:15 CET on SVT Play (Sweden), Viasat Sport+ (Denmark, Norway), Belarus TV (Belarus)
Saturday, February 13 at 12:30 CET:
TV: Eurosport (Asia), Eurosport 2 (Europe), ORF Sport+ (Austria), CT Sport (Czech Republic), Arena 4 (Hungary), Sport News (Poland), Match Areena (Russia), SVT 1 (Sweden), SRF Info (Switzerland), TRT Spor2 (Turkey)
Livestream: FIS Freestyle Youtube channel (geo-restricted, find list of countries where livestream will be available HERE) , YLE Areena (Finland), L’Equipe Web (France), huste.tv (Slovakia), SVT Play (Sweden), BBC Sport website (UK)
2021 World Cup leaders:
Women: Fanny Smith (SUI)
Men: Reece Howden (CAN)
2018 PyeongChang Olympic Champions:
Women: Kelsey Serwa (CAN – retired)
Men: Brady Leman (CAN)
2019 Utah World Champions
Women: Marielle Thompson (CAN)
Men: Francois Place (FRA)
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