Thompson (CAN) and Mobaerg (SWE) win in Idre Fjäll to claim Ski Cross Crystal Globes
Mar 23, 2024·Ski Cross
Marielle Thompson (CAN) and David Mobaerg (SWE) are the FIS Ski Cross World Cup champions for 2023/24 – and they did it by proving it’s not how you start the season but how you finish it that counts.
Thompson lifted her fourth Crystal Globe, despite not claiming a win until race eight of the season. But she then won six of the last nine, including the finale on Saturday to claim the overall title in style.
Mobaerg’s end to the campaign was even more impressive. He, too, claimed victory on Saturday in central Sweden – at a venue that lies just four hours south by car from where he and older brother Erik, who finished third, were born.
Mobaerg junior had to wait until race 11 for his maiden victory of the season, having only been on the podium once before that. But, in a much more open men’s World Cup, he then won the final three races, including both here in Idre Fjäll, to take the title, having only moved to the top of the standings for the first time after crossing the line first on Friday.
Thompson savours fourth Crystal Globe
While the race for the men’s title would go down to the wire, Thompson was always likely to have the women’s wrapped before the Big Final. Finish seventh or higher and she was guaranteed to top the standings, even if the Canadian’s only challenger going into the final race, Marielle Berger Sabbatel (FRA), managed to secure her first victory of the season.
And Thompson, 31, always looked in command, leading from the front in both her quarter-final and her semi-final to set up what was effectively a victory lap.
With the pressure off, the 2014 Olympic and 2019 World champion got her nose in front out of the starting gate in the Big Final and never looked back, holding on to take victory ahead of Berger Sabbatel and Brittany Phelan (CAN), a 1-2-3 that mirrored the final standings. Thompson finished 87 points ahead of the French woman, with Phelan – who finished the season with four straight podiums, including two victories – a further 56 behind.
Thompson, who had finished third every season since her last Crystal Globe in 2017, graciously acknowledged the absence of Sandra Näslund (SWE), the Olympic, World and World Cup champion whose season was ended prematurely by a knee injury in January. “I was happy to finish third because Sandra skied so well,” Thompson said. “But to come out on top with my fourth Crystal Globe is super special, and to do it here in Sweden … I love this place. It’s so fun, the track’s great and the people are awesome.”
Mobaerg times his run to perfection
Like Thompson, David Mobaerg looked impeccable – as he has all weekend – in making it through to the Big Final, and in doing so knew that second place would be enough to take the men’s Crystal Globe, even if Reece Howden (CAN), last year’s champion and the Swede’s closest rival, won the race. This, after Alex Fiva (SUI) failed to make it past a tough quarter-final that also saw World champion Simone Deromedis (ITA) eliminated. The Swiss, champion in 2013, lost position at the start of the race and never recovered.
And so, to the conclusion. In Friday’s Big Final, Mobaerg had tucked in behind Howden and used the draft to come through and take victory at the end. This time, knowing second place would be enough, the 25-year-old Swede led from the front. Despite a wobble on one of the jumps on the course’s trademark long finishing straight, Mobaerg held off a valiant late push from Howden to take victory – and the title. Erik Mobaerg, also pushing hard, finished third ahead of Adam Kappacher (AUT). It capped a fine weekend for the Austrian, who claimed his first career podium on Friday.
But to the winner, the spoils. Mobaerg, who finished fifth, fourth and second in the overall standings in the last three seasons, said: “It doesn’t get any better than this. This is the best. I’ve been wanting this so much; it means a lot to be here and to take double victory in Idre Fjäll and the Crystal Globe. That’s what I wanted – and now I have it."
)
)
