Howden completes sweep in Italy with third straight World Cup ski cross victory
The world’s top men’s ski cross athlete added to his legacy Sunday in Innichen, Italy, capturing a record-extending 21st World Cup gold medal of his career.
Reece Howden edged Germany’s Florian Wilmsmann and France’s Evan Klufts at the finish line to secure his third consecutive World Cup victory. The win followed Saturday’s triumph in Innichen and last week’s gold in Arosa, Switzerland.
Howden became the winningest men’s ski cross racer in World Cup history earlier in the week, on Tuesday in Arosa.
“Today, the legs were obviously a little more tired than yesterday. It was a battle [but] I tried my best to be focused,” the native of Cultus Lake, B.C., told the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.
The defending Crystal Globe champion, Howden, claimed seven gold medals during the 2024-25 season. He currently leads the FIS Ski Cross World Cup standings after three weeks of competition.
Fellow Canadian Kristofor Mahler finished second in Sunday’s small final. On the women’s side, Hannah Schmidt and Brittany Phelan placed third and fourth, respectively, in the small final.
Earlier on Saturday, Howden led wire-to-wire in the four-man ski cross final, finishing with a time of one minute, 13.43 seconds to capture his 20th career World Cup title.
Howden competed alongside countrymate Jared Schmidt in the final. However, an early slip forced Schmidt to play catch-up. Two Swiss racers rounded out the podium; Alex Fiva crossed the finish line 0.54 seconds behind Howden to claim silver, while Tobias Baur finished a distant third to claim bronze.
Kevin Drury finished tenth as he raced to a time of 1:15.35 in the quarterfinal. Drury currently sits in fourth place in the overall standings.
On the women’s side, Brittany Phelan also placed in the Top 10, finishing ninth with a time of 1:19.90.
World Cup action continues in Innichen on Sunday. Competition will resume in 2026 with three stops in January ahead of Milano Cortina 2026.
