LAKE LOUISE - This may be Thomas Dressen’s sweetest podium of his career.
The German skier claimed this season’s first downhill World Cup gold medal at the 2019 Audi FIS Lake Louise World Cup on Saturday (Nov.30), exactly one year to the day after suffering serious knee and shoulder injuries on a course in Beaver Creek, Colorado.
Thomas Dressen finishes at the top of the podium in the first race of the season and his first race back since his accident at Beaver Creek last season. Calling it a comeback is an understatement!🥇#worldcuplakelouise #lakelouise #justlakeit #mybanff
— Lake Louise Audi FIS Ski World Cup (@AlpineSkiWC) November 30, 2019
After exactly one year from his injury in Beaver Creek, #ThomasDressen comes back to racing in @AlpineSkiWC and decides to win it like this! 💪What a close finish with #DominikParis! Well done Thomas! #fisalpine 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/9XfR2OaibZ
— FIS Alpine (@fisalpine) November 30, 2019
Coming back from a year off, Dressen was the unlikely winner, edging out the heavy favourite Dominik Paris of Italy by just 0.02 seconds.
Paris was looking to claim his fourth successive World Cup downhill and 13th win overall.
Before rocketing down the course, a duo of Swiss skiers would have stood on the podium. Paris finished 0.24 seconds faster than Beat Feuz and Carlo Janka, ending what would have been a stellar start to the season for the Swiss team.
Janka was the fastest in both training runs prior to the event.
On the three-kilometre Olympic course, the top Canadian was Benjamin Thomsen finishing in 30th, nearly two seconds behind Dressen.
Canmore native Jeffrey Read finished in 46th, followed by teammates Brodie Seger and Cameron Alexander, and rounding out the Canadians was James Crawford in 57th.
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