Canadian Marielle Thompson enters ski cross world quarterfinals in first

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Canada's Thompson first entering ski cross quarterfinals at freestyle worlds

Published Friday, February 24, 2023 1:22PM EST

Marielle Thompson of Canada in action during the women's FIS Ski Cross World Cup second qualifying event in Idre, Sweden, Friday Jan. 20, 2023. Thompson, of Whistler, B.C., finished first in women's ski cross qualifying Friday at the world freestyle skiing championships. (Anders Wiklund/TT via AP)

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BAKURIANI, GEORGIA -- Marielle Thompson of Whistler, B.C., finished first in women's ski cross qualifying Friday at the world freestyle skiing championships.

Thompson led the way in a time of one minute 25.52 seconds, followed by Sweden's Sandra Naeslund (1:25.76) and Germany's Daniela Maier (1:26.60).

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Thompson, the 2014 Olympic gold medallist will ski against three Austrians -- Sonja Gigler, Katrin Ofner and Andrea Limbacher -- in Saturday's quarterfinals as she seeks her second world title. She won gold at the 2019 worlds at Deer Valley, Utah.

Courtney Hoffos of Windemere, B.C., (17th), Tiana Gairns of Prince George, B.C., (18th) and Ottawa's Hannah Schmidt (19th) failed to advance to the quarterfinals.

In men's qualifying, Ottawa's Jared Schmidt was third in 1:20.44, behind Japan's Satoshi Furuno (1:20.31) and Sweden's David Mobaerg (1:20.39).

Schmidt moved on to the eighth finals along with Canadians Reece Howden of Chilliwack, B.C., (17th), Toronto's Kevin Drury (29th) and Calgary's Brady Leman (31st).