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Reece Howden furious about Olympic ski cross conditions, calls event 'a joke'

After his elimination in the quarterfinals, Reece Howden from Chilliwack, B.C., says atheletes should not compete in these types of weather conditions.

Canada's Reece Howden was clearly unhappy with the course conditions during the men's ski cross quarterfinals. 

A favourite to reach the podium, Howden came into these Games as the top-ranked man in ski cross, having broken the all-time men's World Cup wins record in December.

Fresh snow falling through the quarterfinal race impacted visibility and made it harder for athletes to carry speed — something Howden said affected his performance. 

"I don't know what the times are, but it's gotta be like 10 to 15 seconds slower. It's a completely different course," he said. 

"This is not ski cross … I'll wait for another four years, because this is an absolute joke."

Host Italy has won its first Olympic medals ever in ski cross — gold and silver in Livigno.

Simone Deromedis clinched gold and it came down to a photo finish for Frederico Thomasoni, where he reached for silver by a finger's length. 

Switzerland's Alex Fiva finished with bronze. 

Deromedis and Thomasoni collapsed into each other's arms at the finish, elated by what they just achieved on home soil.

Conditions weren't ideal on the ski cross track today. The fresh snow that was falling throughout the race made it slower and hard to carry speed. But the sun popped out for the final race to provide some definition on the course. 

Canada was edged out of the semifinals. No Canadian man has won an Olympic medal in ski cross since Calgary's Brady Leman clinched gold in 2018.

Howden finished 13th, Drury in 14th, Gavin Rowell in 28th and Schmidt, who received a yellow card for contact from behind in his 1/8 final, finished last in 31st.

Antoine Cyr came in 11th place, just under seven minutes behind Klæbo and 34 seconds behind Germany's Florian Notz. 

Tom Stephen wasn't far back, finishing 17th behind Great Britain's Joe Davies and ahead of Italy's Simone Daprà.

The Associated Press

Klæbo has completed his historic gold medal sweep, winning his sixth race and setting the record for the most golds by one athlete in a single Winter Olympics.

Klæbo's victory in the 50-kilometre mass start race shattered the nearly 50-year record set by American speed skater Eric Heiden, who won five golds in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.

All of Heiden's wins were in individual races and two of Klæbo's medals have come in team events, so Heiden's record for individual wins still stands.

Klæbo's teammates, Martin Løwstøm Nyenget, took silver, and Emil Iversen, won bronze in a Norwegian sweep.

Klæbo also extended his record for most career Winter Olympic gold medals to 11 over three Games. The previous record had been eight, which Klæbo broke on Feb. 15.

Klæbo has the second-most Olympic golds overall. U.S. Swimming great Michael Phelps has 23.

The win gave Norway a record 18th gold medal and further increased the country's lead in the total medal count in these Games to 40 overall.

The men's cross-country 50-kilometre mass start is over and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo has done it again. He just won his sixth gold medal of these Games and 11th career Olympic gold. 

Drury was edged out of the quarterfinal pack early and finished in fourth place in his heat. The 37-year-old from Toronto was slow out of the start gate, getting pushed to the back behind the Japanese, German and Austrian skiers. He wasn't able to make up the time later. The course in Livigno is pretty flat, so it's hard to carry enough speed to challenge other racers through the turns and final jump. 

The Canadian men's finishes are a repeat of what we saw from the Canadian women on Friday in the ski cross quarterfinals. Marielle Thompson, the defending silver medallist from Beijing, finished last in her quarterfinal heat, which was a big upset. Hannah Schmidt and Brittany Phelan also failed to advance beyond the quarterfinals.

Schmidt was disqualified from moving on to the ski-cross quarterfinal, despite finishing second in his 1/8 final heat, because of contact from behind, officials revealed after his run.

It wasn't initially clear what happened in the race to lead to the yellow card. 

Howden lost the first heat of the quarterfinal, coming last behind his three Italian competitors. He isn't moving onto the final. 

Howden struggled in the turns, almost losing control and having to ditch his speed to make the gate.

Visibility seems to be really playing a factor today. The course is also getting rutty after all the races. 

Weather conditions have been evolving throughout the race, with clouds closing in and making the light flatter. Fresh snow is also falling, slowing down the course. 

It was also a photo finish for teammate Jared Schmidt, who snuck in a hair behind Switzerland's Ryan Regez. But Schmidt was later given a yellow card, disqualifying him from moving onto the quarterfinal.

The card appeared to have been given because of a pass Schmidt made on a corner — though it was unclear exactly what happened. Schmidt threw down his ski pole in frustration, appearing to argue with race officials that the call was unfair.

Kevin Drury will join Howden in the quarterfinal after coming second in his heat behind Germany's Tim Hronek. 

Gavin Rowell finished last in his heat and didn't make it through to the quarterfinals.

Canada's Cassie Sharpe taken away by sled after crash in freeski halfpipe qualification

Olympic gold and silver-medalist Cassie Sharpe of Comox, B.C., had already qualified for the Olympic women's freeski halfpipe final, when she crashed during her second run.

Canadian freestyle skier Cassie Sharpe won't compete in the women's halfpipe final at 1:30 p.m. ET after a bad fall in qualifiers, according to the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Freestyle Canada. 

Sharpe was taken off the hill in a sled Thursday after she briefly lost consciousness when she slammed into the side of the halfpipe after landing a trick switch in Run 2.  

The 33-year-old from Squamish, B.C., has been released from hospital but hasn't been cleared to compete, the COC and Freestyle Canada said in a statement Saturday.

Sharpe is a two-time Olympic medallist in the halfpipe, winning silver in Beijing in 2022 and gold in Pyeongchang in 2018.

Two other Canadians will compete in the finals today at 1:30 p.m. ET. Calgary's Amy Fraser qualified seventh and Rachael Karker of Erin, Ont., in ninth.  

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