Chris Del Basco and Kelsey Serwa made sure they’d end up on the same platform this time around.
A week ago, Serwa won Winter X Games gold in skier cross, while her Canadian teammate, Del Basco, won silver. On Friday afternoon at Deer Valley Resort, the teammates each won Freestyle World Ski Championship gold.
The Canadian duo dominated their respective skier cross finals in the golden sweep, while fellow Canadian Julia Murray earned silver.
“I had two goals coming into the season: one was to win X Games and the next was to win World Championships,” Serwa said. “I’m pretty happy right now. I’m a little sore, but our bodies recover. It’s all good.”
Following Del Bosco on the men’s podium was Finland’s Jauni Pellinen who finished with a silver medal. Austria’s Andreas Matt captured the bronze.
On the women’s side, finishing behind the Canadian duo of Serwa and Murray was Sweden’s Anna Holmlund, who earned the bronze medal.
Holmlund said she has always dreamt of making the podium at a World Championships event.
“Since I was one year old,” Holmlund said.
Racers competed in a preliminary heat Friday, and the top two finishers from each advanced. In order to win gold, Del Basco and Serwa had to place top-two in the first three races, and ultimately, win the finale.
“I was looking forward to having a really good race,” Del Bosco said.
The athletes praised the eight-stage winding course on Deer Valley’s Solid Muldoon run and most said it was a solid course for a competition of this magnitude.
The lone American in both the men’s and women’s races, X Games gold-medal winner John Teller, finished fifth overall.
Teller had an impressive week, and was even more impressed with the turnout of the fans from north of the border.
“That team probably has the best support of any team here,” Teller said of the Canadians. “It shows.”