Canada's Jared Schmidt finishes third at ski cross World Cup in Georgia

Reece Howden of Canada crosses the finish line to win the men's big final at the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup event in Idre, Sweden, Sunday Jan. 24, 2021. (Pontus Lundahl/TT via AP)

BAKURIANI, Georgia — Canada's Jared Schmidt has clinched his first podium on the ski cross World Cup circuit, finishing third in Georgia on Saturday.

The Ottawa native topped teammate Brady Lehman of Calgary, who finished fourth after crashing in the final.

Lehman, the reigning Olympic gold medallist, is being evaluated by medical personnel to determine the extent of his injury.

Florian Wilmsmann of Germany took gold on Saturday and Sweden's David Mobaerg came second.

Reece Howden of Cultus Lake, B.C., finished 19th but captured the overall men's title with two races to go in the season.

"I'm super happy," Howden said in a statement. "It's weird having a not-great day but getting some great news."

Montreal's Chris Del Bosco came 14th Saturday, while Kris Mahler of Canmore, Alta., finished 25th and Carson Cook of Edmonton came 33rd.

On the women's side, Marielle Thompson of Whistler, B.C., finished just off the podium in fourth place.

"My day was pretty good, I had some good skiing, managed to hold off some passes at the bottom," she said in a statement. "I was happy with my skiing in the big final despite my fourth place."

Courtney Hoffos of Windermere, B.C., finished in sixth, Tiana Gairns of Prince George, B.C., came eighth, Cranbrook, B.C., native Zoe Chore was 11th and Ottawa's Hannah Schmidt finished 13th.

The Canadians will compete in the team event on Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2021.