For the first time in two years and the third time in her career, Olympic snowboarder Callan Chythlook-Sifsof of Girdwood climbed a World Cup podium Sunday.

Chythlook-Sifsof and teammate Faye Gulini of Salt Lake City finished third in the women's team snowboardcross race in Veysonnaz, Switzerland.

The Americans finished a distant third in the four-team finals after Gulini and a French rider tangled and crashed early in Gulini's run.

The race marked the first time a World Cup team snowboardcross race was held outside the United States. The relatively new event has gained traction in recent years; there were three races this season on the World Cup calendar, and Sunday's was the last.

"I think the team event is the best event we do," Chythlook-Sifsof said after the finals in a video posted by FIS skiing.

Chythlook-Sifsof, 24, owned two World Cup podium finishes prior to Sunday's race, both in individual events. She placed second at a March 2011 snowboardcross in Switzerland and third at a 2007 snowboardcross in Japan, a race that marked her World Cup debut.

A member of the 2010 Winter Olympics team, Chythlook-Sifsof has battled injuries since her Olympic season, but she has been healthy this season. Earlier this season, she collected a pair of 12th-place World Cup finishes and was sixth at the U.S. Sprint Grand Prix.

The U.S. Ski Team landed three teams on the podium Sunday. In the men's race, Nick Baumgartner and Nate Holland lost a photo finish for the gold, finishing second, and Jonathan Cheever and Seth Wescott placed third.

Canada swept the gold medals.