Alaska News

Chythlook-Sifsof earns bronze in World Cup team event

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.

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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.

Anchorage Daily News

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