Fiva hoping to hold off the charge of the ‘young ones’ in Reiteralm

Holding the slenderest lead possible in the overall standings, Alex Fiva is hoping to resist the charge of "the young ones" as the FIS Ski Cross World Cup returns in Reiteralm this weekend.

Switzerland’s Fiva is on 493 points at the top of the men’s section, with defending champion Reece Howden right behind him in second place on 492 points.

Fiva, who turned 38 last month, may not have quite imagined he’d be where he is today.

He won the Crystal globe in 2013, but as time ticked by without another, he had felt within himself that the opportunity for more victories had potentially passed him by.

"Maybe three or four years ago I talked about, overall, it’s probably done for me because of my age," he says. "So it’s really special. I mean, it’s 11 years ago that I won the overall."

Not that he was completely in the wilderness during that time. At the Winter Games in Beijing 2022 he won ski cross silver, finishing behind compatriot Ryan Regez who won gold.

But later that year in Val Thorens, Fiva injured his knee in a crash that ended his season before it had even properly started. Months of tough rehab followed, but things progressed as well as could be hoped for under the circumstances of an ACL injury.

"I had a good recovery," he says. "After three months I was standing on skis after surgery, so it was really crazy but it worked really well - I could start skiing in July."

As luck would have it, his return to World Cup racing at the beginning of this season was in Val Thorens, almost exactly a year on from that crash.

"It was kind of weird, especially because the weather was exactly the same; we had fresh snow, it was foggy," he says.

"I crashed into the deep snow (in 2022) and it turned my knee. That’s why the injury was so bad. I knew with the soft snow it could happen right away again.

"I didn’t know if I’d race, but I had really good training before the race so I decided yes, I’ll go with it. The knee worked really well the whole race so it was good."

Fiva took finishes of 35th and 17th in that opening weekend, then 13th in the night race in Arosa. In the first race in Innichen he was ninth, and in the second - the final event of 2023 - he made it to the small final for the first time in the season.

And when World Cup racing returned in 2024, Fiva arrived in fine form.

A first podium place in Nakiska was followed by another small final on day two, while in his home race in St. Moritz he finished milliseconds behind winner Simone Deromedis in the big final.

"In Nakiska I really struggled with the start but at the bottom I was always fast," he says.

"At the first race I was a little lucky because they crashed two in front of me in one heat but that’s ski cross. I managed a better start on the second day.

"Then St. Moritz came and I was super motivated because all my family and everybody was there."

Fiva went on to make the big final in the three races that followed in Alleghe and Bakuriani, but despite those impressive results, it was his 12th-place finish on day two in Bakuriani that would send him to the top of the standings for the first time this season.

"No, for sure not," Fiva says when asked if he expected to be leading the pack after such a long time away from World Cup skiing.

"It makes me satisfied that I can keep up with the young ones - Reece is 12 years younger than me. Racing against him is always a pleasure."

Howden is far from Fiva’s only threat. Florian Wilmsmann is hot on the pair’s heels in third, while Swedish siblings David and Erik Mobaerg form part of a chasing pack that includes Canada’s Jared Schmidt and French pair Terence Tchiknavorian and Youri Duplessis Kergomard.

"There are so many good guys," Fiva said ahead of Reiteralm’s races on 24 and 25 February. "If you’re top or not it doesn’t really matter; I’m competitive with the world’s best ski cross athletes and that makes me really happy.

"It’s so tight between me and Reece, and a lot of other guys are really close as well. I just take it race by race.

"Here in Reiteralm it will be way different. It’s going to be a tight, tough race so we’ll see how that works out."

Thompson could take giant stride towards Crystal Globe this weekend

Meanwhile, in the women’s section, Marielle Thompson is the frontrunner to take the Crystal Globe. The Canadian started the season in fairly cautious fashion, making just one big final in the first five races.

In the meantime, Hannah Schmidt was winning races and Marielle Berger Sabbatel put together an incredible run that saw her miss out on only one big final across the season.

However, like Fiva, Thompson came out firing in 2024, making her first podium in Nakiska before going on to win in St. Moritz, Alleghe and Bakuriani.

In that time Thompson has amassed 812 points, and is now 82 points clear of Berger Sabbatel in second. It’s a healthy lead, but given the Frenchwoman’s consistency this season, Thompson will know that two bad days in Reiteralm on Saturday and Sunday could see that lead wiped out.

Schmidt remains in contention on 663 points, while compatriot Brittany Phelan is fourth on 594 points and Swiss pair Talina Gantenbein and Saskja Lack are close behind.

While there will still be three races to go when the dust settles on this weekend’s events in Reiteralm, Thompson could put one hand on a fourth Crystal Globe if she maintains that impressive form with a pair of wins in Austria.

The World Cup races in Reiteralm take place on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 February.

Men's standings

1. Alex Fiva (493)
2. Reece Howden (492)
3. Florian Wilmsmann (429)
4. David Mobaerg (422)
5. Jared Schmidt (412)

Women's standings

1. Marielle Thompson (812)
2. Marielle Berger Sabbatel (730)
3. Hannah Schmidt (663)
4. Brittany Phelan (594)
5. Talina Gantenbein (492)