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Canadian ski cross racer Rhys Howden is unstoppable, whether he's nervous or racing with tired legs.
Howden beat Germany's Florian Wilmsmann and France's Evan Klufts at the finish line on Sunday in Innichen, Italy, for a career-best third straight world championship victory and a career-high 21st place.
After becoming the top men's ski cross racer in World Cup history on Tuesday, Howden set another record on Sunday with his seventh win in a 10-race stretch, beating France's J.Jan-Frederic Chapuis and Thomas Kraus from the Czech Republic.
“Today my legs were definitely a little more tired than yesterday. [but] I was trying my best to concentrate,” the Cultus Lake, British Columbia, native told the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.
“It’s a great way to start the Christmas holidays and look forward to getting home and hoping to get some snow skiing over the holidays.”
Howden added that he was “delighted” to reach a new level of speed at Innichen, where he has four wins to his name. That was of paramount importance, he said, as Wilmsmann threatened to take the lead at close range on Sunday.
“[My competitors] turned around [up their speed] a little more for today and it was a good race,” said the Canadian. [them]. It’s a tough track, but a lot of fun.”
Howden beat Swiss teammates Alex Fiva and Tobias Baur on Saturday.
Reece Howden of Cultus Lake, British Columbia, won Sunday's Ski Cross World Cup race in Innichen, Italy, for his 21st career victory.
On Tuesday in Arosa, Switzerland, Howden admitted he was nervous about the winning record. He wrote down He was number 19 on the World Cup circuit that day and overtook Chapuis.
Having completed his third Crystal Globe Championship as overall champion of the season, Howden started the 2025–26 campaign slowly, finishing fifth and 25th in France, but did not look back.
Will the 27-year-old return to Italy in eight weeks to compete on the sport's biggest stage at the Milan-Cortina Olympics?
He was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Beijing Winter Games in 2022 and has not won a medal in his four world championships appearances, including a first-round exit last March.
Chris Mahler (Kenmore, Alta.) finished in a season-best sixth place, followed by Toronto's Kevin Drury (11th) and Ottawa's Jared Schmidt (13th). Until Sunday, Schmidt was the last Canadian to win three races in a row.
Schmidt's sister Hannah finished seventh among Canadians (a season's best), while Brittany Phelan (Mont-Tremblant, Quebec) finished eighth and has four top-10 finishes this season.
Sweden's Sandra Näslund won her eighth World Cup race in Innichen, which featured a predominantly female and male field, to extend her lead at the top of the season standings.
It was her 43rd World Cup victory and 14th podium finish in the Italian countryside after Saturday's bronze medal.
Watch day two of the FIS Ski Cross World Cup in Innichen, Italy.
