Crawford shares thoughts after world championship SG victory

James Crawford. Photo: GEPA pictures.

Canadian James ‘Jack’ Crawford joins his coach John Kucera as a world champion. Crawford produced the best skiing of his career, winning the Courchevel 2023 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships super-G. Although he had recently struggled to match his early season performances, on February 9th, he rose to the highest level to win in an incredibly talented field. Notably, when Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Marco Odermatt were in the finish this season, the race was over. Crawford’s World Championship super-G victory is the only exception. 

Both coaches and athlete offered a moment of their time before moving on to their obligations and, hopefully, a celebration. 

Crawford responded to questions about his performance after crashing in Wengen.  “The start of my season was one of the best I’ve ever had. Then the crash in Wengen messed with my confidence a little bit. My skiing was still fast, but I struggled to push to the finish.”  He continued, “The result today was where I’ve tried to get to all season. I’m just happy that today I brought skiing that could win a World Cup. It’s not every day that I’ve been able to do that.”

Crawford had not done exceptionally well in the alpine combined super-G on the same L’Eclipse race slope. However, he comments on the value of that run. “I was a little bit torn and bummed with myself that I didn’t do the slalom leg of the combined. But leading into today, it (the super-G run) was a massive benefit. If you hadn’t gotten a run on the prior course, it would’ve been a huge disadvantage. Without that run, I don’t think today would have been possible.”

Responding to questions about his thoughts crossing with a lead and seeing a green light knowing the season’s best had finished, he said, “I came through, and the first thought was, okay, it could be a medal. I successfully executed my plan and what I wanted to do. But I hadn’t won a race yet, so the nerves were still there and there were still a lot of guys to come. So, I didn’t feel like I was secured in that spot, but at the same time, I knew that it would be a pretty good day.”

When asked about the contributions of his coach, John Kucera, 2009 downhill world champion, he commented, “He’s been my coach for eight years. He has played a massive part in guiding the direction of my skiing and getting me where I am now. Being able to have so much experience with a coach is awesome. I don’t think many coaches can bring that same level of knowledge to what they’re doing. And Johnny has been very good at applying what he knows to his coaching role.”

Kucera added, “He could have been on the podium several times this year in super-G, so I wasn’t worried. We were confident and, yeah, it was awesome to see him get that done today. Comparing winning as an athlete to winning as a coach, Kucera had this to say. “Winning as an athlete is special. It’s a lot of hard work, dedication and sacrifice that you put in as an individual to achieve that. But helping somebody achieve that same dream is also special in a different way. I have to say I’m proud of the whole team today. I thought all those guys went out there and pushed and it was cool to watch.”

Canadian Head Men’s Coach Mark Tilston commented when asked about his emotions immediately after Crawford finished with the lead. “He skied so well, you know, and I knew that if somebody wasn’t a good three or four-tenths ahead of Jack coming into the pitch, it wasn’t going to happen. However, you never know. So, yeah, I was pretty nervous until it was over.” 

Recent Alpine Canada Alpin High Performance Director, USA’s Phil McNichol, no stranger to big event success, had this to say about Crawford’s achievement. “When I watched his run, I thought, he just won the World Championship. Even though his lead was only (-0.01), Kilde and Odermatt had finished their runs. He just skied so well. It is amazing, especially when you remember that Kilde has never won a World Championship and Odermatt has never been on a World Championship podium. It was really special today to see that kid pull it off.”  

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