Canada's Cameron Alexander captures bronze at World Cup downhill in Italy

Canada's Cameron Alexander won bronze in the men's downhill race on Thursday in Bormio, Italy.

Alexander, who also took third at last year's world championships, finished 1.23 seconds behind France's Cyprien Sarrazin (one minute 50.73 seconds), who used a gutsy run to edge out Switzerland's Marco Odermatt by less than a tenth of a second for gold.

Sarrazin's victory marks the first downhill triumph for the French team in eight years.

Alexander, the 26-year-old from North Vancouver, B.C., earned his second career World Cup medal after winning a downhill in Norway last season. He's now placed top-10 in three of his four races this season. 

Toronto's Jack Crawford placed eighth at 1:53.09.

Meanwhile, Valèrie Grenier of St. Isidore, Ont., narrowly missed the podium at a women's giant slalom event in Lienz, Austria, where she placed fourth with a time of 2:06.43.

Mikaela Shiffrin held on to a big first-run lead to win amid tough course conditions for the American's record-extending 92nd career victory.

WATCH | Shiffrin claims victory in Austria:

Shiffrin lost most of her advantage as she skied a rather conservative final run, posting only the 17th fastest time. But it was enough to beat Federica Brignone by 0.38 seconds, a result that sent the Italian to the top of the discipline standings.

Sara Hector, the Olympic GS champion from Sweden, dropped from second after the opening run to third, trailing Shiffrin by 0.45.

Grenier was 0.63 seconds behind Shiffrin after posting the third-fastest final run.

Sarrazin earned his second World Cup victory, seven years after winning a parallel giant slalom. The last French downhill winner was Adrien Theaux, who triumphed at another Italian venue, Santa Catarina, in December 2015.

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