Canada's Marielle Thompson scores silver medal at ski cross World Cup opener

Canada's Marielle Thompson claimed women's World Cup ski cross silver in the season-opening event on Thursday in Val Thorens, France.

The Whistler, B.C., native was edged out by Sweden's Sandra Naeslund in the final, while Switzerland's Talina Gantenbein finished third in the event

Fellow Canadians Hannah Schmidt and Tiana Gairns finished fifth and 11th, respectively.

The silver medal marks Thompson's 53rd career World Cup podium finish, and follows last season's second career Olympic medal, with a silver at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

She won gold in the event at Sochi 2014.

On the men's side, Austria's Johannes Rohrweck skied to the gold medal, while Calgary native Kevin Drury was the top Canadian in 13th.