Canada's Reece Howden strikes gold at ski cross World Cup in Italy

Reece Howden led Canada to the top at the ski cross World Cup podium in Innichen, Italy, on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Cultus Lake, B.C., native struck gold in the men's ski cross race, edging silver medallist Ryo Sugai of Japan and German Niklas Bachsleitner, who was third.

Italy's Simone Deromedis, who missed out on a podium finish, was the other athlete competing in the big final.

Canadians Brady Leman and Kristofor Mahler were ousted in a quarter-final.

WATCH | Howden captures ski cross World Cup gold medal:

Howden added to a silver medal earned on Wednesday. He now owns 12 career World Cup podium appearances in 35 starts.

Howden was eliminated in the quarter-finals at the Beijing Olympics.

In the women's event, Courtney Hoffos and Hannah Schmidt finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the small final as the best-ranked Canadians.