Canadian snowboarder Arnaud Gaudet earns world bronze in parallel slalom small final

Snowboarder Arnaud Gaudet of Montcalm, Que., picked up his first individual medal at the senior level, claiming bronze in men's parallel slalom small final on Tuesday at the world championships in Bakuriani, Georgia.

The 22-year-old took the early lead against Fabian Obmann of Austria and was .63 seconds quicker to the finish line.

It marked the first parallel snowboard medals at worlds since Jasey-Jay Anderson and Matthew Morrison were first and third, respectively, in parallel giant slalom in 2009.

Gaudet beat fellow Canadian Darren Gardner in the round of 16 and giant slalom silver medallist Dario Caviezel of Switzerland in the quarterfinals before losing to eventual big final champion Andreas Prommegger in the semifinals.

WATCH | Gaudet collects world bronze medal in parallel slalom:

Gaudet, who ranked 13th in qualifying for Tuesday's competition, also reached the elimination bracket in Sunday's parallel large slalom and was 14th after earning bronze in parallel giant slalom at junior worlds in 2020.

Gardner finished 12th overall while teammates Ben Heldman and Jamie Behan were stopped in qualifying and placed 20th and 35th.

On the women's side, Abby van Groningen was the lone Canadian competing and finished 37th in an event won by Julie Zogg of Switzerland.

In an all-Austrian men's big final on Tuesday, 42-year-old Prommegger defeated Arvid Auner by 44-100ths of a second for his third world title.

42-year-old Andreas Prommegger showed he’s still got a plenty more left in the tank, leading the way from start to finish and walking away as the Bakuriani 2023 parallel slalom World Champion after besting his teammate Arvid Auner in today’s big final…