Jack Crawford, Cam Alexander aim to carry Kitzbuhel momentum into alpine worlds

Jack Crawford and Cam Alexander bring a combination of confidence and hunger to the world alpine ski championship.

The duo recently electrified ski racing when Toronto's Crawford became the first Canadian in 42 years to win the downhill on Kitzbuhel's historic and gnarly Streif course in Austria.

Alexander of North Vancouver, B.C., joined his teammate on the podium in third for Canada's first double podium in a World Cup downhill since 2012.

The biennial world championship starting Tuesday at the Austrian resort in Saalbach-Hinterglemm will be their first races since Kitzbuhel.

Sunday's downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, was cancelled due to fog.

The world championship is a performance indicator on the Canadians' road to the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy.

Crawford, called "Jack" more often than "James", is the defending world super-G champion. Alexander was a downhill bronze medallist two years ago in Courcheval, France.

"Standing on the super-G podium, that was incredible," Crawford recalled. "That was a huge success for my career, being able to claim a world champs medal.

WATCH | Crawford earns maiden World Cup victory in Kitzbuhel downhill:

Toronto's Jack Crawford joins elite company with Kitzbuhel World Cup downhill win

"There's other things I'd like to be able to accomplish at the world championships like a downhill. It would also be very cool to be able to contend again to defend my super-G title. I don't know how many times in a career you get that opportunity.

"For me, going into the world championship, it's just about staying hungry and really trying to find every little thing I can do to be faster."

Starting Tuesday at 9:15 a.m. ET,  live streaming coverage through the 13-day event