Reece Howden takes bronze in final World Cup ski cross event before Olympics

Canadian Reece Howden will head into the Winter Olympics coming off of a podium result.

The Cultus Lake, B.C., native won a bronze medal at a World Cup ski cross event in Val di Fassa, Italy, on Saturday.

Italian Simone Deromedis won gold while Florian Wilmsmann of Germany took silver in the race, which was the final World Cup stop before the Milano-Cortina Olympics open on Feb. 6.

Fellow Canadian Kevin Drury also made the big final, but a crash near the middle section of the course took him out of medal contention.

Howden, a three-time Crystal Globe winner in ski cross, currently leads the overall World Cup season standings at the Olympic break. The Canadian has 593 points on the season and is 133 ahead of Deromedis, who is his next closest competitor.

March to Milano: Reece 'Big Rig' Howden is in search of his 1st senior Olympic medal