GRINDELWALD, Switzerland - Canadian women made history Friday as the first country to sweep the podium in a women's World Cup ski cross event.
Kelsey Serwa of Kelowna, B.C., beat Olympic champion Ashleigh McIvor of Whistler, B.C., with Winnipeg's Danielle Poleschuk completing the Canadian sweep. Anna Holmlund of Sweden was fourth.
"I was so glad that the Canadian gals were able to get to the finals," Serwa said.
Canadian teammate Chris Del Bosco took bronze in the men's event.
Serwa was in a different heat than McIvor and Poleschuk, and it wasn't until the last minute that she realized all three Canadians were in the final.
"I was so excited when I got to the top and saw that they still had their bibs on and they saw that I still had my bib on," Serwa said. "I just kept thinking how awesome and how much fun it was going to be to actually get to race together."
In her second World Cup event since capturing Olympic gold in Vancouver, McIvor made her fifth trip to the podium this season. The result put her within 27 points of series leader Ophelie David of France for the overall World Cup title.
"I was pretty close to catching (Serwa), definitely within a ski length," McIvor said. "I tried passing her a couple of times, I even had my tips on her tails at one point, I kept trying to pull out but I didn't quite get her."
Poleschuk's podium performance was the first of her career.
"This being my first podium it's pretty cool, but to be standing there with Ashleigh and Kelsey, that was really cool," Poleschuk said.
Olympic bronze medallist Audun Groenvold of Norway edged Olympic champion Michael Schmid in the men's race.
Schmid leads Del Bosco, who lives in Vail, Colo., by 178 points in the ski cross standings with two events left. A win is worth 100 points.