Marielle Thompson leads Canadian trio atop ski cross seeding standings

Canadian skicross head coach Stanley Hayer said reigning Olympic women's champion Marielle Thompson has "zero issues" with her surgically repaired knee.

On Thursday, Thompson went out and proved it. She led a 1-2-3 Canadian showing in the seeding round at Phoenix Park ahead of Friday's competition.

Thompson ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament last October during a training run and was forced to sit out the World Cup season.

The 25-year-old is skiing competitively in Pyeongchang for the first time since undergoing knee surgery.

Thompson, from Whistler, B.C., led the 23-skier field in one minute 13.11 seconds. Kelsey Serwa of Kelowna, B.C., was second in 1:13.33 while Brittany Phelan of Mont-Tremblant, Que., was third in 1:13.56.

India Sherret of Cranbrook, B.C., was 11th in 1:15.48.

In the seeding round, competitors race down the track one by one. The higher seeds get to choose their start gate in the heats and are slotted against lower-seeded competitors.

Three rounds of elimination heats were scheduled for Friday ahead of the final round.

Thompson won her third World Cup crystal globe as overall champion last year. She underwent a rigorous training program after surgery and was cleared to return to snow last month in Nakiska.

Hayer said the Phoenix Park layout suits her style.

"She is the best presser of jumps in the world," he said. "She can absorb takeoffs like no one else. There's a couple girls that are not technically better, but technically strong. But the way she carries speed on flats — and there's a lot of flat skiing here and a lot of air time — she's really good at both of those."

Canada's Ashleigh McIvor won gold when skicross made its Olympic debut at the Vancouver Games. Thompson led a 1-2 Canadian finish with Serwa four years later in Sochi.

The women's team did not hold an availability after Thursday's seeding run.

Hayer, speaking after Canada's Brady Leman won gold in the men's event Wednesday, said Thompson was impressive in training runs throughout the week.

"She is one focused lady," Hayer said. "It's unbelievable the work she put in. She was doing double sessions in the gym. I guess the operation went really well. The return to snow was probably too slow for her but we took our time. She didn't really lose much to tell you the truth.

"It's just wrapping your head around the heats stuff again. She's proven year after year that mentally she's one of the strongest out there."