Krasnaya Polyana (Russia), Feb 21 (IANS): Jean Frederic Chapuis led a French sweep of the podium in the men's ski cross event at the Winter Olympics here.

Followed closely by his teammate Arnaud Bovolenta in the silver medal position and a sprawling Jonathan Midolin bronze, Chapuis coolly sliced his way down the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park Thursday which saw crash after crash throughout the afternoon, to take the gold, reports Xinhua.

Canada's Brady Leman finished fourth after skidding out while trying to push his way from the back.

Chapuis' performance was yet another shock on a day when every pre-race favourite went out ahead of him in one kind of mishap or another. Up and down the start list, skier after skier fell victim to the tough course as the high stakes of the contest and high difficulty of the run forced crashes, mistakes and heartbreak.

"With the two other French guys it's like a dream. Yesterday, I was joking with the guys saying that all three on the podium would be good and it happened. It's perfect. We didn't have a strategy. We are friends off the slopes but on the slopes we are enemies so I tried to make my best," Chapuis said.