Under changeable conditions, Erik Guay became the first Canadian ever to stand on the podium at the Lake Louise World Cup, and the first to podium on Canadian snow since Rob Boyd in 1989. The twenty-two year old from Mont Tremblant started in 21st position and waited in the finish area until seasoned champions such as Stephan Eberharter of Austria and Bode Miller of the USA crossed the finish line in 20th and 26th.
Austrian Michael Walchhofer started sixth to claim the winning time of 1:51.16, sixty-nine one-hundredths of a second ahead of Guay's breakthrough performance. Antoine Deneriaz of France took third, only 5 one-hundredths of a second behind Guay.
The second Canadian was 22-year-old Jan Hudec of Banff, Alberta in 38th with a time of 1:53.58. Jeff Hume of Whistler, BC took 52nd with a time of 1:54.47. Calgary's Darin McBeath of Calgary, making a return to World Cup competition, finished 54th, and Vincent Lavoie, of Cap Rouge, Quebec finished 57th. Calgary's Brad Spence finished 63rd.
Men's racing action concludes tomorrow in Lake Louise with the Super G at 10:45 a.m. MST. The Women's World Cup training kick's off on Tuesday, December 2nd.
Quotes:
“It went really well. I just did what I had to do
GUAY WINS SILVER AT 2003 CIBC LAKE LOUISE WINTERSTART WORLD CUP DOWNHILL
