Three days of training led up to an exciting day of racing action today in Lake Louise where the men battled it out in the downhill. The Canadian men stepped up to the plate and thrilled the three-thousand strong, mostly Canadian crowd at Lake Louise by securing three top-25 finishes.
Winning the season opening downhill race was American Bode Miller. Miller who started 30th crossed the finish line in one minute, 42.75 seconds to claim World Cup gold.
“This is awesome, not only to win but how I won it,” said Miller who won the run by just under a second. “My skis were running perfectly today and there were no missing pieces. I had good luck.”
France's Antoine Deneriaz took second in a time of one minute, 43.72 seconds while last year's Lake Louise downhill champion Michael Walchhofer of Austria rounded out the podium in third with a time of one minute, 43.92 seconds.
Calgary's Jan Hudec finished 8th in the race with a time of one minute, 44.51 seconds. Jan, who was the sixty-second racer down the course blew the Canadian fans away when he crossed the finish.
“This was unbelievable, I was going for top-20 which would have been awesome,” said the excited Hudec. “When they said I was 8th I thought it was a joke. It was awesome to have this result in front of all my friends and family.”
Mont Tremblant's Erik Guay met his goal of finishing in the top-20 with a strong 15th place finish. Guay, who was the 29th racer to leave the starting gate today, finished with a time of one minute, 45.05 seconds.
“It was the first race of the year and I showed that I can ski with the best and that I can still be competitive after my injury,” said Guay after his run.
Guay was the silver medalist in last year's Lake Louise downhill, but suffered a knee injury two weeks after his historic finish that forced him to take the remainder of the season off. Today's race marked Guay's return to competition.
Fran
HUDEC EIGHTH AT CIBC LAKE LOUISE WINTERSTART WORLD CUP DOWNHILL
