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Chilly temperatures greeted racers Wednesday for the final day of Mars Apex Grand Prix Downhill action. Once again, conditions were close to perfect and race organizers pulled off a flawless race. Kelowna's Kelsey Serwa (Big White/OST) managed to reclaim the top podium spot with a mistake-free run completed in one minute, 22.24 seconds. Serwa's team mate and challenger Elli Terwiel of Heffley Creek (Sun Peaks/OST) wrapped up the silver medal position in 1:23.29. On the third podium step, from the National Alpine Training Centre in Alberta, was Nicole Poleschuk, who stopped the clock at 1:23.96.
“Yesterday I was trying to pull as tight a line as possible and I got a little greedy, which slowed me down in a couple of places.” admitted Serwa, after redeeming herself Wednesday. “Today I did a lot of visualization to fix up my line and correct yesterday's mistakes.”
Next on the agenda for these racers, after a little time focusing on school, is a series of technical races at Silver Star (Vernon). “I'm looking forward to racing slalom and GS.” said Terwiel who won Tuesday's downhill race. “I've never really thought of myself as a speed skier, though that is definitely developing now. I've always had my better results in the technical events.” When asked if they plan to push each other in slalom and GS, both girls answered a resounding “always!” “Training with someone at your own level is an awesome situation to be in. When you see them having a good day it makes you want to try harder.” revealed Terwiel.
It was an extremely tight race for the fastest three men on the course, all finishing within five tenths of a second of each other. Tuesday's silver medalist, Benjamin Griffin of New Zealand took gold Wednesday with a time of 1:20.24. Griffin was followed closely by hometown favourite Ian Cumming (Apex/Penticton), who put it all together in just 1:20.61. Ben Podborski of Whistler (WMSC) stepped it up on the final day winning a bronze medal in 1:20.72.
“Today I just went for it.” said Cumming who was happy to be back on the podium. “I took more risks and went after it more aggressively. Yesterday the intensity wasn't really there for me like it was today.” As for what comes next, Cumming added: “I'm looking forward to the tech races