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BRODERICK THOMPSON TAKES GOLD MEDAL ON HOME MOUNTAIN
Darlington and Steeves add to strong day for Whistler skiers
WHISTLER, BC (April 10, 2009) – Whistler skiers made their mark on the opening day of the Whistler Cup, with three podium results led by Broderick Thompson’s (Whistler, BC) win in the men’s K2 super-G. Canadians had a total of four podiums in four races on the day.
Thompson, a 14-year-old who won the Dave Murray Award at the Whistler Cup in 2007 as a K1, finished today’s men’s super-G in a time of one minute 06.47 seconds.
“It’s a great opportunity for me. I really know this hill and know the terrain. Being here with some of the top competition from around the world, it’s good to get to know the skiers who will be the competition in the future,” said the motivated Whistler Mountain Ski Club racer.
Thompson said racing at the national level is one of his goals, adding that he was looking forward to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games which are coming to his home town in less than a year.
“Oh, I’ll be here for sure. I wouldn’t miss it,” said Thompson, who actually won today’s race on the same Head skis that last year’s winner Ford Swette used to win.
Americans Thomas Robles and Eric Haferman finished second and third respectively.
DARLINGTON ON PODIUM DESPITE BROKEN WRIST
Fourteen-year-old Kailee Darlington (Whistler, BC) overcame a broken left wrist to finish second in today’s ladies K2 super-G.
“Everything went really well today. The course was in amazing shape and it was set by my coach Craig Glenday. It was really fast and rhythmical so I just stayed strong and was aggressive all the way down,” said Darlington, who finished in a time of 1:07.89.
“I broke my wrist last week (at the President’s Choice Canadian K2 Championships) so I had to have the cast molded to my pole. It was hard to hold the pole properly but in the super-G it’s not that bad. It might be a little worse in the slalom tomorrow,” added the Whistler Mountain Ski Club racer.
Bara Strakova of the Czech Republic won the race in a time of 1:07.54 with American Mikaela Shiffrin third.
STEEVES MAKES IT THREE PODIUMS FOR WMSC RACERS
Kelly Steeves (Vancouver, BC) finished third in the ladies K1 slalom, giving Whistler Mountain Ski Club racers their third podium result of the day.
Steeves, 12, battled a few nerves to finish in a two-run combined time of 1:11.22.
“Yeah, the second run always makes me a little nervous, having to live up to the other run,” admitted Steeves. “But it was really good today – a beautiful sunny day and a really good smooth run.”
“I am surrounded by amazing people,” Steeves said of the performance of her teammates. “Broderick and Kailee are awesome. It’s nice to know that being around them I am getting better and better.”
Finland’s Nea Luukko won the race in a two-run combined time of 1:09.28 followed closely by Veronika Camkova of the Czech Republic in second in 1:09.44
HICKS SECOND IN MEN’S K1 SLALOM
Lauchlan Hicks (Revelstoke, BC) used his experience at last year’s Whistler Cup to help the Canadian team, finishing second in today’s men’s K1 slalom. His two-run combined time was 1:10.56.
“It’s really cool to be here as part of Team Canada, a lot of fun. Hopefully I will do well the next couple days as well, we’ll see,” Hicks said. A Nations Cup is handed out to the top nation at the end of the three day competition.
Slovakian Samuel Senkar won the race in 1:09.04 with first run leader Shun Okumura of Japan third.
Now in its 17th year, the Whistler Cup brings over 390 young athletes from 20 countries to Canada for what is one of only eight annual world-class international events in the world for skiers this age.
Races are split into K1 (11 and 12-year-old’s) and K2 (13 and 14-year-old’s).
The event continues tomorrow with a slalom race for K2’s while the K1’s compete in giant slalom.
WHISTLER CUP 2009 UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 10TH, 2009 – MEN’S K2 – SUPER-G
1 2 THOMPSON Broderick Whistler, BC WMSC 1:06.47 (1)
2 14 ROBLES Thomas USA USA1 1:07.54 (2)
3 30 HAFERMAN Eric USA USA1 1:07.55 (3)
WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 10TH, 2009 – LADIES K2 – SUPER-G
1 9 STRAKOVA Bara CZE CZE1 1:07.54 (1)
2 21 DARLINGTON Kailee Whistler, BC WMSC 1:07.89 (2)
3 4 SHIFFRIN Mikaela USA USA1 1:08.54 (3)
WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 10TH, 2009 – LADIES K1 – SLALOM
1 1 LUUKKO Nea FIN FIN 34.48 (1) 34.80 (3) 1:09.28
2 10 CAMKOVA Veronika CZE CZE1 34.82 (2) 34.62 (1) 1:09.44
3 23 STEEVES Kelly Vancouver, BC WMSC 35.70 (4) 35.52 (7) 1:11.22
WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 10TH, 2009 – MEN’S K1 – SLALOM
1 7 SENKAR Samuel SVK SVK 35.51 (6) 33.53 (1) 1:09.04
2 17 HICKS Lachlan Revelstoke, BC Revelstoke Ski Club 35.08 (3) 35.48 (4) 1:10.56
3 3 OKUMURA Shun JPN JPN 33.18 (1) 37.40 (23) 1:10.58
WHISTLER CUP – SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
11.04.2009 Whistler, BC K1 GS / K2 SL M & L
12.04.2009 Whistler, BC K1 Kombi / K2 GS M & L
ABOUT THE 2009 WHISTLER CUP
Hosted by the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (www.wmsc.info), the Whistler Cup is the only international ski racing event for 11 to 14-year-olds in North America. World Cup winners to have participated in the Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup include Canadians Erik Guay, Britt Janyk and Emily Brydon as well as Austria’s Benjamin Raich, Slovenian Tina Maze and Anja Paerson of Sweden. For more information on the Whistler Cup please visit the event website at www.whistlercup.com.