by Sue-Lynda Bate | Feb 6, 2003 | Member News
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American Bode Miller turned in two incredible slalom runs to make up a three second downhill deficit and steal away the World Championship from Norway's crown princes of the combined, Thursday in St. Moritz.
On a snowy, grey day, Rossignol's million dollar man showed versatility and drive in winning his first World Championship and the Americans' 4th medal this week.
Miller, of Franconia, New Hampshire, won with a three-run time of 3 minutes, 18.41 seconds, .07 clear of Lasse Kjus and .13 ahead of Kjetil-Andre Aamodt, both of Norway, and both with baskets of combined medals. Miler also won silver in the super-G on Sunday.
Only Markus Larsson had faster slalom runs than Miller. But with a five-second downhill deficit to overcome, the Swede could finish no better than 6th.
Erik Guay, of Tremblant, Qu
by Sue-Lynda Bate | Feb 5, 2003 | Member News
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Another snowy, foggy day dawned on the FIS World Alpine Ski Championships 2003 downhill training in St. Moritz, but that didn't slow down the Canadian men's speed squad who continue to be the talk of the town as two of them roared into the top-3 on Wednesday.
Fresh off his sixth-place finish in the men's Super G on Sunday, Mont Tremblant, Quebec's Erik Guay was the fastest man in the downhill training run, finishing in a time of one minute, 50.33.
“It's good to get a good result in the training run to build on your confidence, but you have to remember that it's just training. I was a little surprised – I think a little luck was involved,” said the 21-year-old Guay, who's been consistently improving on his results since breaking the top 30 in World Cup racing last December.
Teammate Jeff Hume, 23, of Whistler, B.C., crossed the finish in 1:51.40 – the day's third-fastest time for the men's downhill training.
“My confidence just went straight up there,” said Hume as he left the finish area with an ear-to-ear smile. “It's not a real result because of the crazy weather, but the guys around me aren't even close so I guess I did pretty well. If I can do this again on Saturday, I can be in the top 15.”
Hume, who was disappointed with Sunday's Super G where he missed a gate trying to tackle a tough roll too aggressively, is competing in his first World Championship.
Both Guay and Hume recorded some of the day's fastest intervals, but it was Vincent Lavoie, of Cap Rouge, Quebec, who clocked the fastest speed of the day in the lower section of the course at 101.70 km/h. He finished 16th.
Banff, Alberta's Jan Hudec, who was seventh in Sunday's Super G, landed a jump hard onto his left leg, and didn't finish the race. Hudec has a nasty bruise, but he is already working with the team physiotherapist to get back into race mode. No decision has been made on whether he'll race in Saturday's downhill, but he is not expected to start in Thursday's combined.
The women, who were able to get their first training run in on Tuesday despite the less-than-ideal conditions, raced in very similar conditions on Wednesday.
It was Melanie Turgeon's turn to be top Canadian in the downhill training, finishing third in one minute, 22.04.
“I'm happy with today because now I know that even if the weather conditions aren't great, I know I can attack and be fast,” said the 26-year-old veteran from Quebec City. Turgeon was sixth in Monday's Super G, and has brought the confidence of a podium performance in the Super G in Cortina d'Ampezzo in January, as well as some solid training, into her sixth World Championship appearance.
Genevieve Simard, who just missed the podium in Monday's Super G and who finished 10th in Tuesday's downhill training run, finished 21st.
“I really like this course. It has a bit of everything – some flats, some really nice turns, some jumps. It's the type of course that works well for me,” said Simard.
Emily Brydon, who started seventh, finished 37th, and Kelly VanderBeek, who slipped onto her side at one point but was able to get back onto her feet to finish the course, ended up 40th.
The women will have one more training run on Friday before they race the downhill on Sunday.
FIS WORLD ALPINE SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS 2003
ST. MORITZ, SUI – 05.02.2003
MEN'S DOWNHILL TRAINING #1
Top 20:
1. (34) GUAY Erik, Mont Tremblant, Que., 1:50.33; 2. (17) HOFFMANN Ambrosi,
SUI, 1:50.79; 3. (48) HUME Jeff, Whistler, B.C., 1:51.40; 3. (39) SVINDAL
Aksel Lund, NOR, 1:51.40; 5. (12) EBERHARTER Stephan, AUT, 1:51.73; 6. (21)
CAVEGN Franco, SUI, 1:51.74; 7. (13) STROBL Fritz, AUT, 1:51.78; 8. (33)
FIALA Jakub, USA, 1:51.82; 9. (55) ZURBRIGGEN Silvan, SUI, 1:51.88; 10. (45)
SKERBINEK Primoz, SLO, 1:52.24; 11. (3) DALCIN Pierre-Emmanuel, FRA,
1:52.44; 12. (23) DENERIAZ Antoine, FRA, 1:52.87; 13. (19) KERNEN Bruno, SUI
1:52.90; 14. (4) RAUFFER Max, GER, 1:53.06; 15. (50) BERTHOD Marc, SUI,
1:53.35; 16. (43) LAVOIE Vincent, Cap Rouge, Que., 1:53.51; 17. (22)
SCHIFFERER Andreas, AUT, 1:53.73; 18. (9) KJUS Lasse, NOR, 1:53.90; 19. (62)
LARSSON Markus, SWE, 1:53.95; 20. (41) FILL Peter, ITA, 1:53.96.
DNF: HUDEC Jan, Banff, Alta.
FIS WORLD ALPINE SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS 2003
ST. MORITZ, SUI – 05.02.2003
WOMEN'S DOWNHILL TRAINING #2
Top 20: 1. (32) DUMERMUTH Monika, SUI, 1:21.61; 2. (34) STYGER Nadia, SUI,
1:21.94; 3. (23) TURGEON Melanie, Quebec, Que., 1:22.04; 4. (39) RUIZ
Canadian Alpine Ski TeamILLO Carolina, SPA, 1:22.07; 4. (21) KOSTNER Isolde, ITA, 1:22.07; 6.
(29) HAEUSL Regina, GER, 1:22.08; 7. (19) GOETSCHL Renate, AUT, 1:22.46; 8.
(6) JACQEMOD Ingrid, FRA, 1:22.49; 9. (33) SPONRING Christine, AUT, 1:22.55;
10. (9) HARGIN Janette, SWE, 1:22.58; 11. (20) GERG Hilde, GER, 1:22.61; 12.
(36) LUDLOW Libby, USA, 1:22.66; 13. (30) IMLIG Corinne, SUI, 1:22.79; 14.
(25) SUCHET Melanie, FRA, 1:22.82; 15. (5) HUBER Isabelle, GER, 1:23.01; 16.
(10) RIESCH Maria, GER, 1:23.03; 17. (28) REY BELLET Corinne, SUI, 1:23.08;
18. (31) HOSP Nicole, AUT, 1:23.14; 19. (16) OBERMOSER Brigitte, AUT,
1:23.50; 20. (27) CLARK Kirsten L, USA, 1:23.52.
21. (44) SIMARD Genevieve, Val-Morin, Que., 1:23.53
37. (7) BRYDON Emily, Fernie, B.C., 1:24.79
40. (35) VANDERBEEK Kelly, Kitchener, Ont., 1:25.38
by Sue-Lynda Bate | Feb 4, 2003 | Member News
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BC Ski Team's Christina Lustenberger, Invermere, won the first run and managed to maintain a silver finish even with a fall on the second run while teammate Scott Anderson, Rossland, was fifth on the day in the men's giant slalom.
Tremendous weather, great snow and a host of fantastic volunteers, coaches and athletes combined to create a great four days of racing over on the Island at Mt. Washington February 1-4. Wrapping up competition Tuesday, following two slalom and two giant slalom races, the entire FIS event sponsored by MARS
by Sue-Lynda Bate | Feb 1, 2003 | Member News
Men: 1. Louis Florjancic, Scarborough, Ont., 1:30.80; 2. Scott Barrett, Toronto, 1:32.04; 3. Geoffrey Goodman, Pointe Claire, Que., 1:32.32; 4. Vincent Lebrun-Fortin, Tremblant, Que., 1:33.48; 5. Patrick Findlay, Collingwood,
Ont., 1:33.55; 6. Everett Findlay, Collingwood, Ont., 1:33.65; 7. Ryan Perlus, Willowdale, Ont., 1:33.99; 8. James Finlayson, Whistler, BC., 1:34.42; 9. Adam Law, Burlington, Ont., 1:34.53; 10. Louis-Pierre Helie, Berthierville, Que., 1:34.88.
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