Whistler ski club alumnus wins silver at FIS Junior World Championships
Several young Canadian skiers made their mark at the FIS Junior World Championships at Maribor, Slovenia last week, landing on podiums in almost every event.
Francois Bourque of New Richmond, Quebec, a member of the national team, led the way for the men with five top-10 finishes, including a gold medal and two bronze medals.
Manuel Osborne-Paradis, a member of the national development team and an alumnus of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, also had a strong showing with a silver medal in super-G.
Calgary’s Brad Spence missed the podium, but manager three top-10 finishes of his own.
For the women’s team, Montreal’s Sophie Splawinski was the top racer in most events with a ninth place finish to her credit.
Alberta’s Jessica Dakers also had a strong week with a 12 th place finish.
In the first downhill on Feb. 10, Bourque earned his first bronze medal with a time of one minute, 10.19 seconds. He wasn’t too far behind the winning time of 1:09.61 set by Austria’s Romed Baumann and the second place time of 1:10.01 set by Italy’s Silvano Varettoni.
"I sat down with Burkie (Canadian Alpine Ski Team head coach Burkhard Schaffer) and the goal we set out was to be in the top finishers," said Bourque. "To be on the podium is definitely in line with that goal. The course isn’t the most challenging but it is very flat at the top, which isn’t something I excel at. The bottom is fairly steep and turny, which plays into my strengths."
Three Calgary racers also finished in the top-15. Brad Spence was ninth, John Kucera 12 th and Gareth Sine 13 th . Osborne-Paradis finished well ahead of the middle of the pack with a 26 th place run.
The Canadian women didn’t have as much success, with Splawinski of Montreal leading the way in 16 th place.
Maria Riesch of Germany – who has victories on the World Cup circuit this year – took the win, followed by Lindsey C. Kildow of the U.S. and Daniela Mueller of Austria.
After another day of training, the Canadians were on top again in the super G. Vancouver’s Manuel Osborne-Paradis put in a world class performance to finish second with a time of 1:18.54. He was followed closely by a pair of his teammates, Bourque and Brad Spence, who were third and fourth respectively with times of 1:18.63 and 1:18.66.
"After Frankie (Bourque) came down, I was starting to think I’d won, then the Swede came out and blew me out of first," said Osborne-Paradis, after Sweden’s Hans Olsson charged into first with a time of 1:17.49.
"Last year I was 22 nd in the super G, so top-five seemed achievable. It’s funny to think that just three years ago, I was sitting in the B.C. Team van with Dusan Grasic (Canadian men’s technical coach) who was coaching the provincial team at the time, and he was telling me that in three years, I should be winning medals at World Juniors. It’s pretty awesome to have accomplished that today."
John Kucera and Gareth Sine of Calgary were 20 th and 31 st overall, and Stefan Guay of Mont Tremblant was 35 th .
In the women’s super G, Splawinski was on top once again with a ninth place finish in 1:27.81 – just over a second behind co-winners Nadia Franchini of Italy and Andrea Fischbacher of Austria. Julia Mancuso of the U.S. was third.
Splawinski was only one of two Canadians to start, with the stomach flu taking Brigitte Acton (silver medal last year) and Julie Rabnett out of the picture. Jessica Dakers was the only other Canadian to race, and managed to land in the top-30 with a 23 rd place finish.
"It’s a slow build-up, but my confidence is getting better and better," said Splawinski. "I’m pretty happy with my run. My top interval was good, but I was a little round on the bottom."
The giant slalom last Friday was a little tougher, with stiffer competition among the European skiers.
Once again Bourque took the lead, finishing fifth after cutting his calf with his own ski. He was 1.24 seconds off the podium with a combined time of 2:18.80 after two runs. Gold went to Jeffrey Harrison of the U.S. in 2:17.40, followed by Kjetil Jansrud of Norway in 2:18.29 and Fredrik Nordh of Sweden in 2:18.64.
None of the other Canadians cracked the top-30 with Osborne-Paradis in 35 th , Trevor White of Calgary in 46 th and Spence in 59 th .
In the women’s giant slalom, Jessica Dakers led the way in 12 th place. Splawinski was 43 rd .
In the slalom, which was run at night, Bourque finished seventh in 1:35.43, more than two seconds off the lead. He was the only Canadian to finish both runs.
The other Canadians started off well in the slalom, but were unable to finish the same way. White was fourth after the first run, Bourque was 11 th , and John Kucera and Spence were 19 th and 29 th respectively.
The slalom gold went to Raphael Fassler of Switzerland, followed by Ted Ligety of the U.S. and Fredrik Nordh of Sweden.
While Bourque’s slalom result wasn’t good enough for a medal, it put him solidly in first place in the men’s combined event, which counted results from all four disciplines.
The women’s slalom, which wrapped up the junior championships on Sunday, went to Kathrin Zettel of Austria, followed by Nika Fleiss of Croatia and Sarka Zahrobska of the Czech Republic.
Brigitte Acton was the top Canadian in 19 th , and Splawinski was 28 th .
Although the women’s team didn’t do as well as hoped, it was the Canadian men’s team best ever showing at the junior level.
"It’s been a great week, but there are some disappointments – spots where it could’ve been better," said Glenn Thomsen, the men’s national development team technical coach. "Tonight, Trevor was skiing for a medal in the second run, but he missed out on a great opportunity. All-in-all, this year’s men’s team has put in the best overall men’s team performance in history."
