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Mike Janyk looking for crystal globe

Winning runs and splits not enough for Whistler athlete
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Whistler's Mike Janyk is a much better skier than his trophy case would let on.

He has two medals in slalom to his credit, a bronze at the 2009 world championships and a silver medal in 2006 at Beaver Creek. He's closing in on 25 results in the top 10 and has 11 top five results. Last season alone he earned four top-five finishes on the World Cup.

But Janyk knows he can do better. He regularly wins individual runs and posts the fastest splits on sections of courses, but putting together two podium runs has been a challenge.

"My skills have been there to win for years now, and it's really just a matter of doing it," he said. "I need to refine myself so on race day I can bring my best, where now I'm only showing it on certain courses, on some runs I win and some sections I win - I'm just not showing it all the time."

Janyk said he has been training hard over the summer, improving fitness and agility on snow and during dryland training. He's also spent a lot more time on his mountain bike this year.

The goal is the same as always - to stand on top of the podium.

"My first and foremost goals are to win on the World Cup and to win a crystal globe," he said. "The Olympics and world championships are amazing and my medal at the world championships was amazing, but there is something special about the guys who win a crystal globe like (teammate) Erik (Guay) did. There's more peer respect from an athletes' standpoint."

Winning a crystal globe means being consistently on or near the podium week after week, racking up the points over an entire season.

There is no world championship this season and the Winter Games in Sochi are still more than two years away. As a result, Janyk said this is a "pure" World Cup season with no interruptions or distractions.

Overall, the Canadian men's slalom team has been improving, making history in recent years by placing multiple athletes in the top 15 and top 30. Having so much talent in the group is inspiring, said Janyk, as the skiers get pushed at every race and training opportunity.

"The guys we have on the slalom side - Julien Cousineau, Trevor White, Brad Spence - we can all train with the fastest guys in the world and on certain days race the fastest in the world. Knowing you have a guy behind you like that who's pushing you like crazy, but you're still beating them, you know you're in a place where you can win. I think people will see that happen with the team as we continue to grow and push each other from within."

While the average age of the Canadian team is going up, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The whole World Cup tour is getting older, and in many cases veterans like Swiss skier Didier Cuche can still lead the field well into their 30s. America skier Ted Ligety has been on the tour for 10 years, but posted his best results at the end of last season.

"It's always cool to see it when someone has persevered after all those years, and anytime somebody is throwing down while others are pulling back is inspirational to me. Knowing what's possible, and that I've done it in the past and have it in me, is a huge boost - and that will come out as I continue to learn and figure out how to do that every day.

"Consistency is really important to me. That's what I've been doing mental training for and how you give your best at every race. That's where I need to go to reach the next step."

Two of the races that Janyk is especially looking forward to are the night events at Adelboden, Switzerland and Schladming, Austria.

"(At Adelboden) the crowd is just unbelievable, it's a really cool pitch and cool hill - and obviously you get cow bells when you finish in the top five, so that's a bonus," he said. "The Schladming night race is so special - 60,000 fans on the side of the mountain going crazy. It's hard not to feel affected by that."

He will also take part in pro urban events in Moscow and Munich on breaks from the World Cup tour.

While night events are good for a few reasons - visibility is the same for all skiers and course conditions are usually consistent from top to bottom - Janyk enjoys them for the sheer spectacle.

"It just creates such an amazing atmosphere - and I get to sleep in," he joked. "There's definitely a different vibe to it, and it's not something you can do with any other alpine event. Fans love it, racers love it. I really think we should do more of those on the World Cup."

Janyk also recently created a brand for himself, which he hopes to build alongside his trophy case.

"It started this spring because I was really in the market for a headgear sponsor," he said. "I started thinking, 'what do I want to stand for, what do I want to represent.' I wanted something to distinguish myself from the rest of the skiers with a cohesive message and I thought that this was a unique way to do that. Tiger Woods has a brand, Roger Federer, Lindsey Vonn - you see their logo and brand and you know what they're about. I thought, why not do that for myself."

Janyk unveiled the new brand and logo last Thursday in Vancouver, and it will be featured on his website, www.mikejanyk.com, and in a sponsor video.