Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) was unsuccessful in its last-minute bid to get Whistler’s Britt Janyk into the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
The 21 year old had a slow start this season, but has caught fire in recent weeks to lead the Canadian Alpine Ski Team.
Inspired by four consecutive podium appearances in Europa Cup competition late in January, Janyk qualified for a second run at her next World Cup appearance. Most recently she was fifth at the combined event in Are, Sweden competing against some of the top alpine skiers in the world. The day before she was 17 th in the slalom, and a few days before that she was 15 th in a World Cup giant slalom. At that giant slalom, she was just over half a second away from making the podium, and just 0.23 seconds away from the top 12.
While the Canadian Olympic Association required racers to have at least two top 12 finishes to their credit, the ACA and Janyk felt that a 0.23 seconds difference, even after the COA’s deadline, was close enough for the COA to bend the rules.
Her appeal was turned down however, as was her subsequent appeal to an independent sports tribunal. She was informed on Feb. 8, the day of the opening ceremonies, that she wouldn’t be competing in the Olympics.
"I’m definitely disappointed," said Janyk. "It’s been a tough week. It was one of my goals this year to ski in the Olympics.
"I was just starting to peak, too, with my results. It’s harder because I missed the criteria the COA set out by a hair, only a few tenths of a second. They really stuck to the book pretty closely. I was surprised by that, but not surprised at the same time."
Janyk was impressed by the ACA’s efforts however, and says she was consoled by the fact that they did everything they could to get her named to the Olympic team.
Rather than stay at home or sit on the sidelines at the Olympics, Janyk chose to keep her momentum going by competing in FIS and Europa Cup events in Europe with the national development team.
"I know I could have done really well there, but I guess I’ll have to wait for the next one. The World Championships are next year, so I guess I’ll have to show them there," she joked.
