Turgeon, Brydon consistent as finals approach
At 30-years-old, Thomas Grandi is the oldest members of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team, but he is far from being over the hill. In fact, the Canmore, Alberta racer is more focussed on his racing than ever, and is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career.
He is currently ranked 34 th overall on the World Cup points list, and sits 17 th in slalom and 18 th in the giant slalom. While he has yet to make a podium this season, his consistency has been remarkable. Aside from a handful of races, Grandi has been in the top-30 in every race but one. He has been 21 st twice, and has six results in the top-20.
Grandi has also cracked the top-10 three times, most recently netting a career-best seventh in the slalom at Yongpyong, South Korea, on March 2.
Starting 26 th in the first run, Grandi was challenged by the rapidly deteriorating course conditions, and ended up 23 rd .
"I didn’t have a very good run at all, and I was pretty upset," said Grandi.
Rather than sit back and take it, the veteran racer dug deep for the second race and moved up an incredible 16 positions into seventh overall with the fastest second run of the day.
"I got mad. A lot of my best races have been when I’m mad, and I was mad at the start of the run, and I took it out on the course," said Grandi.
The race went to Kalle Palander of Finland, followed by Giorgio Rocca of Italy and Benjamin Raich of Austria.
Meanwhile, the women’s team was racing in a pair of super Gs and a downhill at Innsbruck, Austria.
In the first super G on Feb. 28, Renate Goetschl of Austria won the gold medal, followed by Carole Montillet of France and Alexandra Meissnitzer, also of Austria.
Melanie Turgeon was the top Canadian in 10 th place, 0.83 seconds back of the lead in a tight race. Genevieve Simard also cracked the top-30 and improved her ranking with a 23 rd place finish.
The downhill on March 1 went to Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria, followed by teammate Katja Wirth. Hilde Gerg of Germany was third.
Turgeon was once again the top Canadian, finishing in 13 th place overall. Emily Brydon of Fernie finished just out of the points in 31 st overall.
In the final super G on March 2, Brydon showed she is back on track after missing most of the past two seasons with knee injuries. She battled her way to 13 th place over two runs, finishing just over a second back of the winning pace set by Brigitte Obermoser of Austria.
The result moved her into 18 th in the super G World Cup rankings, and guaranteed her a spot in the super G at the World Cup Finals in Lillehammer, Norway from March 12 to 16.
Silver and bronze went to Montillet of France and Goetschl of Austria.
