The Canadian Alpine Ski Team headed into the brief Christmas break on a new high following back-to-back giant slalom wins by Canmore’s Thomas Grandi.
It will be interesting to see what effect those wins will have on the rest of the team. If the women’s teams most recent results are any indication, then Grandi won’t be the only Canadian on the podium this season.
The Canadian women got back into action on Tuesday, Dec. 28, with the women’s technical team taking on the giant slalom course in Semmering, Austria. Although they didn’t make the top-10, three athletes made World Cup points with top-30 finishes.
Austria’s Marlies Schild took the gold medal, narrowly escaping a strong second run by Finaland’s Tanja Poutiainen – 0.11 seconds was all that separated the leaders. Another Austrian, Elisabeth Goeral, was third.
The top Canadian was Genevieve Simard, who cracked the top-15 with a pair of solid runs – her second best GS result this year, and her third top-20.
Nanaimo’s Allison Forsyth was 21 st , while rookie Brigitte Acton of Mont-Tremblant finished 25 th . Gail Kelly and Britt Janyk didn’t qualify for a second run.
The racing continued on Wednesday, while the men will be back in action in the New Year.
