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Team Canada earns first medal

Guay quick at Beaver Creek, others in top-20

Erik Guay could be the best Canadian skier since the Crazy Canucks challenged the Austrians to downhill world domination a generation ago. And at age 24, he’s still a decade younger than some of the top Europeans of this generation.

After coming away from the Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup events with a 17 th in downhill and an 11 th in super-G – a good start for most racers but a disappointing weekend for Guay – the Mont Tremblant native found his groove at Beaver Creek, Colorado in week two.

On Dec. 1, Guay stayed on edge to place second behind Hannes Reichelt in the super G on the difficult Birds of Prey course, shrugging off fog, wind and snow on his way to the finish.

Guay’s time of 1:17.37 was just four one-hundredths of a second back of Reichelt, and just 0.12 seconds faster than Austria’s Matthias Lanzinger.

Guay knew he had a great run, even before he saw his time and rank on the leader board. He came through the finish line pumping his fists and grinning from ear to ear.

"I was pretty certain I’d had a good run and I was only .04 from Hannes, so it was close," he said.

Guay said the conditions were tough, and that he could only see about two gates ahead the whole way down. Wind gusts of 80 km/h were recorded.

"It was so windy up there. It was snowing like crazy and blowing even more," said Guay. "When I went there was a lot of snow and I couldn’t see the other racers but I took advantage of the start number I had and I attacked.

"The visibility was awful, you couldn’t see the little bumps and the ripples. There was a bit of fog and everything was a bit fuzzy."

Guay tried to stay positive, and his strategy was to attack whatever the conditions might be.

"It was super-negative at the start. Everyone was saying ‘I can’t believe it, it’s snowing and it’s windy and the visibility is terrible.’ So I said to myself, ‘okay, if they have an attitude like that, I’ll approach it from the other side, like Mike Weir.’

"Mike Weir prefers to play in the wind because the others are at a disadvantage. I kind of used that to my advantage. I got psyched on it and just went for it and it worked for me."

Guay’s smile got even bigger when his teammate Francois Bourque also shrugged off the conditions, and managed to cross the line in 11 th place. Bourque was on pace to land on the podium with the fastest split time on the top section. He made a small mistake, but held on to post his best result in a speed event this season.

"Today you had to take your chances," said Bourque. "But even with that mistake I was still 11 th which means I had a good run otherwise.

"But I’m still kicking myself. I know I could have done it too. Erik is a good skier but I know I can ski just as well as he can, so it’s encouraging."

John Kucera also earned some points by cracking the top-30, finishing 27 th .

Whistler’s entries in the event, Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Jeff Hume, did not finish.

The same group was back at it on Friday in the downhill event. There was no medal in it for the team, but Guay and Borque had solid runs once again.

The American skiers, Daron Rahlves and Bode Miller were first and second, with Rahlves crossing the finish line with a 0.27 second gap. Hans Grugger of Austria was third.

Guay finished sixth, 0.75 back of the podium.

Weather was a factor once again, but this time Guay found it to be a distraction.

"It was hard to get focused," he said. "They kept interrupting the race every couple of racers. In the start gate I was told five seconds then they grabbed me and told me the race was stopped. I had to refocus, regroup. It was a big challenge for me. But once I was on the course it was fine. The crowd was great."

Bourque managed to crack the top-15 for the second day in a row, finishing 13 th . He had to wait for over an hour at the top of the course to get the go-ahead to race.

"I usually try to go up 20-25 minutes before my run, not too long ahead of time so I don’t have to wait," he said. "But it was okay in the end. I’m pretty happy and satisfied. I did well in training but you can never be sure when it comes to race day."

On the third day of racing, a giant slalom, Bourque led the way for the Canadians with a sixth place finish. Thomas Grandi earned points by finishing 17 th , while Guay, who typically only competes in speed events, finished 21 st . Neither John Kucera, Ryan Semple or Jean-Philippe Roy earned a second run of the course.

Miller and Rahlves exchanged podium spots from the previous day, with Miller taking the gold and Rahlves finishing second for the U.S. Kalle Palander of Finland was third.

In the final event at Beaver Creek, the slalom, Patrick Biggs of Ontario was the only Canadian to earn a second run on Sunday. He finished the day in 14 th place.

Giorgio Rocca of Italy took first place, followed by Stephane Tissot of France and Ted Ligety of the U.S.

The course was tricky, with 36 skiers going off course over the two runs.

Not only did the Canadian skiers earn World Cup points, it was also a big weekend financially. Guay, with a second and a sixth, earned the equivalent of CHF 24,000 (Swiss Francs) or more than $21,000 Cdn. Bourque earned CHF 4,000 for his sixth place finish.