Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Cdn Alpine ski team wraps with medals

Grandi catches fire

The Canadian Alpine Ski Team wrapped up the first part of the 2005-06 season with two more medals, bring the tally to seven so far this year.

Number six and seven came courtesy of Thomas Grandi, who made up for a slow start with a pair of podium finishes in giant slalom and slalom on challenging courses at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia just before Christmas.

In the giant slalom Grandi was sixth after his first run, then put in one of the fastest second runs of the day to move up to third behind Benjamin Raich of Austria and Massimiliano Blardone of Italy.

Said Grandi, “This result is particularly gratifying considering the bumps, the flat flight, and the water injected course.

“I’ve been comfortable in slalom and it was a matter of time until I found my zone in giant slalom.”

Like other slopes in Europe, Kranjska Gora is shoveling out from a string of winter blizzards. Organizers used water injection to firm up the softer snow and create a more consistent course for racers.

Grandi said he wanted a good giant slalom result heading into the Olympics. “I had a tough start to the season, with Beaver Creek probably being my toughest race, so this is the confidence boost I needed. I can head to the Games with a positive mindset, knowing that I am right there with the best racers.”

The other good news for the Canadian team in that race was another top-30 by Francois Bourque, who won a bronze in the GS the week before. He was seventh after his first run, despite a mistake in the top section, but almost went off course on his second run to get pushed back to 25 th overall.

“Early on today I could feel that my balance wasn’t optimal,” said Bourque. “In the second run I made a mistake and got caught in a big cloud of snow. I could barely see a thing all the way to the finish line.”

Both Ryan Semple of Calgary and Erik Guay of Mont Tremblant also managed to earn points by finishing 27 th and 28 th respectively.

In the slalom the following day, a more confident Grandi won the silver medal — Canada’s seventh this winter and sixth in six consecutive races.

Giorgio Rocca of Italy was solid in two runs to win, finishing with a time of 1:35:98.

Grandi skied consistently, but could still only come within 0.64 seconds of the Italian. Ted Ligety of the U.S. finished just 0.03 back of Grandi to claim the bronze medal.

“This is my second career podium in slalom and now my big goal is to get a win in that discipline,” said Grandi. “It’s given me incredible motivation to try to become the first Canadian man ever to win a World Cup in both giant slalom and slalom and I’m confident this will happen.”

Whistler’s Michael Janyk also earned World Cup points. He had a good first run, and was 15 th heading into the second run. He hit a gate on the second run, and had to hike back up and around for his run to count. The mistake dropped him back to 26 th place.

Patrick Biggs of Ontario also qualified for a second run, but lost control at the same gate as Janyk and went off course.

 

Jeff Hume retires, joins WMSC

Whistler’s Jeff Hume announced his retirement from the Canadian Alpine Ski Team on Tuesday, bringing an end to his more than eight years with the national team.

Hume is coming off a season where he ranked 36 th in the world in downhill, and where he posted a career-best sixth on the downhill course in Chamonix.

Hume has also had his share of injuries over the years, including a serious concussion in the 2003-04 season. For Hume, who often posted some of the fastest split times on the top of the course only to crash or go off course in the lower section, it was always all or nothing.

So far this season the 26 year old has struggled, finishing just two of five World Cup races, both outside of the Top-30.

However, Hume feels that with his last season he’s retiring on a high note.

“I did not want to have any regrets or negative feelings for something that has been such a large part of my life for so long,” said Hume. “On one hand I did not want to be a quitter, but I also didn’t want to be scared to move on. There was a fine line, but I believe that I made the right decision.”

Hume already has plans for the future. He will join the Whistler Mountain Ski Club as a coach for the rest of the season, before embarking on a post-secondary education and career in real estate. He’s also looking forward to doing some travelling — without his skis — and has plans to visit Australia.

As a coach he feels he has a lot of skills and advice to pass on to the next generation of athletes.

“I would tell a young racer to be persistent. In skiing there are bad days as well as good and you can’t let the bad days cast a shadow. Hard work and perseverance are the keys,” he said.

In his retirement letter, Hume also thanked his coaches over the years, as well as Alpine Canada Alpin, B.C. Alpine, the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, his sponsors, the Weasel Workers, the Sleddogs and his family.