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Breaking through on the World Cup

Britt and Michael Janyk

By Andrew Mitchell

With a team record of 14 medals and 45 top-10 results on the World Cup circuit this past season, the Canadian Alpine Ski Team has stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

Buoyed by new Olympic funding and driven by CEO Ken Read to believe they can be the best in the world, Canadian athletes are a threat to podium in every single race. Not only are the skiers finishing with better results, more Canadians are qualifying for second runs and finishing in the points (the top-30 in World Cup races) than ever before.

In many ways, the Canadians are just getting started. For one thing, the Canadians are one of the youngest teams on the World Cup circuit, with an average age of 24. For another, some athletes are just starting to hit their stride — five of the nine athletes to win medals this season had never stepped on a podium before, and almost every member of the team had a personal best result.

And Canada noticed. The national newspapers, generally focused on hockey during the winter season, devoted more space than ever to the team’s exploits. In Whistler it wasn’t uncommon for bartenders to tune some of their televisions to World Cup races, alongside afternoon basketball and football games.

Last week it was a tired but happy national team at last returned to Canada and Whistler to take part in the Pontiac GMC Canadian Championships. Among them were siblings Britt and Mike Janyk, both of whom had breakthrough seasons on the World Cup circuit, and who together make up one of the year’s most compelling stories.

Both were on skis by the time they were two years old, and took an interest in racing at an early age that prompted their parents, Andree and Bill Janyk, to make the move to Whistler from Vancouver. They went to school here, skied with Whistler Mountain Ski Club, and have skied every skiable inch of their home mountains.

But while they share DNA and the drive to be the best, both took different routes in reaching the top echelons of their sport.

For Mike Janyk, who focuses on slalom, his career has been a steady climb to the top. He started at the back, cracked the top-30 to improve his starting position, and, finding his consistency, started to attack the lead pack. He broke into the top-10 for the first time in the 2004-05 season season, placing sixth and ninth, and then sailed into the top-five for the first time in 2005-06 with a fourth place finish in Japan. This season he placed in the top-10 in seven of 10 World Cup slaloms — and the only races he didn’t finish in the top-10 he didn’t finish at all, a testament to his aggressive, all-or nothing style.

One of those top-10 races was his silver medal performance at Beaver Creek, Colorado — the first of his career, and which left him with the overall leaders bib to hold onto for a little while. He finished his season ranked seventh overall in slalom.

Britt Janyk’s experience on the World Cup circuit has been one of redemption. From the start of her career she was groomed to race the technical events, and had no trouble winning medals in NorAm and Europa Cup competitions. Although she finished as high as fifth in a World Cup giant slalom, she struggled to crack the top-30 and after the 2005-06 season she was relegated to the development team.

Her change in status meant a change in direction. Although she had always been solid in the few speed events she entered — she won both the downhill and super G at the 2006 Pontiac GMC Canadian Championships — Britt decided to concentrate solely on the speed events. She reached an agreement with Alpine Canada where she would pay her own way, at a cost of $25,000, to train and race with the national team. If she reached certain milestones, Alpine Canada would refund her 80 per cent of that money.

Although it might seem like a huge gamble, Janyk has never lacked ability or confidence in herself, and she had her husband and family firmly behind her the whole way. She earned her 80 per cent rebate almost immediately, starting her season at Lake Louise with two top-30 results in the downhill, and an 11 th in the super G. That set the tone for the rest of the season, as she cracked the top-30 15 times, and just missed the podium with three fourth place finishes — sometimes by just a few hundredths of a second.

Her results left her ranked seventh overall in the super G, matching her brother’s ranking in slalom.

Both skiers live out of their suitcases about 49 weeks a year, travelling and training with the national team, and both still call Whistler home — although Britt now has two homes following her marriage to Collingwood, Ontario doctor Matt DiStefano.

Pique caught up with the Janyks at the Pontiac GMC Canadian Championships to talk past, present and future.

 

Pique: Both of you are coming home after a record year for the Canadian team, both of you had a breakthrough season of your own — what has the reception been like?

Michael Janyk: There’s a lot more excitement than other years, a lot of people are taking notice of the team and what we were doing was pretty rewarding. It’s really fun to be home and see how excited other people are.

 

Pique: Do people recognize you?

Britt Janyk: Mostly in our own community, which is a great feeling. A lot of people think Whistler’s just a big resort, but there’s a real core community and to come home and feel that support from the community has just been amazing.

 

Pique: How about in Europe, where skiers are household names?

MJ: For sure. I think this year for me getting into the top-15 and the top-seven you get noticed a lot more, and with the bib draws at night you really make a name for yourself. The sport itself is generally more recognized. I was pulled over by cops, who knew who I was, for speeding in Austria.

 

Pique: Did he let you off?

MJ: No. Would have been nice, though.

BJ: Over there, ski racing is aired live every weekend, people are watching it, they know what’s going on. It’s neat to be recognized, and to have people come up to you who watch you race at home. It’s even neater being recognized here, where ski racing doesn’t get as much attention, but the best thing is to be here at home (for the nationals) where you’re surrounded by the people you know. You spend so much time travelling it’s great to be home.

MJ: I think it would be a lot cooler to be recognized in Europe if I was single! (laughs)

 

Pique: What’s the feeling on the team right now? It seems like you guys are really feeding off each other’s results, to the point where there are more Canadians in the top-30, and some of them are challenging for the podium every week. How motivating is that?

MJ: It’s very motivating, especially looking at what Erik (Guay) has accomplished, what John (Kucera) has done, and Jan (Hudec) with his silver in the world championships. It feels good to be part of a team that’s winning, and everybody wants to contribute to that success. Everybody is making their mark in Canadian history, as part of the best team ever.

BJ: It’s good to get results for yourself, but it’s also good to be part of the team’s results. We’re all getting really good results, and it’s pretty exciting to have that feeling and also feel that we can do more next year.

 

Pique: How big is 2010 for the team right now? Is it something you’re working towards today, or do you just focus on the next race, the next season?

MJ: I just let the coaches and sports science guys worry about building for the future and just focus on the next training day, the next camp, the next season.

BJ: I keep 2010 in the back of my head, but I’m only taking it one season at a time, one race at a time, one training camp at a time. It’s all going somewhere, but there are so many races between now and then that you really have to focus on today.

 

Pique: I know you (Britt) took a bit of a gamble this year by putting your own money on the line. Were you nervous doing that, or did you have the feeling that everything would work out?

BJ: Up to the first race of the season I was pretty nervous, I had a few doubts in my mind. But once I committed to this last spring and made up my mind to pay the money, I did my best to block out all the doubts that I had, and just went ahead and tried to achieve my goals for the season. I really didn’t think about it after the first races of the season, I knew I could do it.

 

Pique: Seeing Mike get on the podium, is it a motivator that he has a podium and you don’t? You both finished seventh in the rankings, and you missed the podium three times by a few hundredths of a second.

BJ: Definitely it’s pushed me a bit harder. I’ll get him next year!

 

Pique: Does it help having a sibling on the team, someone to talk to who knows exactly what you’re going through?

BJ: It’s been great to have someone to talk to. It’s family and it’s someone who understands what you’re doing on a very personal level. We’re on the phone all the time, at least once a week, and we call each other after our results. We share information back and fourth on the road and help each other out.

MJ: It’s good to talk to someone who always knows exactly what you’re going through and how it feels to have a bad day. If I had a bad day, she would remind me why I do this and what the focus is. It’s a lot of fun, too, when we’re both doing well, I think we feed off each other’s success.

 

Pique: You’re one of Canada’s two sibling teams, with Erik and Stefan Guay being the other pairing. How did that happen? Did you both set out to make the World Cup team, way back when you were still in the Whistler Mountain Ski Club?

MJ: I think Britt started. She started skiing, so I started skiing, she raced so I raced. Britt kept moving forward, and onto the development team and national team, and I just kept following her and doing the same things.

BJ: There was no plan for both of us to be on the World Cup, it just worked out that way. I’d take a step forward, being older, and I’d look back and he would be one step behind me.

 

Pique: Now you’re at the top, I don’t think many people understand how big a commitment it is that you have to make. Do you ever question why you do it?

MJ: It’s the chance to win for sure. Standing on top of that podium is why I do it.

BJ: Your ski career is going to last you for a lifetime. You make those sacrifices for such a short period of your life that you’ll get to look back on some day, and it’s really worth it.

MJ: The money is also a good motivator, and the prizes are pretty good if you can be one of the top guys.

BJ: It’s not the reason anybody races, but you can make a career out of it.

MJ: I used to think that I sacrificed a lot. I watched all my friends go to university, all of them were having fun with no cares in the world, and I’d be going to bed early because I had to get up the next day to race. Now they all have jobs, and are settling down. I still have to work hard, but I think skiing beats sitting at a desk. No offence.

 

Pique: None taken — I get a lot of that from athletes. Have either of you thought of what you might like to do after 2010?

BJ: Skiing.

MJ: I’m going to keep skiing. Maybe two more Olympics after that, I don’t know. Thomas (Grandi) went to four, but he also had the Games in Albertville and Lillehammer which were two years apart instead of four.

 

Pique: Speaking of Grandi, how did it help to have a veteran skier like him on the team, having his best years while you were just getting started?

MJ: I think we were all really lucky to have him as a teammate. I got to train with him before I was really good enough to train with him because we have such a small team, and I learned a lot about professionalism from him, and how he approaches races, as well as the passion he has for the sport. It’s been amazing having him as a teammate, he definitely deserves a lot of credit for how he helped the team.

 

Pique: How about on your side, Britt, were there any veterans who had an impact on your skiing?

BJ: For me it was a little different, a lot of girls really came through as a group — Genevieve Simard, Allison Forsyth, we’re all about the same age. Allie broke through initially and I think I came through maybe a year after her. We all came through as a group, and the majority of us that qualified for the team together nine years ago are still here and doing well on the World Cup.

 

Pique: It must have been hard to see Allison dealing with her injuries lately.

BJ: We’ve all gone through injuries at some point or other. She’ll be back and we’ll be stronger. We all look forward to racing with her again.

 

Pique: This was a season of highlights for both of you and the team. Were there any moments that stuck out more than others?

MJ: It would have to be my podium at Beaver Creek, it was just unbelievable. All my friends, my sister, and mom were there, and it was a pretty special moment taking the leader’s bib in the slalom. I was the first Canadian male to ever wear the bib in slalom. Sitting at the bottom of the course and seeing that last racer come down, knowing I had a guaranteed medal, was the best feeling.

BJ: For me I think it was my 11 th place in super G at Lake Louise. It was my first breakthrough result, I came up from the back in 46 th place or something, and we had four girls in the top-11 that day. It really got things rolling, and a lot of the pressure was off because we knew we could race against anybody.

 

Pique: The Canadian Championships showed that there are a lot of good Canadians coming up behind the team these days. Does that mean you have to work harder to keep your spots?

MJ: Having all those good skiers can only mean good things, and you do have to keep fighting for your spot. It’s an individual sport, and everyone wants their name on top, and that keeps you driving forward.

BJ: This week I get to see all the young girls that I don’t get to see all year, which is great. Shona Rubens I got to see a bit, as well as other members of the development team, but to see all these younger girls on the provincial teams do well is great. The more they push themselves to reach our level, the more it’s going to push us up.

MJ: You can’t let off — the competition is always working hard, as hard as you are. Every time we think we might have the jump on the competition for a race, they keep coming back. You have to keep working your ass off.

 

Pique: Even though the Canadians are doing better this year, it’s not because the other teams are not as good. It seems there’s more parity in the sport than ever before.

BJ: Every hundredth of a second counts these days. I really learned that this year, you can’t make mistakes and still expect to do well.

MJ: It’s the same in the slalom as it is in the speed circuit. Benjamin Raich won the first race, then a Swede came up in the next race, then a Swiss guy came through with bib 60 to win the next race, and then another Swede won two in a row, then Mario Matt came on strong for a couple of races. It just shows how much depth is on the World Cup, and makes it a more exciting sport to watch.

 

Pique: What is the impact of Ken Read as CEO of Alpine Canada, and all the new funding and strategies he’s brought into play?

MJ: It’s just more professional. I think before the coaches would say ‘we need four staff, a physio, a doctor and a technician,’ and the team would have to say, ‘okay, here’s three staff and a technician.’. Now if the coaches say the same thing, Alpine Canada says ‘okay, we’ll find a way to make it work.’ It doesn’t always work out, but Alpine Canada will always go for it, and try to create the best possible program.

BJ: Ken has always tried to provide us with all the resources we need to win, as cheesy as that sounds. He wants to win, and if you want to win you have to say that’s exactly what you want to do. I don’t think we had that kind of solid direction previously, but the more you hear it, the more you say it, the more it’s going to happen.

 

Pique: So what’s next? Do you have much time off for summer.

BJ: About three weeks. The rest of the time we’re on the snow or in the gym.

MJ: I’m going to the Bahamas for a bit, probably for a week or so, and then back to the gym and training.

BJ: I’m going to Hawaii for a couple of weeks. I have a friend who works in a hotel in Waikiki, and she is going to set me up. We also have a bike trip from Lake Louise to Whistler — we’re going to go up to Jasper over the pass and down to Kamloops and over the Duffey to Whistler. The whole team is doing it.

 

Pique: Nice. Is that a promotion for the team.

MJ: It didn’t start out that way, but when we told the team what we were doing they decided it was a good opportunity to make some publicity out of it and connect with all the towns and cities to bring attention to the Olympics and the national team.

BJ: It’s going to be a lot fun. It beats spinning in the gym all day long.



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