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Brydon leads Canadian attack

Silver medal, seven top-10s for national ski team
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Emily Brydon

Fernie’s Emily Brydon is the latest Canadian to step up to a World Cup podium, with a silver medal this past weekend in Switzerland. But while the Canadian team can now boast four podiums in four weeks — including two by Whistler’s Britt Janyk — the big story this past weekend is how consistently Canadians are finishing in the top-10.

The men were at Val-Gardena-Groeden, Italy for a super G and downhill.

Erik Guay came closest in the super G, placing fifth in 1:36.86, just two tenths of a second off the podium. Jan Hudec also cracked the top-10, finishing in ninth place, while John Kucera and Manuel Osborne-Paradis earned points for 17 th and 24 th place finishes respectively.

The win went to Didier Cuche of Switzerland, followed by Bode Miller of the U.S. and Marco Buechel of Liechtenstein.

“My race went pretty well,” said Guay. “I made a series of very small mistakes which were the reason I came fifth. The snow was really aggressive today and I feel that I attacked the course.”

Guay had another solid performance in the downhill, this time placing fourth behind Austria’s Michael Walchhofer, Didier Cuche and American Scott McCartney. Osborne-Paradis was sixth.

Although he has yet to stand on a podium this season, Guay finished his weekend with three top-10 finishes to his credit so far this season and two other results in the top-20.

While that result keeps him in the hunt for the overall title, Guay made it clear that he hoped for more.

“It’s frustrating and somewhat disappointing,” he said. “I was certain to have the third place and then McCartney came in a couple of racers after me and took it away. But I have no one else to blame but myself.”

For Osborne-Paradis, an alumnus of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, it was just good to be in the top-10 again.

“I didn’t think I was going to do it but I just gave’er,” he said. “After the training run I figured I could tuck more and attack more, which I did in the race.”

The women’s team had a similar kind of weekend at St. Moritz, Switzerland, with the exception of Brydon’s medal performance.

In the downhill race, which replaced a cancelled event at Val d’Isere, Britt Janyk placed a solid eighth, leaving the podium to Anja Paerson of Sweden, Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. and Maria Riesch of Germany. Emily Brydon and Kelly Vanderbeek also cracked the top-30, placing 15 th and 22 nd respectively.

“I am really happy to be right in there with another solid top-10 result,” said Janyk, who went into the race wearing the women’s red leader bib. “This was my first time running the downhill in St. Moritz. It’s a great track here, the snow is really aggressive and you have to be really smooth.

“It was pretty cool to wear the red bib but I didn’t really think about it much. It felt normal and I approached it as just another race. I definitely have my eye on (the standings) but more importantly I have to concentrate on going out there performing during the race. It is a long season and if I start focusing on stuff like that the season will get even longer.”

In Sunday’s super G it was Brydon’s turn to steal the show with a solid performance that left her just 0.04 seconds back of winner Paerson. Renate Goetschl of Austria picked up the bronze medal, while Britt Janyk was 10 th .

It was a banner day for Brydon, who earned her first World Cup medal — a bronze in downhill — at St. Moritz seven seasons ago. Plagued by injuries, Brydon nearly retired from skiing before finding her form again over the last few seasons.

“Today was a great day for me because the start of the season was a little bumpy and it’s very reassuring when you get a result like this,” she said. “It goes to show that everyone has a chance at the podium, it doesn’t matter what you did yesterday or last week.

“St. Moritz is also the place where I earned my first ever podium so there has always been a soft spot in my heart for it.

“Our team is on fire. How can you not be inspired? With Britt’s and Kelly’s results to date, I knew that my time was coming. We have a great team and this is only the beginning.”

Brydon now has five World Cup podiums to her credit, tying her with Genevieve Simard and Allison Forsyth for the most podiums for skiers still active with the team. All three are tied for eighth on the all-time medals list for Canadian female ski racers.

The final race of the weekend was a technical series at Alta Badia, with a men’s giant slalom Sunday and slalom on Monday.

John Kucera missed the podium by just 0.09 seconds in the giant slalom to place fourth, behind Kalle Palander of Finland, Benjamin Raich of Austria and Marc Berthod of Switzerland.

The following day Michael Janyk made his return to the World Cup after being sidelined with an injured back for the past few months. Despite the time off, Janyk managed to finish in the top-30 in the first run and qualify for a second run on a tough course. He missed a gate and had to hike on his second run but finished the day in 23 rd place.

“I skied really solid today,” he said. “On the first run I did exactly what I needed to do to have a solid run. I wasn’t really sure how things would go.”

France’s Jean-Baptiste Grange won the slalom, finishing 0.74 seconds ahead of Germany’s Felix Neureuther. American Ted Ligety was third.

The World Cup will take a brief break for Christmas, with races getting underway again on Dec. 27 in Bormio, Italy.