American Lindsey Vonn may own the Lake Louise women's downhill course, winning her sixth and seventh World Cup gold medals at Lake Louise this past weekend plus a silver in the super-G, but there was a lot to celebrate for the home team as well.
The Canadians got faster in every training run leading up to the first of two downhill races on Friday. Vonn took that race in a time of one minute, 26.13 seconds, while Fernie's Emily Brydon crossed the finish line in 1:26.65. Maria Riesch of Germany took the bronze medal with Whistler's Britt Janyk just 0.29 seconds back to place fourth.
Other Canadians earning points in the top 30 were Kelly VanderBeek in 13 th place and Larisa Yurkiw 24 th .
Brydon's silver medal was the best result ever posted by a Canadian woman at Lake Louise.
"I had a lot of ups and downs but they were all part of the journey to get here," said Brydon. "This is a great way to start the season and (with) Britt in fourth it reassures the world that we are back and that we are in a very powerful position right now. I couldn't be happier."
Vonn finished the race with some blood on her face after bumping her chin on her knee while rounding a corner and biting her tongue. "I was a little bit confused and didn't really know what happened," she said. "I was just hoping that I didn't lose any teeth."
Day two took place on a longer course with colder temperatures and harder snow, but in the end the results were similar to day one.
Emily Brydon had a solid day once again to win the bronze medal, with Riesch surging into the silver medal position. Vonn took the win once again.
Britt Janyk also lost some ground but still placed eighth.
Brydon said she had difficulty on the top part of the longer course but managed to get her run back under control to earn her second medal in as many days.
"Both of these days have been very different but very emotional," she said. "It makes me very happy. I think that yesterday was a huge step for me in my career. I went out of the start gate with the same game plan. I was still just as nervous this morning (as) I was yesterday. I realized that those are just race nerves and I think that is good to have."
Janyk was happy with her top 10 results in the downhill events, all but ensuring her a spot in the 2010 Games.
"We did three training runs on the top so... it's a line that we are used to," she said. "It's a colder day but the track is still in great shape and it was a good race.
"I skied quite well, I think, today. I had a really great run and I was racing for the top spot. Today I'm eighth. It's still a great day and I'm happy the way I skied."
VanderBeek finished 13 th on day two, with Larisa Yurkiw moving up to 16 th place.
The final event was Sunday's women's super G. Austria's Elisabeth Goergl took the win, bumping Vonn into second place. Ingrid Jacquemond of France placed third.
Goergl took the win on behalf of her team, which is struggling this season.
"It's really important for the Austrian team, of course," she said. "There are some big expectations from us and we haven't been that good since the beginning of the season in the last races. So I won this race for the whole team."
The Canadian team did not manage any medals or top 10 results but placed six athletes in the top 30.
VanderBeek was the top Canadian in 11 th place, with Janyk 13 th , Brydon 17 th , Yurkiw 24 th , Shona Rubens 26 th and Georgia Simmerling 29 th .
The women's team is en route to Europe. The women's technical team is heading to Are, Sweden for slalom and giant slalom races, while the speed team will head to Val Gardena-Groeden, Italy for downhill and super-G races.
Racing also continues at Lake Louise this week with Nor-Am Cup events.
Janka dominates at Beaver Creek
While the Canadian women were defending their home field at Lake Louise the Canadian men's speed team headed to Beaver Creek, Colorado for a downhill, giant slalom and super combined event (downhill and giant slalom).
Swiss sensation Carlo Janka dominated at Beaver Creek, winning all three events.
For the most part the Canadian skiers avoided the super combined. Only Louis-Pierre Helie participated in the event and he was a DNF (Did Not Finish).
Janka led teammate Didier Defago in the super combined, with Croatia's Natko Zrnicic-Dim third.
Canadians then struggled in the downhill. Manuel Osborne-Paradis, coming off a gold medal in the super-G at Lake Louise, led the team in 28 th place, with Erik Guay in 29 th . Whistler's Robbie Dixon was a DNF.
Janka edged teammate Didier Cuche by two one-hundredths to claim the downhill. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway was third, a further two one-hundredths behind Cuche.
The GS was also a tough one for Canada. Jean-Philippe Roy was the top racer in 17 th place, with Jeffrey Frisch 21 st .
Janka's two-run combined time was nearly half a second better than Austria's Benjamin Raich. Norway's Lund Svindal was third for the second day in a row.
The men's team is back in action this weekend at Val D'Isere, France, followed by downhill and super-G events at Val Gardena-Groeden.
