Guay, Hume first and third, Turgeon third at World Championships
Coming off top-10 finishes in the opening super-G event at the FIS World Alpine Ski Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, the Canadian speed team posted some of their best training results this season in the downhill on Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Erik Guay of Mont Treblant, Quebec, shocked the crowd when he crossed the line with a time of one minute, 50.33, to lead the entire field in the downhill training run. The changing weather may have helped Guay in the long run, and he says luck definitely played a part in his finish. Still, he will head into the race on Saturday with some heightened self-esteem.
"It’s good to get a good result in the training run to build on your confidence, but you have to remember that it’s just training," he said.
Whistler’s Jeff Hume, who’s aggressive skiing has resulted in several DNF’s this season, held on to finish third in training in 1:51.40.
"My confidence just went straight up there," said the 23-year-old. "It’s not a real result because of the crazy weather, but the guys around me weren’t even close so I guess I did pretty well. If I can do this again on Saturday, I can be in the top-15."
Vincent Lavoie of Cap Rouge, Quebec, posted the 16 th fastest time, but clocked the fastest speed of the day in the lower section of the course at 101.7 kilometres per hour.
In the women’s downhill training, Melanie Turgeon of Quebec City finished third with a time of 1:22.04. Genevieve Simard of Val-Morin, Quebec was 21 st , Emily Brydon of Fernie was 37 th , and Kelly VanderBeek of Kitchener, Ontario, was 40 th .
