In a span of just five days Erik Guay went from a medal drought to a medal monsoon, culminating with the overall World Cup title for super G at the World Cup finals in Germany last week.
To recap: on March 7, Guay earned a gold medal in super G at Kvitfjell, Norway, the first win of his career in the discipline and his first World Cup medal since December 2008.
On March 10 he followed up with a bronze medal performance in the downhill at the World Cup finals in Partenkirchen, Germany. And finally, on March 11 he won his second straight super G World Cup event. Combined with his consistent results from earlier in the season the super G win gave Guay 331 points and the super G title.
Austrian Michael Walchhofer was second in the final super G standings with 316 points.
The overall title and the crystal globe that comes with it was only the second one ever captured by a Canadian male. Steve Podborski won the men's World Cup downhill title in 1982.
"Coming in to today I knew that I had an outside shot at winning the globe but I knew that I was going to need to take some chances to win," Guay said after the race. "And it feels absolutely amazing."
"I needed to go as hard as I could and take as many chances as I could. And I did that," he said. "I took a lot of risk all the way down. It panned out even though there were a lot of times I thought I was right on the limit. There were a couple times when I thought I might be missing the gate or it might be too late to make up time."
Guay's time of 1:27.36 was almost 0.4 seconds ahead of Ivicia Kostelic of Croatia. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway claimed the bronze.
The victories and the overall super G title were a measure of revenge for Guay. In the 2006 and 2010 Olympics he has missed medals in two super Gs by a combined total of four one-hundredths of a second.
Whistler's Manuel Osborne-Paradis had a solid day in Germany to place 11 th in the super G and ninth in the overall standings.
While he hasn't been on the podium often in the past two seasons, Guay was still one of the more consistent skiers on the team with numerous appearances in the top five and top 10.
The World Cup finals featured downhill, super G, giant slalom, slalom and a team event on the final day.
No Canadians were ranked in the top 25 in men's giant slalom and therefore no one was qualified to compete in that discipline. The GS win went to Carlo Janka of Switzlerland, followed by Davide Simoncelli of Italy and Philipp Schoerghofer of Austria.
Whistler's Mike Janyk led the way in the men's slalom with a fifth place finish, missing the podium by just 0.2 seconds. It was Janyk's last shot at a podium this season. While it was a good result for both Canadians in the race - Julien Cousineau placed sixth - Janyk said he was looking for more.
"I am very happy with how I finished," he said. "But I'd be lying if I didn't say I wanted more. I was looking for more podiums. On the other side, I was consistently up there and finished every race but one."
He was close to the podium in many of those races, placing in the top 10 six times and fifth in three races.
Cousineau had a shot at the podium after placing second in the first run.
"I have never been in that position before, so I was pretty nervous," said Cousineau. "Second run I skied okay but I think I didn't charge enough. I was pretty nervous so I guess that's why.
"But it's been a great season and I am looking forward to more good results next season. It's definitely a step in the right direction."
Felix Neureuther of Germany won the slalom. He was followed by Manfred Pranger of Austria and Andre Myhrer of Sweden. Brad Spence was 25 th .
The women's team also missed qualifying any skiers for the final giant slalom. Tina Maze of Slovenia took the win, followed by Kathrin Hoelzl and Maria Riesch of Germany.
Whistler's Britt Janyk was the top Canadian in the super G, 11 th . Emily Brydon was 15 th .
Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. won the super G, followed by Elisabeth Goergl of Austria and Nadia Styger of Switzerland.
Brigitte Acton was a solid 15 th in the women's slalom. Marlies Schild of Austria took the win, followed by teammate Kathrin Zettel and Maria Riesch of Germany.
Canada was eliminated in the team event, a dual giant slalom, by the Austrian squad. Czech Republic went on to win the team title.
Members of the team returned home immediately after the races, with many taking part in the NorAm Cup Finals in the U.S.
Final Rankings
Men's Overall - Carlo Janka, Switzerland. Top Canadian: Erik Guay, 13 th .
Men's Downhill - Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway. Top Canadian: Manuel Osborne-Paradis, fourth.
Men's Super G - Erik Guay.
Men's Giant Slalom - Ted Ligety, U.S. Top Canadian: Jean-Philippe Roy (injured most of the season), 26 th .
Men's Slalom - Reinfried Herbst, Austria. Top Canadian: Mike Janyk, ninth.
Men's Combined - Benjamin Raich, Austria. Top Canadian: Ryan Semple, 28 th .
Women's Overall - Lindsey Vonn, U.S. Top Canadian: Emily Brydon, 20 th .
Women's Downhill - Lindsey Vonn, U.S. Top Canadian: Emily Brydon, sixth; Britt Janyk 18 th .
Women's Super G - Lindsey Vonn, U.S. Top Canadian: Emily Brydon, 19 th ; Britt Janyk 21 st .
Women's Giant Slalom - Kathrin Hoelzl, Germany. Top Canadian: Shona Rubens, 47 th .
Women's Slalom - Maria Riesch, Germany. Top Canadian: Brigitte Acton, 20 th .
Women's Combined - Lindsey Vonn, U.S. Top Canadian: Emily Brydon, 10 th .
