Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Erik Guay on top of the worlds

Janyk 15th in downhill
65684_l

Erik Guay is on top of the world with a win last weekend at the 2011 world alpine championships.

The Canadian Alpine Ski Team (CAST) has been reeling with injuries lately, and as a result sent a small, young and relatively experienced team to the competition at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Even the veterans making the trip were having health issues - Jan Hudec injured his hand a month earlier, while Erik Guay missed a few starts with a bad back.

But despite all the things working against the team these days, CAST once again came out of the weekend with the men's world championship title in downhill. With John Kucera still out and unable to defend his title from 2009, Guay stepped up and laid down a blistering fast run on the course.

He was wearing bib number 10, which meant that he had to sit on the hot seat while another 45 skiers came down the course - including Swiss skier Didier Cuche, the current World Cup leader and number two Michael Walchhofer of Austria.

"I'm on another planet right now," said Guay. "I'm pretty emotional and I'm just trying to take it all in.

"John (Kucera) won it two years ago, and I was there to see that. He wasn't able to defend his title but I'm glad to keep it going. It's a pretty special feeling."

Garmisch-Partenkirchen has been good to Guay over the years, who now has three gold medals and a total of five medals at the resort. Last season he clinched the overall World Cup title for super G there with a gold medal performance.

Guay's time of one minute, 58.41 seconds on the long course was never seriously challenged. Cuche came the closest in 1:58.73 to take the silver medal, while Christof Innerhofer of Italy was third in 1:59.17.

Guay has been off to a slow start this year - although his bronze medal at Val Gardena-Groeden, Italy in the super G back in December represented the only podium won by a Canadian athlete this season until he climbed the podium again at worlds.

"It wasn't flawless but it was a good run for sure," said Guay. "I was able to stay calm and stick to my game plan, and hit the really key areas with speed. I was pushing to my limits.

"It seems like the planets aligned. I had a great start number and my back felt good. I always feel good when I come to Garmisch. It's a hill where I feel like I can charge everywhere. It's a pretty special place for me."

Canada's head coach Paul Kristofic said Guay's win was important for the team.

"That was a huge effort from Erik, a really courageous push," he said. "There are a lot of emotions right now. It's been a battle this year but this is something that shows we are doing the right things.

"It's one of those things where you get everyone working hard towards a common goal. We've had a lot of setbacks. It's been a huge effort from the racers but also from all the trainers, doctors, all the others involved."

Guay's medal also represents the third consecutive world championship in downhill where a Canadian has landed on the podium. In addition to Kucera's win in 2009, Jan Hudec earned the silver medal in downhill in 2007.

The other Canadians in the running in 2011 were rookie Ben Thomsen, who showed his potential once again with an 18th place time, and Jan Hudec in 25th.

"He's in some pretty serious company there," said Kristofic of Thomsen's placing. "We couldn't be happier with the way he's skiing."

The FIS Alpine World Championships got underway on Feb. 8 with the women's super G. Whistler's Britt Janyk led the team in 15th place, while Marie-Michele Gagnon and Marie-Pier Prefontaine were 22nd and 24th respectively. Elisabeth Goergl of Austria took the win, followed by Julia Mancuso of the U.S. and Maria Riesch of Germany.

On the men's side, Erik Guay was 22nd, Jan Hudec 31st and Ben Thomsen 43rd.

There was a bit of a shakeup on the podium, with unknown racer Ales Gorza of Slovenia taking the gold medal, followed by Ted Ligety of the U.S. and Thomas Frey of France.

In the women's super combined, Anna Fenninger of Austria was first, followed by Tina Maze of Slovenia and Anja Paerson of Sweden. Marie-Michele Gagnon was the only Canadian making two runs, but didn't finish the slalom.

Britt Janyk led once again in the women's downhill, placing 15th for the second time in the championships.

With the skiers in the top 15 earning FIS points, Janyk improved her start position for future super G and downhill races through the end of the season.

"I went out of the gate and raced hard and I felt confident on the hill," said Janyk. "I knew that if I put a strong run down that I could be right in there but unfortunately I don't think my bib number was good."

Janyk had bib number 25 and while she said the course held up fairly well it was still a slower track by the time she left the start gate.

"I lost too much time at the top and at the bottom, but in the technical sections I skied really well and I was fast," she said. "Obviously I want better than 15th, but again 15 is in the points and as far as my downhill season has been going it's a strong result for me. I think there are some great things going on and I can take that into the World Cups to come."

Elisabeth Goergl upset World Cup leader Lindsey Vonn for the downhill title, with Maria Riesch of Germany in third.

The events continue through the end of this week, including a team event that has been added to the Worlds for the first time.

 

FIS weighs in on alpine injuries

One week after three World Cup stars were injured in the Chamonix downhill, including Canada's Manuel Osborne-Paradis, the International Skiing Federation (FIS) provided an update on their ongoing safety investigations.

FIS has been conducting research since last December with the University of Salzburg and a panel of 63 experts, in response to a rash of injuries in the lead-up to the Olympic Winter Games. The panel identified five predominant injury risk factors, and is in the process of addressing them all.

Some of the ongoing work includes outfitting forerunners with sensors to study speed, energy and other forces, measuring snow conditions and what impact different conditions have on racers - whether the conditions are natural, or enhanced by course workers using fertilizers or water injection. As well, there is work being done to develop skis for downhill and giant slalom that are better adapted to the speeds and forces generated by the athletes. Those prototype skis are being tested by former World Cup racers.

"The goal of producing these prototypes was, first of all, to gain more safety," said Dr. Michael Schineis, chair of the Ski Racing Suppliers' Association. "The ski industry is ready to invest in the safety of the athletes. A key problem seems to be the combination of aggressive snow and aggressive skiing. To make the skis less aggressive, the new prototypes are experimental in terms of radius, length, standing height and ski plates.

"This is a very interesting project. Due to the geometrical changes, these prototype skis were clearly different to ski on and require changes to the ski technique. But they are definitely skiable."

FIS said that the sport, which is based on speed and risk-taking, will always have dangers, but they are working hard to address things like equipment and course conditions that add to the overall risk equation.