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Forsyth earns bronze in world championships

Canadians finish with two medals, and top results Nanaimo’s Allison Forsyth turned her entire season around with a pair of inspired giant slalom runs at the Alpine Ski World Championships at St. Moritz, Switzerland on Feb.

Canadians finish with two medals, and top results

Nanaimo’s Allison Forsyth turned her entire season around with a pair of inspired giant slalom runs at the Alpine Ski World Championships at St. Moritz, Switzerland on Feb. 13, that earned the 24-year-old the bronze medal.

Forsyth was in second place after a strong first run, but fell off the pace a little in her second run to drop back into third behind Denise Karbon of Italy.

Meanwhile, Anja Paerson of Sweden built on her lead after the first run to finish 1.55 seconds ahead of Karbon and 1.79 ahead of Forsyth, and post a total time of 2:30.97.

"I’m happy for me, I’m happy for my team and I’m really happy to be Canadian right now," said Forsyth in a post-race conference call with the media.

Although she has four GS silver medals to her credit in recent years and came into the season ranked fifth in the world, her best finish this season was an eighth.

"I had no idea what happened," said Forsyth. "I came through the finish and I couldn’t quite read the board. I was a little dazed and it took about 10 seconds for me to clue in and see I was in second when I passed through, meaning I was guaranteed a medal. Screams of joy would sum it up. I’m really happy I put it together on the right day."

Emily Brydon of Fernie was the next best Canadian, finishing 24 th . Both Genvieve Simard and Whistler’s Britt Janyk were DNFs.

In the men’s GS on the previous day, Bode Miller of the U.S. took the gold medal, 0.03 seconds ahead of Hans Knauss of Austria, and 0.04 seconds ahead of teammate Erik Schlopy.

Jean-Philippe Roy was the top Canadian in that race, his first since he was sidelined with an injury in early December. He was 29 th out of 83 racers.

Thomas Grandi and Ryan Semple did not finish.

In the women’s slalom race on Feb. 15, Janica Kostelic of Croatia collected her second world championship gold medal, after winning the combined event a week earlier. She was followed by Marlies Schild and Nicole Hosp of Austria.

Emily Brydon was the top Canadian in 20 th position, Britt Janyk was 26 th , and Allison Forsyth was 30 th .

Janica’s brother, Ivica Kostelic, won the men’s slalom event, edging out hometown hero Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland and Giorgio Rocca of Italy.

For Canada, Thomas Grandi and Ryan Semple were 31 st and 33 rd respectively.

When the world championships wrapped up, Canada had two medals including Melanie Turgeon’s downhill gold and Forsyth’s bronze. They also had seven finishes in the top-seven, contributing to Canada’s best finish ever in a world championship.

The World Cup season resumes this weekend with a men’s downhill and super G at Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany, and a pair of women’s downhills at Sierra Nevada, Spain.