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Grandi goes two for two

Grandi makes history with back-to-back GS wins
thomasgrandi

Twice in his career, frustrated by his results and the lack of funding and support, Canmore’s Thomas Grandi threatened to quit ski racing for good.

He stayed on at the insistence of his coaches who knew talent when they saw it. Now, just days before Christmas, Grandi has accomplished the impossible in winning back to back World Cup victories in the giant slalom.

Historically, it’s the first time since Steve Podborski in 1981 that a Canadian has won back-to-back gold medals. It’s also the first time that any Canadian has consecutive giant slalom medals – and the last time a Canadian won a GS medal was Kathy Kreiner in 1974, two years after Grandi was born.

Personally, the wins represented Grandi’s first and second World Cup gold medals in just 48 hours, and the high points of a career that goes back 13 years.

Grandi has been close to victory several times, and has consistently ranked among the top skiers in the world for the past few years. Still, he had problems putting two perfect runs together, and perfect is what you have to be on today’s World Cup circuit.

The second win took place on Tuesday, Dec. 21 on a technical course in Flachau, Austria. Grandi, who is turning 32 on Dec. 27, had a safe first run and turned up his intensity for his second lap of the course.

"After Alta Badia, I was so happy," Grandi told reporters, referring to his first win two days earlier. "Everything that has happened is overwhelming.

"I was mentally tired when I came here, it was a challenge to focus on this race after earning my first victory. Today was the icing on the cake. I feel great.

"I was confident after the first leg, but it takes two runs to make a race. The piste was icy and tough.

"The ice makes me a little nervous, you’re never quite sure if your skis are going to hold."

Grandi was joined on the podium by Dider Cuche of Switzerland and American skier Bode Miller, who is also having a breakthrough season.

In his first victory at Alta Badia, Grandi said the win had special meaning for him.

The Canmore resident, who was born in a town near the Alta Badia ski hill, emigrated from Italy with his family when he was just two years old. He still has family in Italy and they helped him celebrate Sunday.

"I thought it was my destiny to win here," said Grandi. "To do this here, on this course, in front of this crowd – it is a day I will never forget in my life," said the 31-year-old veteran of his race.

In addition to about $35,000 in prize money from each event, Grandi will receive the keys to a Pontiac or GMC vehicle for one year. Pontiac GMC’s sponsorship of the national team includes a promotion to give a skier the keys to a vehicle for a World Cup win, World Championship medal, or a top-10 ranking.

This is the second year Grandi has qualified for a vehicle, after finishing ninth on the World Cup points list last season. Grandi’s other top results include a silver medal in the Kitzbuehel slalom last season, and a third in a GS at Park City in 1997.

Adding to the historical importance of the weekend for the Canadian Alpine Ski Team was the performance of Jean-Philippe Roy of Ste-Flavie, Quebec in Italy. Roy started that day with bib 46, but finished in fifth place, the best result of the 25-year-old’s career.

"It’s been a long road for me, I hope I can do the same (as Grandi) someday," Roy told Ski Racing Magazine. The Quebec skier spent a large part of the last two seasons recovering from a knee injury.

"When we hugged at the finish Thomas was yelling and was even more excited when I told him I was fifth."

Dusan Grasic, the coach for the men’s World Cup technical team, was impressed by his skiers.

"The tears are coming to our eyes," he told Ski Racing Magazine. "It’s just unbelievable. You don’t say much when this happens, you just laugh and walk around. We have a team now!

"It’s a great feeling Thomas won, but for me it’s a really big success that J.P. was fifth. J.P. has been fast for two years and it was just a matter of putting it together in a race. We hope this result gives him the momentum for the upcoming races."

Grandi and Roy were watched by their teammates on the sidelines, including Whistler’s Michael Janyk, who earned his first ever World Cup points in a slalom the week before.

"We’re showing we can put it down now," said Janyk. "We are a force on the World Cup circuit. This was Thomas’s life-long goal and he’s done it."

Grandi’s two run time of two minutes, 34.23 seconds, was 0.57 seconds faster than Benjamin Raich of Austria. Hermann Maier of Austria and Didier Cuche of Switzerland tied for third in 2:35.14.

Roy just missed the third place time by a fraction of a second, finishing in 2:35.32.

The men’s technical team had one more race before Christmas, a slalom on Wednesday.

Speed skiers make top-30

They didn’t land any podiums, and with two team members out with injuries, the men’s speed team didn’t crowd the top-30 either. But things could have gone worse at Val Gardena, Italy, with racers taking part in a super G and a downhill on a course that could be featured in the next Olympics.

In the super G, 20-year-old Francois Bourque of New Richmond, Quebec, started in 41 st position but managed the 17 th fastest time of the day, his best World Cup performance to date.

Erik Guay ran into some trouble when he hit a gate panel and was unable to finish the course. He was slightly bruised in the incident, but was able to race the next day.

Whistler’s Jeff Hume was 51 st .

America’s Bode Miller missed the podium for the first time this year, finishing fourth behind a group of Austrians. Michael Walchhofer was first, Hermann Maier second and Benjame Raich third.

In the downhill the following day, Guay shrugged off a strong wind and a fresh bruise to cruise down the hill in 11 th place, just three hundredths of a second out of the top-10.

"It was a little bit of a weird day," he said. "I made some mistakes…probably lost 0.7 or so. But I pulled it off and didn’t crash. I’m pretty surprised I stayed in 11 th ."

It was the best showing for a Canadian on the course since Edi Podivinski was third in 1999.

Jeff Hume was 48 th , but posted a top-30 time in the training run.

Guay still going fast

Mont Tremblant’s Erik Guay was the fastest Canadian in Saturday’s World Cup downhill at Val Gardena, Italy.

Guay finished 11 th in a race won by German Max Rauffer. Whistler’s Jeff Hume was 48 th .

In Friday’s super G at Val Gardena, Francois Bourque of New Richmond, Quebec was 17 th .

Women’s downhills cancelled

The women’s speed team saw the fences and their weekend disappear under a blanket of drifting snow, as winter storms forced the cancellation of two World Cup downhills at Val d’Isere, France. With no races to keep them busy, the team is considering whether to go training or join a lot of the other skiers at a nearby Europa Cup competition.

Hudec out, maybe for season

Jan Hudec, a member of the men’s speed team, underwent surgery in Calgary last weak to repair an ACL tear and damaged meniscus. Hudec injured his knee in a race at Val d’Isere, France two weeks ago after mis-timing a jump in the super G and landing flat. He finished the race in pain, then flew home to have his knee assessed.

There is no word when Hudec will be back, but he did start rehabilitation immediately after the surgery.

Hudec was off to a good start this season, finishing eighth in the World Cup downhill at Lake Louise.

The Canadian Alpine Ski Team’s injury list is growing, with Jenna Durham, Julien Cousineau and Vincent Lavoie already out with injuries this season.