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Grandi shines again in World Cup

Frustration continues for women's slalom team

The Canadian Alpine Ski Team is looking stronger than it has in decades, but with only weeks remaining to qualify athletes for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games it will be a struggle to qualify a full team of 22 athletes – the goal set by Alpine Canada Alpin heading into the season.

Part of the reason is the fact that the women’s technical team is struggling in the slalom. With Emily Brydon now focusing more of her time on downhill, super-G and GS events, and Allison Forsyth unable to compete in slalom due to tendonitis in her hips, the team includes just two members – Whistler’s Britt Janyk and Brigitte Acton of Mont Tremblant. Although both skiers are improving with every race, there are only a few races left between now and Feb. 6, when Alpine Canada Alpin will finalize its Olympic team selection.

To make the cut, Janyk, Acton and other CAST hopefuls need two top-12 results from the start off the 2004-05 season, or a top-five in one World Cup.

Every race counts at this point, which made the team’s results from Maribor, Slovenia on Sunday so disappointing. Neither Acton nor Janyk qualified for a second run, finishing 39 th and 46 th respectively.

"I felt like things were going really well at the top but I held on a little too much on the bottom and was too slow at the finish," said Janyk. "I’ve been moving better and really coming out of the gates fast in recent weeks. That’s the good news, now I just have to continue it through the second half of the course."

Because of the weather – fog and falling snow – a lot of skiers went off-course, while others struggled to stay in the tracks. Marlies Schild of Austria took the win, followed by Janica Kostelic of Croatia. Therese Borssen of Sweden was third.

The good news for the team is that Thomas Grandi is building up the consistency that made him one of the top-ranked technical skiers last season in both giant slalom and slalom. In the classic GS at Adelboden, Switzerland Grandi moved up from ninth to sixth after a strong second run.

"First run I was always fighting to make the next gate," said Grandi. "I wasn’t able to find the rhythm and look for speed.

"Overall I’m happy with the way I skied today because I didn’t ski a great second run either. But I fought hard for this sixth place and I’m happy with that, though (coach) Dusan (Grasic) might not agree with me."

The other good news was the performance of Jean-Philippe Roy, who managed to finish 20 th with the third fastest second run of the day. Roy is still recovering from a series of knee injuries, but now has four results in the top-20 this season – including a bronze GS medal from Slovenia.

Benjamin Raich of Austria won the race.

In the slalom the following day, Whistler’s Michael Janyk led the way for the Canadians with a 10 th place finish – his third-best career slalom result – while Roy earned his first World Cup slalom points with a 25 th .

Giorgio Rocca of Italy took the win, followed by Ted Ligety of the U.S. and Raich.

Other Alpine News

• Whistler sit skier Brad Lennea earned a World Cup spot for the Canadian Disabled Alpine Ski Team in the giant slalom after finishing third at a Nor-Am Cup in Park City, Utah. Lennea is also hoping to qualify for a World Cup super-G spot at races in Keystone Colorado.

• American alpine star Bode Miller shocked a few fans last week when he admitted on CBS’s 60 Minutes to racing drunk – not all the time, but he said he has done it and wouldn’t rule out doing it again.

"Talk about a hard challenge right there. I mean, if you ever tried to ski when you’re wasted, it’s not easy… You hit a gate less than every one second, so it’s risky, you know. You’re putting your life at risk there. It’s like driving drunk only there’s no rules about it in ski racing."

He also recently spoke out against drug test procedures, believing testers should only be concerned with drugs that are hazardous to a skier’s health. Miller estimated that he has had hundreds of drug tests, all negative, and calls the procedure "degrading".

Both the Federation Internationale de Ski and U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association are up in arms over Miller’s comments, and are planning talks with the 28-year-old about his on-hill activities.

• Italian alpine star Isolde Kostner confirmed that she was pregnant this week, and announced that she was pulling out of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. Kostner is a two-time World Cup overall champion and two-time super-G world champion, and one of Italy’s best hopes to win at home in 2006.

"I thank God for having given me this beautiful and completely unexpected gift even if it comes at a time that many consider inopportune," said Kostner in a statement to the media.