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Guay makes history at Lake Louise

Solid weekend for Canadian team After a disappointing start to the season, the Canadians hit their stride last weekend with both the men’s and women’s teams landing solid results in Lake Louise and Park City.

Solid weekend for Canadian team

After a disappointing start to the season, the Canadians hit their stride last weekend with both the men’s and women’s teams landing solid results in Lake Louise and Park City.

One athlete, Mont Tremblant’s Erik Guay, stood above the rest with a downhill run at Lake Louise on Saturday for the record books.

With conditions changing from run to run, Guay moved up from the 21 st start position to finish second, edging out an impressive list of World Cup winners and champions to claim Canada’s first medal of the season – and our first alpine racing medal on Canadian soil since Rob Boyd won gold in Whistler back in 1989.

It was also the first time a Canadian had won a medal at the Lake Louise Winterstart races.

"It went really well," said Guay, who at 22 years old is just getting started. "I just did what I had to do.

"Second place is just a dream for me. It’s good to get results so early in the season."

The gold medal went to Michael Walchofer of Austria in one minute, 51.16 seconds. Guay was just 0.69 seconds back to take the silver medal, and Antoine Deneriaz of France was third, just 0.05 back of Guay.

In a CP interview, Guay credited his results to the changes that Alpine Canada Alpin President Ken Read has made to the national program since he took the reigns in the spring of 2002.

Both Read, a member of the legendary Crazy Canucks with five World Cup downhill wins, and Steve Podborski, Canada’s top downhill athlete with eight World Cup victories, were on hand to watch Guay make history.

"I knew he had the capability, but Erik just keeps surprising me," said Read. "What Erik’s demonstrating to me is a maturity, even though he’s young he’s got the skill to be a leader. He leads by example – he just goes out and does the job."

For Podborski, it was rewarding to see the next generation of Canadian skiers stepping up to the world stage.

"He knows number one is the place to be and he’s got the proper attitude for that," said Podborski.

"People measure success in very simple ways – did you win or not? So the podium works for me. It’s vital for the team.

"When we look forward to 2010 and the opportunities for a gold medal there, it’s just a wonderful, wonderful thing."

Guay’s previous best performance came in the World Championships last season when he earned sixth place finishes in the downhill and super G.

The other Canadians didn’t fare as well, with Jan Hudec of Banff finishing 38 th , Whistler’s Jeff Hume landing 52 nd , Darin McBeath of Calgary 54 th , Vincent Lavoie of Cap Rouge, Quebec 57 th , and Brad Spence of Calgary 63 rd .

The men were back in action again in the super G on Sunday, and once again Guay was the top story.

Austria’s Hermann Maier led what was to be an all-Austrian podium, taking the gold medal ahead of Walchofer and Stephan Eberharter.

Guay was part of the awards ceremony, however, after finishing in sixth place, 0.8 seconds out of the third position. He actually held the lead for a while, but was bumped back by the last group of top-seeded skiers.

"I wasn’t expecting as much, so top-10 is great. When I was standing at the finish, I was nervous because I knew the best skiers were coming down," said Guay.

This time Guay had some Canadian company in the top-30, with Hudec finishing 15 th and Lavoie ending his day in 21 st .

"Watch out for us," said an excited Hudec at the finish. "We want to bring back a fire in Canada that hasn’t been around since the Crazy Canucks."

Francois Bourque of New Richmond Quebec just missed the points, finishing in 32 nd place. Hume was 40 th , moving up from 56 th start position, and McBeath was 46 th after starting 63 rd .

The men’s team continues to race next weekend with events at Beaver Creek in Colorado.

Women in top-30

The women’s team put a growing list of crashes, injuries and World Cup frustrations from their earlier World Cup races behind them in the giant slalom at Park City on Saturday, with three athletes finishing in the top-30.

Nanaimo’s Allison Forsyth led the way, finishing in 11 th place. Genevieve Simard of Val-Morin, Quebec was 18 th and Whistler’s Britt Janyk, who underwent knee surgery just four weeks prior, came back to finish 23 rd .

"In the first run I was just too nervous,’ said Forsyth. "I had to put a lot of energy into keeping myself calm. The second run I was in the start thinking ‘this is how I’m supposed to feel.’ The butterflies were gone."

Janyk said it was hard to forget her recent injury.

"It’s still very much in the front of my mind," she said. "It’s only been just over four weeks. I got back on snow a week and a half ago.

"There’s a bit of pain in it when the course is rough but everything is fixed and healing.

"I know I can do better and I want to do better. But I think I needed this step today to get over my knee and move on from it."

Anja Paerson of Sweden took the gold medal, followed by Nicole Hosp of Austria and Denise Karbon of Italy.

Gail Kelly of Ste-Anges de Beauce, Quebec did not qualify for a second run, and Christina Lustenberger of Invermere didn’t finish her first run.

In the slalom on the following day, none of the Canadians managed to qualify for a second run.

Technical coach Jim Pollock blamed late start positions and the deteriorating course conditions to the poor team performance.

"It was really rough conditions today," said Pollock. "We don’t have the start numbers that we can do well. When you’re starting 57 and 60 and the course is all rutted up, you have to have an extraordinary run to make it in. We’ll have to wait for good skiing in good conditions to have a chance from the back. Until then it’ll be pretty tough."

The women will be racing in a pair of downhills and a super G at Lake Louise this weekend.