Whistler’s Brad Lennea is giving up the Canadina Para-Alpine Ski Team and a chance to compete at home in 2010, according to Alpine Canada.
Lennea said it was a difficult decision to make, but necessary.
“I have a problem with my back and I have been thinking about retiring for a while,” said the 36-year-old sit skier, who finished 11 th in the Paralympic downhill in Torino in 2006. “It’s really hard to deal with that and keep up a regular training and travel routine.
“Just training or competing alone is really hard on my body physically and I just kind of decided that it would be best for me to slow down and take it easy.”
Lennea could not be reached, as he was selected to be a torch bearer for the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing this week, but said he was interested in staying involved in racing.
The Para-Alpine team also announced the departure of Emily Glossop, who has guided visually impaired skier Kathleen Forestell the past four seasons. Forestell plans to keep competing.
This year the IPC Para-Alpine World Cup season wraps up in Whistler with events March 11-13.
Women’s hockey draft on Sept. 11
The Whistler Women’s Hockey League is hosting its annual draft tonight, Thursday, Sept. 11, inviting women who have some experience and are looking to join a team for the season.
The draft runs from 8 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Sign-on is at 8 p.m., followed by drills and a scrimmage from 8:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Teams will draft players from 9:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.
Annual fees range from $250 to $350, depending on team sponsorship, and games take place from late September to late March. All levels of players are welcome to try out, but participants should know how to skate, have a good understanding of the game, and have full equipment. There is no cost to try out.
Players should pre-register by emailing Tim Houlihan at houli32@hotmail.com.
Janyk wins Alpine Canada award
Whistler’s Britt Janyk and Calgary’s Jan Hudec won Alpine Canada’s Athlete of the Year Awards last week, as both skiers won their first career World Cup races.
Hudec won gold in the downhill at Lake Louise Winterstart, while Janyk won the downhill at Aspen and finished the season ranked third.
Janyk was also solid in super-G, and was the top Canadian in the overall rankings in 12 th place. Fernie’s Emily Brydon was close behind with three podiums last season.
“I have complete satisfaction with my season last year,” said Janyk. “I put a lot of hard work into it and it paid off. It even pushed me more this summer. To know that you are one of the best not only in Canada but in the world, that’s a great feeling. And I am not letting up, it just pushes me even more.”
Lauren Woolstencroft won the Para-Alpine team’s top award with three World Cup globes, including the overall. Sit skier Kimberly Joines took the Breakthrough Athlete of the Year Award.
Larisa Yurkiw of Ontario and Travis Dawson of Alberta won the top junior awards, while Whistler’s Robbie Dixon — who finished fourth in a World Cup last year — won the Breakthrough Athlete award.
Whistler’s Rob Boyd also won the Andrzej Koabial International Coach of the Year award for his work with the women’s team.
Registration underway for Harvest Huckfest
The Whistler Mountain Bike Park is registering athletes for the last two events of the season, including the slopestyle on Saturday and Gunner Vision Dual Slalom on Sunday. Both events are open to competitors 13 and older, and cost $40 without lift tickets. Full face helmets are mandatory for both events and available for $5 for competitors.
Registration is available at Whistler-Blackcomb Guest Relations. More information is at www.whistlerbike.com.
Pemberton racer completes Ironman, Louisville
Scott Whelan meant to race Ironman Canada, but when he missed the registration in 2007 because of a wedding he shopped around for other events at the same time of the year. At last he decided on Ironman Louisville, Kentucky, where race day temperatures were over 35 degrees Celsius and humid for his first Ironman attempt.
Whelan, who was coached by Christine Suter, broke the 14 hour mark by finishing in 13 hours, 54 minutes and 13 seconds, 977 th overall out of more than 1,7000 racers.
For the Record
In our coverage of the Whistler 5 Peaks race, we missed a category. Ghlee MacLeod and Michele Marsh were first and second in the women’s 40 to 49 race with times of 1:20:51 and 1:21:54 on the 10.8 km Enduro course.
Also, in last week’s Cheakamus Challenge story we incorrectly reported the registration fee as $75, which is the day of race fee. Advance registration is $65, including a burger platter at the finish.
