Two Whistler skiers and students have been selected by Alpine Canada to compete in the World University Championships, held in Zakopane, Poland Feb. 7-17.
Paul Boscovich, who attends the University of British Columbia, and Jayme Smithers, who attends the University of Denver, were two of six men and six women selected to represent Canada in the university championship alpine events. B.C. will be well-represented with Aimee Noel-Hartley of Vancouver, another University of Denver racer, and Jennifer Delich of Fernie, who races for the University of New Mexico, also joining the team.
The alpine racers will compete in slalom, giant slalom, super-G, and downhill competitions. Canada has yet to win a medal in any of the championship alpine events, but Alpine Canada Athletic Director Joze Sparovec says it’s definitely a priority.
"This is an outstanding opportunity for our student-athletes and our coaches to participate in a world forum for ski racing while representing our country and our sport," says Sparovec. "It is our objective to win gold at the Games."
Other featured events include snowboarding (boardercross, parallel slalom, giant slalom, halfpipe), cross country skiing, biathlon, ski jumping, nordic combined (jumping and cross country), hockey, figure skating, and short track speed skating.
Other teams will be announced in the coming weeks.
