Canadians finish first and fourth in final World Cup downhill training
Published Friday November 28th, 2008
LAKE LOUISE, Alta. - John Kucera of Calgary had the fastest time in Friday's final training for this weekend's opening World Cup downhill race while his teammate Erik Guay was fourth.
American Bode Miller, who won the first two training runs, and Switzerland's Didier Cuche, the reigning World Cup downhill champion, both skipped Friday's training.
The Canadian team also suffered a loss when Francois Bourque of New Richmond, B.C., hurt his left knee in a fall while free skiing down the course during warmups. Bourque, 24, who is a super-giant slalom and giant slalom specialist, was taken to hospital in Calgary for an MRI where it was revealed he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
"The recovery from this type of injury is typically a minimum of six months, but can be longer depending on the severity of the initial injury," said Alpine Canada director Christopher Irving.
Kucera fought a biting, cold wind and flat light conditions to cover the three-kilometre Mens Olympic Downhill Run in one minute 47.26 seconds. Guay, from Mont-Tremblant, Que., was just over half a second behind in 1:47.91.
Austria's Georg Streitberger was second in 1:47.32. Switzerland's Ralf Kreuzer, the 57th skier down the hill, was third in 1:47.47, pushing Guay into fourth.
Kucera, who finished 15th in the week's first two training runs, took a more aggressive approach Friday.
"Today I tried to approach it more with a race mentality," said Kucera, who was second in a super-G race here in 2006. "I can still find time out there.
"It's good I had a good, fast run and it's even more positive I know I can find a couple more 10ths (of a second) out there to be even quicker tomorrow."
Guay tried to put things in perspective. He said the results were skewed because Miller, the overall World Cup champion, Cuche, and Austria's Benjamin Raich all scratched from training.
The overcast skies and strong wind also were a factor.
"I don't think I can use this as a guideline," said Guay. "I still have quite a bit of catching up to do.
"I don't want to get comfortable with the result on paper. I don't think it's a real result. If it happened tomorrow, then I would be happy with it."
The first downhill of the World Cup season will be held Saturday, with a super-giant slalom Sunday.
Manuel Osborne-Paradis was left scratching his head after finishing 45th in 1:49.75, almost 2.5 seconds slower than Kucera.
After struggling all week in training, the North Vancouver, B.C., native has one plan for race day.
"I'm just going to go balls to the wall tomorrow," he said. "That's really how I do any race anyways.
"I know the course, I know what I have to do. Tomorrow I just go as hard as possible and just race."
Max Gartner, Alpine Canada's chief athletics officer, was happy with Kucera and Guay's showing, but said the true test will come in the race.
"What I like about it is they put themselves in a position to be a contender," said Gartner. "Now they have to be able to handle the mental pressure."
Gartner said Bourque caught an edge while skiing down the course during pre-training warmups and feel into the safety net.
"It's never good having someone go down," he said. "In our sport a knee is a dangerous injury.
"It's a big blow to our team. This was a really important season and he trained really well."
Bourque finished fourth in the giant slalom at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics after leading the competition following the first run. He has registered four World Cup podium finishes during his career, including two seconds in giant slalom and a third in super-G.
Most of the racers picked Miller as the favourite to win the opening downhill.
"He knows what he needs to do," said Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, who was sixth Friday in 1:48.02. "He's where I would put my money."
Kucera agreed.
"If you win two training runs, and you get faster and faster, I'd say so," he said. "Bode is on this weekend for sure. He's going to be the top dog we have to come after for sure."
Among the other Canadians in the 79 racers, Louis-Pierre Helie of Berthierville, Que., was 26th in 1:48.81; Robbie Dixon of North Vancouver, 39st in 1:49.47; Jeffrey Frisch of Mont-Tremblant, 48th in 1:50.03; and Paul Stutz of Banff, Alta., 58th in 1:51.09.
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