While the rest of the ski world watched Lindsey Vonn’s reconstructed knee, two Canadian women refused to let the bold American steal all the glory last weekend (Dec. 6-8).
Larisa Yurkiw and Marie-Michelle Gagnon both cracked the top 10 at the women’s world cup Lake Louise races, which represents a strong first step on the way to Sochi.
Yurkiw finished seventh in the downhill race, which was the top result of her career, while Gagnon was 10th in the super-G.
Battling sub-30 C temperatures, Yurkiw said the race was like a dream, as she rocketed the fastest speed at the bottom of the hill despite her 51st starting bib. The result is a reminder that her training is paying off.
“It was a really big step this weekend. When you get so deep in your world, you forget where you came from. My coach tells me you have to understand the steps I’ve made. When I show myself a seventh place, it changes everything,” Yurkiw said.
Unable to make national team criteria, Yurkiw is racing independently this year. She found a new coach and spent a big chunk of her summer fundraising. Although the prospect of training alone would force many athletes to quit, she perservered.
“Going independent opened a lot of doors. We were able to find a lot of elite training,” she said.
In the super-G, she missed a gate, but was still feeling strong.
“I’ll never regret taking a risk. This event is all about charging down the track,” Yurkiw said.
Germany’s Maria Hoefl-Riesch won the downhill with a time of 1:55.09, followed by Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein and Anna Fenninger of Austria.
‘Slalom ninja’ Gagnon had a late start bib and surprised herself with an excellent speed result. She wants to race the super combined race in Sochi and Sunday’s race was a huge step forward in that direction. It was her best result ever at Lake Louise.
“Today was definitely really encouraging in that sense,” said Gagnon. “Now I can use the speed side to my advantage a little bit better. For sure the slalom is definitely what will give me an edge in the super combined, but the speed is there and it’s really encouraging.”
She now has top 10 results in super-G, slalom and giant slalom, so she has no intention of becoming a speed specialist.
“Never. You’re going to see me as an all-eventer. I’m definitely a slalom ninja first of all, and I try to carry that into the other four disciplines,” Gagnon said.
Lara Gut of Switzerland won the super-G with a .03 advantage over Weirather. Fenniger was third.
Vonn was fifth in the super-G and declared herself ready for Sochi. She skied with a partially-torn ACL, and said it held up well.
“It was a huge step in the right direction. Every day I got better and better. I feel great. I can win again,” Vonn said.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, Jan Hudec was the top Canadian in a world cup downhill and super-G race. Hudec was seventh in Friday’s (Dec. 6th) race and 13th overall on Saturday (Dec. 7) in the super-G. He nearly missed his super-G run when his goggles broke and he had to run back to his hotel room, but still he matched his career best result on the mountain.
In other ski racing news, part-time Canmore resident Trevor Philp earned the first world cup points of his career by finishing 30th in the giant slalom race at Beaver Creek, U.S.A. on Sunday (Dec. 8.).
