For two years, Banff’s Louis-Pierre Helie has pushed the physical limits of his body in striving to be the best ski cross athlete in the world.
Working out at the CrossFit Banff gym, he’s tried many new techniques to increase his strength, speed and stamina, which would allow him to break through after two years of decent, but not spectacular, results.
Finally, on Sunday (Feb. 15), Helie broke through with a win in the small final, finishing fifth on the world cup for the best result of his career. It was only the third time he’s cracked the top 10 on the world cup, but not the last.
“Today I was going for it,” Helie said “I have gained a lot of confidence in these past couple of races, which has allowed me to just push and focus on racing.”
He rocketed through the quarterfinal, edging out teammate Brady Leman, as the two were shoulder to shoulder in the hunt for the semifinals.
In the semifinal, he played it safe and couldn’t find a spot to rocket into the top two, and was relegated to the small final. Once there, he led from start to finish.
It was vindication for the Banff resident, who has fought hard to keep his spot on the world cup team.
“Over the past few years, I have worked very hard and to finally have such a great result proves I have been doing something right. It feels so good,” Helie said.
He wasn’t the only Canadian to have a strong day. Leman ended up in ninth, while Chris Del Bosco finished 17th. Canmore’s Tristan Tafel continued to make the most of his call up to the world cup, finishing 21st, while Ian Deans of Kelowna was 44th.
Jean Frederic Chapuis won gold, finishing ahead of Alex Fiva of Switzerland and Paul Eckert of Germany.
World cup ski cross resumes on Feb. 21 and 22 in Tegernsee, Germany.
