[News]2006-07 News, Alpine Skiing

[Andrew]

Zettel lost for season

02.03.2007

Austria's Kathrin Zettel will miss the rest of the World Cup season after breaking her leg during the final super combined event on Friday.

The 20-year-old Zettel, who went into the meeting in seventh place in the overall World Cup standings, lost control after landing from the final jump of the downhill leg of the event and crashed through the safety netting at the side of the Prampero piste.

Hans Pum, the Austrian Ski Federation's director of Alpine skiing told journalists she had broken her tibia just below the knee.

Zettel has enjoyed her first two wins on the World Cup this season, both in giant slalom, and has had three other podium places. In last month's world championships in Are, Sweden, she was fifth in slalom and super-combined.

After leaving Tarvisio, the women's World Cup goes to Zwiesel in Germany next weekend before the finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

Source: Reuters

[Andrew]

Canucks set record
Bourque, Brydon hit the podium as alpine skiers notch 12th, 13th medals - best season ever

Mar 04, 2007 04:30 AM

Francois Bourque's silver and Emily Brydon's bronze yesterday increased the total world championship and World Cup medals haul by Canada's alpine skiers to a single-season record of 13.

"I'm pretty happy to be a part of it," said Bourque. "We have a young team and the best is yet to come."

The 13 surpassed the record of 12 set last season.

The 22-year-old skier from New Richmond, Que., won the 200th World Cup medal in Canadian ski racing history, not including para-alpine results, in a giant slalom competition in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

Bourque was getting ready for his second run when he learned that Brydon, 26, of Fernie, B.C., had won downhill bronze in Tarvisio, Italy.

It was her first World Cup medal in 15 months, and Bourque had won on that day, too. So, Bourque was inspired to follow through on his half of the bargain again yesterday.

"I knew after the first run that Emily was on her podium so I said to myself, `You'd better get going.'"

And away he went, finishing behind only Austria's Benjamin Raich, who beat him by 55-100ths of a second when the times for the two runs were combined. It was Bourque's second World Cup medal this season – both silver – and the fourth of his career.

"I feel pretty pumped to be part of a team like this," he said of the men's squad that has excelled this winter. "There seems to be a different guy on the podium every week."

Thomas Grandi of Banff, Alta., was 16th in 2:20.79.

In Tarvisio, Julia Mancuso of the United States won the downhill and clinched the season's title in the discipline, Austria's Renate Goetschl was second, Brydon third.

Like Bourque, Brydon earned a fourth career World Cup podium spot.

"Every race I strive for the podium so, when I'm actually on it, it makes all the hard work not seem so hard," said Brydon. "I think this year I've been a lot more consistent than I've ever been in my entire career, so that's been really exciting."

Three Canadians made the top 10. Kelly Vanderbeek of Kitchener was only 33/100ths behind the winner in fifth place, and Britt Janyk was 1:03 seconds back in 10th. Shona Rubens of Canmore, Alta., finished 23rd in 1:54.75.

Next weekend, the Canadian men compete in Norway on the Lillehammer Olympics course, while the women's team will race in Germany.

There are 16 races left on the World Cup calendar, so Canada's skiers have the chance to increase their record haul. Twelve of the 13 medals won this season were earned in World Cup racing. The other was won by Jan Hudec of Calgary in the world championship downhill.

Brydon finished sixth in a downhill Friday, and that showing boosted her confidence.

"That played a huge role in (Saturday's) result," she said.

Canada's alpine speed merchants are on a roll they hope to continue through the 2010 Olympics and races on home turf at Whistler, B.C.

"I know we have the best team ever and it's great to be contributing," said Bourque.

"It's a fantastic result for Frankie," said men's head coach Paul Kristofic. "It shows his true spirit and grit to come back as strong as ever from a world championships disappointment and be on the podium."

Source: Toronto Star

[Andrew]

Neureuther out six weeks

04.03.2007

Germany slalom specialist Felix Neureuther, who injured his shoulder in a fall at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia on Sunday, will be out of action for six weeks, the German ski federation said.

Neureuther, 22, who finished a career-high second at a slalom race on his home course at Garmisch-Partenkirchen last week, crashed in the first leg of Sunday's race.

The German ski federation said in a statement that Neureuther, seventh in the slalom standings, would undergo surgery on Monday to repair torn ligaments.

"It's a stupid injury," Neureuther said. "Now of all times when I was having a good run. But on the other hand, it's better it happened at the end of the season rather than at the start."

Source: Reuters

[Andrew]

WOW CANADA!!! Alpine aces target record season after adding World Cup silver, bronze

From Nopes to Hopes on the slopes.

"What this does,'' emphasized president Ken Read, "is validate all the hard work by the coaches and the athletes.

"We've got the talent. We've got the commitment.''

And now they're closing in on history.

Alpine Canada, take a deep bow. This, by all rights, should be Canada's Team. Our country's darling.

Oh, there's no arguing the world junior hockey group let us puff out our chests by snaring its third gold medal on the trot.

And the Edmonton Oilers -- oh, fickle fate, how long ago it seems now -- provided hot flashes of patriotism during their improbable run to the Stanley Cup final last spring. But there's a persuasive argument to be made that the biggest sports story in this country over the past dozen months has been the revitalization of the alpine ski team.

It's young. It's fun. It kicks back and kicks ass.

What more could any public possibly ask for?

"And this truly is a Canadian team,'' stresses Read. "We have athletes from east and west, from Ontario and Quebec, B.C. and Alberta.''

Thanks to a giant-slalom silver medal from Francois Bourque in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, and Emily Brydon's downhill bronze at Tarviso, Italy, Saturday, they've already met the pre-season goal of 12 World Cup podium placings, one short of the record haul collected in 1982, and the aggregate stands at 13 international medals counting the downhill silver Jan Hudec collected at the world championships.

And there are still 16 races left on the WC docket. Surely enough opportunity to surpass the lucky 13 World Cup podiums of 1982, and the 15 total medals piled up by that group.

That's the next target.

"I know we have the best team ever and it's great to be contributing," gushed Bourque during a conference call with Canadian media.

Thirteen medals from seven individuals. In both speed and technical events. Consider that as recently as the 2003 season, Canada could boast only one WC top three, and the turnaround has been nothing short of astounding.

That's called picking up speed faster than Erik Guay plunging toward the finish line at Kitzbuhel.

"What we have to do now is get the women up to speed with the men'' -- the World Cup medal tally is 10 for the men, two for the women -- "and broaden our depth,'' says president Read. "Right across the board. Injuries and slumps are always factors. You always want as many chances as possible to win a medal going into every race.

"The only reason we set the goal of 12 this year, to match last year's total, was that Thomas (Grandi) decided not to retire. What's been amazing about this group is that we've reached that goal of 12, early, without one podium from Thomas.''

"He had five of our 12 a year ago, remember. This year, the mix is very different. The young kids on our team, the Hudecs and Bourques and (Manuel) Osborne-Paradis, have come through in a big way, maybe ahead of schedule,'' said Read.

"Two years ago, we originally set a target of six medals, and seven for this year.

"We've overshot on both, which is fantastic.''

With 2010 now in sight, only three years away, the push will begin in earnest to push the program into overdrive. And that takes capital. All the God-given ability in the universe can't win on its own. It needs nurturing, the best possible training, the feeling that everything humanly possible is being done to produce optimum results.

That only comes with the requisite financial support.

"The fundraising side,'' says Read, "has been positive. We've been happy there. The sponsorship side . . . well, we've found only one new sponsor in the last year. That's it.

"We were lucky that, in 2002, a number of people stepped up. And the reason they did step up was because they were committed to helping Canadian athletes. But, obviously, we'd like more. What we're trying to get across to people is that NOW is the time to make an investment. Not 2009. That's too late.

"For many people, investing in amateur sport is a leap of faith. It's a sell.

"But go ask Bombardier, Telus or GM if they're not satisfied seeing the yellow and red suits of the Canadian alpine team on the front page of the Calgary Herald or the Globe and Mail.

"They're just ecstatic.''

Salesmanship is inevitably easier when you've got a knockout product to peddle. And in terms of visibility, potential and the 2010 here at home coming into ever-clearer focus, it'd be difficult to find a better brand name than Alpine Canada.

They're hot, hot, hot at the moment. And threatening to amp the thermostat up even higher.

"The best,'' promised Bourque, "is still yet to come.''

Already, the suspense is killing us.

Source: Calgary Herald and Canski.org

[Andrew]

“March of Champions” to determine Canada’s top alpine ski racers

Five national events over a two week period to determine the best ski racers from across Canada

CALGARY, AB (March 5th, 2007) – Canada’s top ski racers, from World Cup champions to the most dynamic 13 and 14-year olds, will compete this month at five major national championship events during Alpine Canada Alpin’s “March of Champions.”

Each event promises to be more competitive and exciting than ever before as ACA continues the pursuit of its stated goal to be the best in the world at every level, the national sport organization announced Monday.

“This March will be a tremendous month for ski racing in Canada as national champions are crowned across a wide range of competitive levels,” said Max Gartner, ACA’s Chief Athletics Officer. “We are seeing tremendous strength building from the clubs to the provincial teams as Canada progresses toward the goal of being the world-leading alpine racing nation by 2010.”

Competition gets underway with the Northwest Mutual Funds Coupe Nor-Am Cup Finals from March 14th to 17th in Panorama, BC and at the J1 Canadian Championships, also taking place from March 14th to 17th in Mont Orford, QC.

Canada’s best Para-Alpine athletes, including Paralympic medallists Lauren Woolstencroft (Vancouver, BC / Calgary, AB), Chris Williamson (Markham, ON) and Kimberly Joines (Edmonton, AB), converge on Kimberley, BC for the CPAST Canadian Championships March 18th to 22nd.

The Mars K2 Canadian Championships follow from March 19th to 23rd in Mont Tremblant, QC.

ACA’s “March of Champions” then culminates with the Pontiac GMC Canadian Championships in Whistler, BC where some of Canada’s top ski racers will compete on the Dave Murray Downhill, the venue for Men’s alpine events during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The Pontiac GMC Canadian Championships are a unique opportunity for Canadian ski fans to see Canada’s best ski racers including 2007 World Championships silver medallist Jan Hudec (Calgary, AB), World Cup champions Erik Guay (Mont-Tremblant, QC), John Kucera (Calgary, AB), Thomas Grandi (Canmore, AB) and Geneviève Simard (Val-Morin, QC) as well as World Cup podium winners Michael Janyk (Whistler, BC), Manuel Osborne-Paradis (Vancouver, BC), Kelly VanderBeek (Kitchener, ON), Emily Brydon (Fernie, BC) and François Bourque (New Richmond, QC).

This showcase event for national junior and senior athletes takes place March 19th to March 28th.

2007 ALPINE SKIING'S MARCH OF CHAMPIONS EVENT SCHEDULE

DATE EVENT PLACE
14.03.2007 - 17.03.2007 Northwest Mutual Funds Coupe Nor-Am Cup Finals Panorama, BC
14.03.2007 - 17.03.2007 J1 Canadian Championships Mont Orford, QC
18.03.2007 - 22.03.2007 CPAST Canadian Championships Kimberley, BC
19.03.2007 - 23.03.2007 MARS K2 Canadian Championships Mont Tremblant, QC
19.03.2007 - 28.03.2007 Pontiac GMC Canadian Championships Whistler, BC

Source: Canski.org

[Andrew]

Top names back Super-G

Top names have hit out after a suggestion that Super-G races should be scrapped to make the World Cup season less cluttered.

"I am going to make a proposition for the next FIS meeting in Portoroz that from the 2008-09 season the super-G will only be part of the super-combined, not an individual event," men's World Cup race director Gunther Hujara said on the eve of the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide.

"I informed the teams in Kvitfjell last week that the purpose is to reduce the number of events each year because athletes are too tired at the end of the season."

Super-G has been a part of the World Cup since the mid-1980s when it was introduced by FIS to offer another speed discipline.

It is basically a downhill with more turns and the fact that, unlike downhill, there are no training runs, means it often produces exciting, unpredictable races.

Swiss Didier Cuche, who last week clinched the World Cup downhill title and is going for the overall trophy, believes the super-G should be retained.

"I'd better hurry up and win one before they cancel it," said the 32-year-old who has twice topped the podium in super-G.

"It's the most intriguing speciality for me. You just inspect the course and then race, it's spectacular."

The super-combined, which features a shortened downhill and a one-leg slalom race, was launched last season to offer scope for both speed and technical specialists.

"I came 15th in a super-combined without any slalom training for five years," said Cuche. "Anybody can do well in a super-combined."

Austrian Hermann Maier, a former world and Olympic champion in super-G, and speed queen Renate Goetschl also hit out at any plans to lose the event.

"This is the most challenging and exciting event," Maier said. "I've always enjoyed racing super-G, it's about guts and courage. It's pure ski racing because it's a tough course and you have to be instinctive."

Goetschl, who has 17 career World Cup wins in super-G and who has already captured this season's crown, added: "If they get rid of super-G I may as well quit racing."

The 31-year-old Austrian, still in with a chance of winning the overall title here, races almost exclusively these days in the speed races.

Any decision by FIS to scrap the super-G would run into problems because the event is already part of the programme for the 2009 and 2011 world championships and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Source: Reuters

[Andrew]

Alpine Canada Alpin opposes suggestion to eliminate Super G from World Cup

Super G an essential part of a structured athlete development program
CALGARY, AB (March 16th, 2007) – Alpine Canada Alpin is shocked and disappointed with the suggestion that the event of Super G be removed as a separate event within the World Cup calendar, the national sport governing body announced today.

The Super G, a speed discipline event, is a positive and vibrant event within the World Cup that is essential for a structured athlete development program, ACA Chief Executive Officer Ken Read said.

“By removing Super G from the World Cup, the sport of alpine skiing runs the risk of undermining the enormous effort National Sport Federations have invested in the development of speed venues. As a result it would lessen the incentive for young athletes to be committed to the speed disciplines of alpine skiing and of organizers to invest the time, effort and resources into this event,” Read said.

The elimination of Super G was presented earlier this week by World Cup race director Guenther Hujara, who is quoted as saying a Super G would cease to exist on its own but could be run within the context of a Super Combined or in the nation's Team Event.

ACA does not support the replacement of Super G with the Super Combined. “The Super Combined is an interesting technical event which is beneficial for athlete development, particularly for young athletes. But very difficult to stage for race organizers and does not present our sport well to our spectators,” Read said.

“Canada will host World Cup Super G events in 2007-08 at Whistler, in preparation for the alpine ski events of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and we are 100% committed to hosting world-class events and have invested enormous time and resources into the development of the venue, safety, officials, volunteers,” Read added. “We fully expect for the Super G event to be run in February 2008 and in the Olympic Winter Games in 2010.”

Eliminating the Super G was initially suggested by a special committee of the FIS Council and was discussed at the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Are, Sweden in February. Media reports suggest it will be proposed to the International Ski Federation's Council in Slovenia in May.

The Super G was added to the World Cup program in the 1982/83 season.

Source: canski.org

[Andrew]

Canada looking good
16.03.2007

With the Vancouver Olympics just three years away it seems Canada has finally unearthed a crop of Alpine skiers to rival some of the country's past greats.

Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ken Read, Steve Podborski and Todd Brooker shook up the World Cup's traditional Alpine superpowers with a wild and reckless approach to racing fast down mountainsides. Hence the nickname.

Read was the first North American to win a World Cup downhill in 1975 while Podborski was an Olympic bronze medallist in 1980. The trio enjoyedvictorious trails down the classic Hahnenkamm and Lauberhorn downhills, both bastions of European dominance.

It has taken a while but speed specialists Erik Guay, John Kucera, Jan Hudec and Manuel Osborne-Paradis look like they could write another glorious new chapter in Canadian ski racing as they convert raw potential into results.

Throw technical specialists Francois Bourque and Michael Janyk into the mix and it is no wonder Canadian ski chiefs are setting lofty targets for 2010 in the Rocky Mountains.

While admitting there is still plenty of hard work to do, particularly on the women's side, Canada's Alpine skiing programme director Dusan Grasic cut a pretty satisfied figure as the World Cup season reached its conclusion this week.

"The whole team has made big improvements, particularly the men who have done better than expected," Grasic said, looking back on a haul of 12 World Cup podium places for the men's team prior to the final weekend of racing.

"Erik and Jan need to be more consistent but I expect them to be in winning positions regularly. The big strength is that all these guys came into the programme as juniors and they are all improving together.

"They are all roughly the same age and they all want to go faster than each other. It helps to have healthy competition and that's what we have with our speed team."

Nowhere was the Canadian team ethic more graphically illustrated than at last month's world championships in Are, Sweden, where Hudec stormed to silver in the downhill.

To celebrate his first podium the team went out to party in the Swedish resort with freshly cut Mohawk haircuts.

Kucera set the standard for the season when he won the opening super-G in Lake Louise in November and Guay followed him to the top of the podium in a downhill in Garmisch in February - a maiden victory that was long overdue.

Guay, who was third in the super-G in Lenzerheide to go with downhill second spots in Val d'Isere and Kvitfjell, summed up the mood sweeping the Canadian team.

"It's been an awesome year," the 25-year-old Guay said. "We've got such a good team, especially on the men's side. We've had solid results from everybody and we're such a young team, we all vibe well together.

"We hope we can go all the way to the top. We all get along well and help each other and that, I think, is why we are doing so well. There is no rivalry, just a good ambience and we all feed off each other.

"It's been a lot better than expectations. A few guys didn't expect to get podiums this year like Manny (Osborne-Paradis) and Johnny (Kucera). Johnny came though and got third in the overall super-G and Manny got some solid finishes.

"This year was the breakthrough year for this team and next year I'm aiming for more victories. I got one now but I want more," added Guay, who finished third in the World Cup downhill standings. "I want to win the downhill title next year, I think that's do-able."

Grasic, who sees the appointment of Read to run Canadian Alpine ski racing in 2002 as the turning point, has no doubt that Guay and Kucera can lead the nation to Olympic success.

"We are setting goals for 2010, all our goals are for Vancouver now," he said. "We are aiming for four medals in Alpine skiing and we hope some of them will be gold.

"We are definitely heading in the right direction."

Source: Reuters

[Andrew]

Swiss misses dump Fritz
16.03.2007

Switzerland's women's Alpine skiing World Cup coach Fritz Zueger has stepped down after a season of disappointing results.

Swiss women have managed just two podium finishes all season going into the final weekend of racing in Lenzerheide and they failed to pick up any individual medals at the world championships in Are, Sweden, last month.

In a statement from Swiss Ski on Friday, the 52-year-old Zueger said: "I wasn't able to exercise my strengths as a motivator this season. That's why it's better for both sides if we make a change."

The statement said a successor would hopefully be named in the next few weeks.

Switzerland's women were once a major force on the World Cup, winning the overall title eight years out of nine during the 1980s. Vreni Schneider was their last overall champion, in 1995, but since her retirement no Swiss woman has finished in the top two in the end-of-season standings.

In contrast to the women, the Swiss men's team have enjoyed a strong season with Didier Cuche winning the downhill World Cup title. They gained four medals, including a super-combined gold for Daniel Albrecht at the world championships.

Source: Reuters

[Andrew]

Goetschl has operation

World Cup downhill and super-G champion Renate Goetschl has undergone surgery following a bad training crash in Tarvisio, Italy three weeks ago, the Austrian ski team confirmed on Saturday.

The 31-year-old won eight races this season, including the final downhill of the season on Wednesday in Lenzerheide when she needed painkillers to race.

A team statement said she had had an operation to repair damage to her right fibula and cartilage in her knee.

"The operation went fine, Renate needs now to rest a while and to walk with crutches for the coming weeks," said an official from the Austrian ski team.

"We believe that she should be able to move and to train again normally in five to six weeks."

Goetschl said earlier this week that she plans to continue racing next season.

Source: Reuters