Calgary, Alta. (November 26, 2017) – The men closed out their Canadian World Cup stop in Canada with a super-G in Lake Louise under rainy, snowy and foggy conditions. The snow started coming down after the forerunners pushed out of the gate. Five Canadians pushed out of the start gate today with Dustin Cook (Lac St-Marie, Que.) finishing in 11th-place as the day’s top Canadian. Cook finished in a time of 1:32.00, +1.24 off the winning pace.

“I’d be happy with a top 15 today,” said Cook after coming down. “It’s the first race of the year and there’s something to learn and move forward. I know heading into Beaver Creek that I need more gas and to attack harder. Getting the first race under my belt is important. I had great training over the summer so I’m a bit disappointed today, but I know I have more in me.”

With this 11th-place finish, Cook has now met the Olympic criteria set out for the Games. He needed a top-12 finish this season to meet criteria.

Cook said the straight, open set wasn’t technically difficult but the challenging snow conditions changed from racer to racer.

It was a tough day for Canadian Cowboy Manuel Osborne-Paradis (Vancouver, B.C.) who made a critical mistake half way down the track costing him a top-30 finish.

“I’m happy with my approach and I’m glad I hung onto the race to finish it,” said Osborne-Paradis after recovering from a big mistake. “It’s always good to get a couple more race turns in before Beaver Creek so I’m happy I recovered.”

As the day wore on, later bib numbers contended with snow at the top and drizzling rain in the finish. Canada’s young gun athletes, Brodie Seger (Vancouver, B.C.) and Jack Crawford (Whistler, B.C./ Toronto, Ont.) battled the tough conditions.

Crawford finished in 42nd-place after conquering yesterday’s downhill and Seger pushed out of his first World Cup start gate, finishing in 56th-place.

It was a big day for Austria capturing second (Max Franz) and third-place (Hannes Reichelt). Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud stood on top of the podium with a time of 1:30.76.

The ladies’ tech teams also raced in North America today over on the east coast. Quebec’s Laurence St-Germain had a huge day capturing her second personal-best of the season, finishing 14th. St-Germain made up massive time on the second run, moving up a considerable of spots with the seventh-fastest time.

“I’m really happy with my performance today,” said St-Germain. “I had great snow for the second run and a great chance to attack from top to bottom. That’s what I was missing in the first run. Second run I really hammered the whole way down.”

Marie-Michèle Ganon (Lac Etchemin, Que.) and Erin Mielzynski (Collingwood, Ont.) both blew out and had DNF results today. Amelia Smart (Panorama, B.C.) finished the first run but failed to make the top-30 flip for a second run.

Mikaela Shiffrin pleased the home crowd finishing in first-place with a time of 1:40.91. Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova finished in second-place and Austria’s Bernadette Schild finished in third-place.  

ABOUT ALPINE CANADA

Alpine Canada is the national governing body for alpine, para-alpine and ski cross racing in Canada. With the support of valued corporate partners along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee, Alpine Canada develops Olympic, Paralympic, world championship and World Cup medallists to stimulate visibility, inspiration and growth in the ski community.