John Kucera (Calgary, AB) is the first Canadian male to win gold at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, after a brilliant performance in winning today’s World Championships men’s downhill race in Val d’Isère, FRA. Kucera took advantage of changeable weather conditions to become the downhill world champion.
Kucera, who has a World Cup super-G victory but has never won a downhill race on the World Cup, is the first Canadian World Champion since Mélanie Turgeon won the ladies downhill race in 2003 in St. Moritz, SUI.
Kucera, the second racer to leave the start hut, finished in a time of two minutes 07.01 seconds. The time would hold up through the field of 38 racers, including Austrian Michael Walchhofer twice, after being granted a re-run for being sent out of the start during a course hold.
“It’s been a long road but it’s a dream come true,” said the 24-year-old Kucera. “It’s an amazing feeling. It shows that all the work that me, my teammates and all the coaches and staff in Alpine Canada Alpin are putting in is paying off. Everything is heading in the right direction. It’s not only a confidence boost for myself but for the whole team.”
“This is not only a world championship medal but it’s my first medal in the downhill. So it’s very exciting and unbelievable,” said Kucera, who earned the use of a GMC vehicle for one year with today’s victory among other performance incentives.
The Pontiac Alpine Ski Series on CBC has coverage of today’s race beginning at 3 p.m. ET. Radio-Canada Sports also has today’s downhill beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. (Times subject to change. Check your local listings.)
Kucera’s wait in the finish area turned out to be a nail-biter as Switzerland’s Didier Cuche came down just 0.04s behind. Fellow Swiss racer Carlo Janka was third 0.17s behind the Canadian winner.
Kucera is the ninth Canadian to win a World Championship gold medal. He is the first male to win at the Worlds, and the fifth Canadian to win gold in the downhill. COMPLETE LIST OF PAST MEDALISTS
Kucera was asked in a post race press conference to compare this achievement to past Canadian achievements, including those of the late 1970’s-era Crazy Canucks.
“The Crazy Canucks were the first guys to put Canadians in the media spotlight a little bit and I think we’re a new group now. We’re the Canadian Cowboys. We’ve taken the bar from them and hopeful we can raise it one level higher for the next generation.”
The other Canadians in the race, Erik Guay (Mont-Tremblant, QC), Manuel Osborne-Paradis (Vancouver, BC) and Jan Hudec (Calgary, AB) were all charging down the icy and dangerous Piste Bellevarde but none were able to finish the race.
Hudec, who reached the top speed of any racer in the competition when he climbed to 132.02 km/h at one point, injured his left knee crashing near the bottom of the course.
Hudec had the fastest opening interval and another interval was the second quickest before losing an edge near the bottom of the course and going out. He was going to be examined by doctors this evening with more information on his status is expected perhaps as early as tomorrow.
“As usual it was race day so I risked a little more and I knew I could have a great run today. I had a great start number and I was feeling confident. My old injury was feeling great, so I went for it,” said Hudec, who tore the ACL in his right knee early in 2008.
“It’s never a good feeling. At this point I will have to wait and meet with the team doctors before I know any more,” Hudec said.
Guay had the fastest second interval of the day but also crashed near the bottom. He was not injured.
“I pushed. You have to risk it here. I risked it and was pushing hard. When you do that there is a chance that you make a mistake. That’s part of the game,” Guay said.
“I feel like today the best skier won the downhill, and that was John Kucera,” he said. “He is the first Canadian male to win a world championship gold medal. It’s exciting just to be a part of it. It’s an individual sport but at the same time we’re a team.”
The ladies downhill training planned for today was cancelled.
WORLD CHAMPS NOTE: For more Canadian content regarding the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships including a history of Canadian podiums and the 2009 Canadian team announcement, please go to www.canski.org and click on the event logo in What’s Hot. You can also visit the official FIS Alpine World Ski Championships website at www.valdisere2009.org where live coverage of each event press conference and many other features are available.
