Emily Brydon (Fernie, BC) has her first podium result on home soil, finishing today’s opening ladies downhill race at the Bombardier Lake Louise Winterstart in second place. It’s the best World Cup result ever by a female Canadian in Lake Louise.

Brydon, who has competed in Lake Louise World Cups since 1998, has long said it would mean a lot to her to podium at home. The ninth racer to leave the start hut, Brydon finished in a time of one minute 26.65 seconds.

“This is a huge weight off my shoulders because I have been waiting a long time to be on the podium here,” said Brydon in a press conference after the race. “I call it a “mini-Olympics” for me.”

Brydon’s best previous result was a fourth place in the DH in 2003. Brydon was joined in today’s celebration by a tremendous team performance, which included Britt Janyk (Whistler, BC) in fourth and a total of four Canadians in the top 24.

“I had a lot of ups and downs but they were all part of the journey to get here. This is a great way to start the season and Britt in 4th it reassures the World that we are back, and that we are in a very powerful position right now. I couldn’t be happier,” she added.

Today’s race was won by American Lindsey Vonn in a time of 1:26.13, amazingly her sixth career DH victory in Lake Louise. Vonn’s close friend Maria Riesch of Germany finished third with Janyk fourth, 0.29s off the podium.

The race was shortened to the normal super-G start because of snow and wind conditions at the higher elevations.

The result is Brydon’s eighth career podium result, which is the most among active members of the Canadian ladies team and moves her into a tie with Mélanie Turgeon for fourth all-time among Canadian women.

“I had to realize that to win – I didn’t win, but I won in my book – you can’t ski with your head, you have to ski with your heart. All those other years when I came here I really wanted it but I think I wanted it for all the wrong reasons. I focused solely on the results,” the 29-year-old Brydon said.

Brydon is the third Canadian woman on podium in the history of ski racing at Lake Louise, all since 2006. Kelly VanderBeek (Kitchener, ON), who finished 13th today, was third in 2006 in the super-G while Janyk placed third in the DH in 2007.

“I am so happy for Emily, she’s been skiing really well. It’s really good to see the whole team perform the way we did today and get the season started they way we were hoping,” said Janyk.

As for other Canadians today Larisa Yurkiw (Owen Sound, ON) placed 24th, finishing in a time of 1:28.34, while Shona Rubens (Canmore, AB) was 45th and Georgia Simmerling (West Vancouver, BC) ended up 51th.

The Bombadier Lake Louise Winterstart continues tomorrow with the second downhill race.

Tomorrow’s downhill, which is preceded by men’s World Cup racing in Beaver Creek, will be aired live on CBC’s main network beginning at 2:30 ET p.m. as well as on cbcsports.ca. The race is on Radio-Canada.ca at the same time.

QUOTES FROM DOWNHILL #1
TOP 3
Lindsey Vonn ( USA) 1st Place
On the Canadian performance:
“This is definitely an indication that Canadians are skiing really well. It’s always difficult to have races in your home country and there is definitely added pressure that goes with that. So having not only the World Cup and the Olympics coming up here having them do as well today is pretty outstanding.”

On Lake Louise:
“This is my first World Cup win here in Lake Louise and I’ve always had a lot of confidence and it definitely suits my strengths and I think I just keep the momentum going because I have confidence from the year before and I just know what I have to do.”

On the blood on her face when she finished the race:
“On top of the course I caught an edge on the ice and then caught on some grippy snow. So I jacked my body and my chin actually hit my knee, so I bit my tongue and it definitely messed up my concentration for a couple of seconds but I kept going. When I got to the bottom I just felt the blood streaming on my face and I was just a little bit confused and didn’t really know what happened. I was just hoping that I didn’t lose any teeth.”

On tomorrow:
“It’s always hard to win back-to-back races no matter what the events are. Anything can happen and like I always say in ski racing there are so many variables. So tomorrow I’m just going to go out there and try to do the same thing.”

Emily Brydon (CAN) 2nd place
On her run
“If you could actually hear me during my run I was actually taking to myself the whole time. It was a ‘talk to yourself’ day. I knew that the times were going to be tight so in order to do well you had to do something exceptional and you had to go for it and take chances and take yourself out of your comfort zone. I am not that aggressive of a person so I tried to verbalize it all the way down the course.”

On the wait before the end of the race:
“I’ve already had some experience where I was sitting and waiting and I thought I was on the podium and then suddenly realized I’m not. So you know that anyone can be on the podium, and the wait is the hardest part. When I go down the mountain I know that I am in control, but when I’m waiting I’m not and I’m waiting to see what everybody else does.”

On the team’s good results:
“This is exactly what our team needed. We believed it all along but results talk themselves and they ignite passion and momentum within our team and inspiration. That is what we worked off over the last couple of years.”

On her long-coming performance:
“This year I came into the season knowing that I honestly done everything in my power to be in the best shape, the best mental state. There are no regrets, I can get out of the start gate knowing that I couldn’t have done anything more. I gave my best today and that’s all I can give. I just kind of realized that and I also used my experience of being here so many times. I know the track, I know what it takes to win and I needed to just trust that and to go for it.”

Maria Reisch (GER) 3rd place
On standing on the podium with Lindsey:
“It was the same thing last year, we enjoy being on the podium together. This course is really for both of us and Lindsey might like it a little bit more but I like it a lot as well. It’s a good course for us. We managed to be on the podium a lot together last year so hopefully it will happen again a lot this year and the next couple ahead of us.”

Other Canadians
Kelly Vanderbeek (CAN) 13th place
On her performance:
“I sucked in the bottom flats which is normally where I rip.  It was unfortunate I lost a lot of time down there because I would have probably been a top ten finish.”

On the team:
“I’m so pumped for them (Emily and Britt) and I know if they’re there I know I’m there as well in training.  We’re here. We’re back. We’re back on form.”