John Kucera (Calgary, AB), Marie-Michèle Gagnon (Lac-Etchemin, QC) and Lauren Woolstencroft (North Vancouver, BC) took top honours among members of Canada’s alpine ski teams, each winning athlete of the year awards in their respective categories, the national governing body for ski racing in Canada announced today.
Several TELUS Awards of Excellence for Alpine Canada Alpin were handed out Tuesday at a gala event in Laval, QC while other winners will be presented with their awards at an event in Western Canada later in the season.
“TELUS congratulates this year’s award recipients. We are proud of the entire Alpine Canada Alpin team, including the Canadian Para-Alpine Ski Team who do so well in competition and put Canada at the top of the world rankings,” said Steve Podborski, TELUS director of Community Sports and Olympian in Alpine Skiing. “The TELUS Awards of Excellence highlight the success of our nation’s athletes while they demonstrate to the world the passion and dedication they have for this great sport as they compete for Canada for their places on the podium.”
Kucera, the 2009 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships downhill gold medallist, is a first time winner of the highest ACA honour for a Canadian male alpine ski racer.
“It’s a huge honour to win a TELUS Award of Excellence as male athlete of the year. I would definitely like to thank everyone at TELUS for standing behind me through my career so far supporting me personally the way they have,” said Kucera.
“It was definitely a fun year, culminating in the win in Val d’Isère, of course. It was a lot of hard work and a lot of people contributed to my success. I need to thank my family, the coaches, support staff and my teammates for everything they have done for me. They are a big part of this,” Kucera added.
Winning the downhill at the world championships last season was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for me and this award is certainly icing on the cake for what was an amazing season. I’m looking forward to carrying the momentum into this new World Cup season and, of course, the Olympics in February right here at home,” said Kucera.
Gagnon had the first two World Cup top ten performances of her career and a dominant season on the Nor-AM Cup circuit to capture the ladies overall title, earning a World Cup spot in all disciplines in the process.
“I was really happy with the progress that I made last season. I know that I am on the right track and I am looking for more success in the near future. Thanks to TELUS for this award,” said Gagnon.
Woolstencroft is a six-time CPAST winner of a TELUS Award of Excellence, including the past three seasons. Woolstencroft won the IPC overall Crystal Globe in the ladies standing category, capturing her fourth overall title. She also won four medals at the IPC Para-Alpine World Championships in Korea.
“It’s always an honour to receive an award like this. I’d like to thank my coaches and all my teammates for pushing me and all the staff and volunteers who support what we do and make it possible,” Woolstencroft said.
The fan’s also had their say, selecting para-alpine sit skier Josh Dueck (Vernon BC) as this year’s recipient of the Fan’s Choice Award. Dueck received 34 per cent of the 1012 votes cast this year for the award.
Dueck, the 2009 IPC World downhill champion in the men’s sitting category, was also named the Breakthrough Para-Alpine Athlete of the Year while the Andrzej Kozbial Coach of the Year award went to CPAST team head coach Jean-Sébastien Labrie.
Anna Goodman’s six top-24 World Cup results helped her earn Breakthrough Athlete of the Year.
Richard Petrone and Kerry-Lynn Houde were named Male and Female Master Athletes of the Year respectively.
The TELUS Awards of Excellence for Alpine Canada Alpin began in 2002 with a mandate to honour outstanding individuals who excelled during the previous ski racing season. Through the years, more than 100 outstanding recipients have been honoured for their relentless pursuit of excellence.
TELUS AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE FOR ALPINE CANADA ALPIN
Complete list of 2009 Award recipients
John Kucera … Male Athlete of the Year / Athlète masculin de l’année
Marie-Michèle Gagnon … Female Athlete of the Year / Athlète féminine de l’année
Anna Goodman … Breakthrough Athlete of the Year / Athlète émergeant de l’année
Lauren Woolstencroft … Para-Alpine Athlete of the Year / Athlète para-alpin de l’année
Josh Dueck … Breakthrough Para-Alpine Athlete of the Year / Athlète Para-Alpin émergeant de l’année
Jean-Sébastien Labrie … Andrzej Kozbial Coach of the Year / Entraîneur de l’année Andrzej Kozbial
Richard Petrone … Male Master Athlete of the Year / Maître masculin de l’année
Kerry-Lynn Houde … Female Master of the Year / Maître féminine de l’année
Josh Dueck … Fan Choice of the Year / Prix du public
(Announced Thursday)
Terry Hooper … Volunteer of the Year – Western / Bénévole de l’année – Ouest
Prentice Smith …Volunteer of the Year – Eastern / Bénévole de l’année – Est
Bob Shore … Official of the Year / Officiel de l’année
Richard Jagger … Jason Lapierre Domestic Coach of the Year / Entraîneur domestique de l’année Jason Lapierre
Mélanie Turgeon … Alumni of the Year / Ancien de l’année
Lake Louise Nor-Am (Speed) … Race of the Year / Course de l’année
Grouse Tyee Ski Club … Ski Club of the Year / Club de ski de l’année
ABOUT ALPINE CANADA ALPIN
Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) is the governing body for alpine ski racing in Canada with more than 50,000 athletes, coaches, officials and volunteer members and over 200,000 supporting members. ACA manages the high performance programs for the athletes of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team and the Canadian Para-Alpine Ski Team who represent Canada throughout the world. For more information on Alpine Canada Alpin, visit www.canski.org.
