Fernie’s Emily Brydon finished with a solid 14th place result in the first World Cup super G race ever held on Bulgarian snow.
“I’m definitively disappointed with my day and weekend because for me, a good day means a podium or at least a top 10,” said Brydon who achieved a 22nd place in Saturday’s downhill event after failing to complete Friday’s competition. “In the grand scheme of things, 14th in the world is pretty good but my expectations are much greater than that.”
The win went to Lindsey Vonn from the United States who skied a clean run and clocked a time of one minute 14.49 seconds – good for her fourth consecutive super-G win. Fabienne Suter from Switzerland reached the podium for a third consecutive day, finishing second with a time of 1:15.07. The bronze went to Tina Maze from Slovenia who crossed the finish line in 1:15.40.
Competing under clear blue skies and above zero Celsius temperatures, Brydon achieved Canada’s best result of the challenging weekend.
“It was fun to ski the super-G course today,” added Brydon who was strongest in the bottom section of the course which featured straighter turns and higher speeds. “This hill is quite conducive to super-G racing because it is very rhythmical and easier to look for speed.”
Britt Janyk (Whistler, BC) finished 29th in the super-G with a time of 1:18.01.
While Larisa Yurkiw (Owen Sound, ON) was unable to complete the turny course, Kelly Vanderbeek (Chicopee, ON) chose not to compete in the super G after suffering a mild concussion following a crash in Saturday’s downhill race.
Upon conclusion of Sunday’s super G, Suter now leads the SG standings with 376 points while Vonn is on her heels with 361. Janyk is the top Canadian in the discipline standings in 16th position with 100 points. She is followed by Brydon in 18th position with 86 points. VanderBeek is 20th with 83 points.
Ranking within the top 25 in the discipline, all three racers are invited to compete in the World Cup Finals held in Are, Sweden from March 9 to 15.
“I’ve had a disappointing season so my hope it to take advantage of the Finals to end of a high and positive note,” said Brydon. “I have nothing to lose so I’ll be going all out. Ultimately, I’m hoping to have good results so that I can use this positive momentum to fuel my summer training in preparation for the Olympics,” concluded the racer who will be traveling to Poland to compete in FIS races in anticipation of the World Cup Finals.
The next and final women’s race series prior to the Finals will take place in Ofterschwang, GER on March 6 and 7 and will feature slalom and giant slalom races.
