Britt Janyk (Whistler, BC) had a strong opening to downhill training today, finishing fourth in a time of one minute 54.49 seconds under sunny skies at the Lake Louise Ski Area.
Janyk was joined in the top 10 by teammate Emily Brydon (Fernie, BC), who was tenth, in a time of 1:54.80.
Friday’s opening Ladies Bombardier Lake Louise Winterstart downhill race can be seen live online at www.cbcsports.ca and live on CBC cable channel bold, with coverage beginning at 2:25 p.m. ET (12:25 p.m. MT).
“I know I can be consistently in the top 10 and the top 5, so I’m taking the next step and I will try to be consistently on the podium this season,” said Janyk, who finished third in last season’s Bombardier Lake Louise Winterstart and won the first FIS Alpine World Cup downhill race of her career a week later in Aspen, USA.
“This summer I really worked on focusing on my training, on how to mentally make that step,” Janyk added. “I got a taste of the podium last year and I’m definitely looking forward this year to get some more.”
Brydon said she is very comfortable starting the World Cup speed season at home in Lake Louise.
“That’s what really cool with starting it here in Lake Louise. You know that you’re going to be fine and you know that you’re going to like (the course),” said Brydon. “Starting on a course I’d never skied before would mean a totally different story. So, yeah, I like Lake Louise.”
Last season’s overall ladies champion American Lindsay Vonn won today’s training run in 1:53.31 followed by Sweden’s Anja Paerson 0.20s back with Austrian Ingrid Rumpfhuber in third, 1.08s behind Vonn.
“In general, my goal is to defend my overall title. I’m just trying to take it day to day and having fun in the moment and concentrating on each race one at the time,” said Vonn, who won a slalom race in Levi, FIN earlier this season.
“For me, right now, I feel really relaxed, and I’m just really excited to race downhill,” she added.
As for the other Canadian results today, Sherry Lawrence (Calgary, AB) finished 36th, Emilie Desforges (Montréal, QC) placed 45th while Kelly McBroom (Canmore, AB) and Larisa Yurkiw (Owen Sound, ON) were 52nd and 53rd respectively.
“They changed the course up a little bit,” Lawrence said. “It’s in an amazing condition, the best conditions I have ever seen in Lake Louise.”
Kelly VanderBeek (Kitchener, ON) did not finish her opening training run but was in the finish area afterward and explained to the media that she was not injured. Georgia Simmerling (West Vancouver, BC) was disqualified for missing a gate.
The program in Lake Louise includes downhill races on Friday and Saturday followed by a super G on Sunday. The final training run is scheduled for tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. MT (2:30 p.m. ET).
