Manuel Osborne–Paradis (Invermere, BC) led the Canadians in what is believed to be the countries best super-G result ever, winning today’s Bombardier Lake Louise Winterstart SG while two teammates joined him in the top 5.

Osborne-Paradis picked up the first super-G win of his career, becoming the first Canadian male in history to win both a super-G and downhill World Cup race, finishing in a time of one minute 32.93 seconds.

It’s the third victory by a Canadian in Lake Louise in four years as Jan Hudec (Calgary, AB) won the downhill in 2007 and John Kucera (Calgary, AB) won the super-G in 2006. Osborne-Paradis alo joins Kucera as the only Canadians to be on the podium twice in their career at a World Cup in Lake Louise.

“I don’t think it gets any better than this. In super-G I knew that I was making some good turns but I didn’t expect this,” said Osborne-Paradis, who will once again earn the use of a brand new GMC vehicle for a year as a result of today’s performance.

“I mean I was second here (in the downhill) a couple years ago and now I am first, so this is great,” he said.

Austrian veteran Benjamin Raich recorded the second fastest time of the day, finishing in 1:33.17. This is Raich third time finishing second in the super-G in Lake Louise, AB. Teammate Micheal Walchhofer finished in third place with a time 1:33.55. Walchhofer was the downhill winner in Lake Louise in 2003.

Erik Guay (Mont-Tremblant, QC), finished in fourth place with a time of 1:33.68, just 0.12s seconds away from the podium.

“I’m really happy that everything is progressing well. I have been working on my technique and it’s been getting better and I think the confidence is there. At this moment I’m going in the right direction so I’m pretty happy,” said Guay.

“I really think I skied well at the top but then for some reason I started holding back a little bit and I was round in my turns, not really riding my skis. But I’m glad today that I was able to stay around in the top 5,” added Guay.

Robbie Dixon (Whistler, BC), had the third fastest time amongst the Canadians as he followed Guay closely by finishing 5th with a time of 1:33.72. This is Dixon’s second solid finish this weekend as he finished 8th in yesterday’s downhill.

François Bourque (L’Ange Gardier, QC), who participated in his second race this season since his knee injury while training in Lake Louise last year, finished 27th with a time of 1:53.05.

Jan Hudec (Calgary, AB) finished 29th with a time of 1:35.11. Louis-Pierre Hélie (Berthierville, QC), who had his first top 30 results in World Cup in yesterday’s dowhill, recorded a time of 1:54.77 which placed him in 34st.

Unfortunately the news was not all good as Kucera left the course midway through his run and was helicoptered off the course. He was diagnosed by Canadian team doctors as fracturing his left leg in the crash.

The Canadian men’s speed team is on its way to Beaver Creek to race in a super combined on Friday November 4th a downhill on Saturday November 5th and a giant slalom on Sunday November 6th. The downhill race will be broadcasted live on CBC from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET and Radio-Canada from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 pm ET.

QUOTES FROM SUPER-G RACE
Canadians:
Robbie Dixon (Whislter, BC) 5th place
On his super-G race
«I give it my all and I was pretty intense. My skis were running well so I had a lot of confidence in my service guys to keep what I expected and keep my line and push it the best way that I could. I just try to do what I can.”

“I scared myself a little bit out there I thought I couldn’t make that gate at the end. It is so struggling now.”

On John Kucera’s crash
«It is heartbreaking when you see those things, Johnny did so well and to see Manny up there it’s tough, it’s hard”

François Bourque (L’Ange Gardien, QC) 27th place
About his race
«I think my ski was alright, I’m still in the learning process of getting back on snow. It was my first race in super-G since a year and a half ago so I’m taking it step by step and I will try to do better in next race in Beaver Creek.”

About Many’s performance
“I am pretty pumped for him. I think he’s been training harder than ever and I think he really deserves it. He’s a good friend.”

About John Kucera’s accident
«Skiing can sometime be cruel; he is a big part of the team. I have been pretty there myself so I know it’s not easy but for sure it makes you feel stronger after.”

TOP 3
Manuel Osborne-Paradis (CAN) 1st place
On his thoughts after his run:
“It’s tough to know. Obviously I knew it was good when I came down leading by 94 hundredths, I knew that it was going to be tough to beat. I didn’t know how long it was going to last.”

On his SG expectations”
“If I had struggled and had a SG spot, the expectations would be the same. I think that this is better Now I have proven it and hopefully I can continue to prove it leading up to the Olympics.”

On injuries”
“It’s the name of the game, this happened to Frank (Francois Bourque) last year.”

“Its probably going to happen to a number of other people between now and the Olympics, it’s been that way since the sport was invented.”

On Olympic success
“It’s something that you can’t think about. You need to focus on the things at hand and concentrate on the small things. If you concentrate on winning a podium at the Olympics, it’s not going to happen.”

On his SG performance
“You have to work on your faults and eventually you get better if you are trying hard.”

“My quality of skiing has gone up. It makes me feel good that this was a fair race; there were no issues with light conditions or anything like that. There were a lot of good skiers at the top and I just happened to be one of them.

Benjamin Raich (AUT) 2nd place
On today’s result:
“I am really happy about today. It was a good course and the snow conditions were good.”

On his expectations:
“For sure the dream is still alive for me. There are always one or two guys a little bit faster than me but I think that is about to change.”

On his “secret”:
“I like skiing and I like competing”

On the Olympics:
“I know how it feels to win a gold medal at the Olympics. It is such a good feeling. I am looking forward to Whistler.”

Michael Walchoffer (AUT) 3rd place
On the course:
“This was a very good super-G. I would compliment the workers. It was perfect.”

On his last season
“I don’t know, I’m not sure right now. It may be my last time here. It is something that will be more on my mind when I get to Garmisch.”

On surprise with Manny
“Yes, especially on this course. He has shown in the past that he can be fast on the straight course but today he showed that he can ski well on the technical courses as well.”

On the Austrian team:
“Yesterday we expected more from us in the downhill. So the result today takes a lot of pressure off of our shoulders. We can be more relaxed now, and relax heading into Beaver Creek.”