Alpine Canada – Calgary, Alta. (March 16, 2016) – Canadian Cowboy and Canadian speed ski veteran, Erik Guay (Mont Tremblant, Que.), skis to his first podium-finish of the season just in the nick of time during the World Cup Finals downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Guay, wearing bib 15, skied into first-place after a solid run, gaining speed and momentum the whole way down, nailing the bottom section of the course. After leading by 0.34 seconds, Guay was bumped from the leader box by hometown hero, Beat Fuez, who went on to claim today’s first-place spot. U.S.A.’s Steven Nyman snuck in just ahead of Guay for a second-place finish, trailing the lead-time by 0.08 seconds. 

Today’s downhill was a culmination of the fastest skiers in the world as they took to the famed St. Moritz track for the final downhill of the season battling snow and tough visibility. For Guay, today’s race was the perfect finale for a season where he overcame injury, coaching changes and equipment modifications. 

“I felt the skiing was coming all year, despite a few injuries, I was just working to build the momentum and it paid off today so I’m happy,” says Guay. “With Manny’s [Osborne-Paradis] fourth-place finish last weekend, the Canadian team is really starting to mesh and we hope to keep this momentum going. For me, it’s not the end of a season but the start of a new one. At the start of this season I had some equipment changes and a new serviceman, along with a new coach, so there was lots of fine tuning to do but I feel pretty dialled in now and I almost wish the season was prolonged for a bit. I’m really looking forward to heading home and spending some time with my girls and hopefully getting on the ski hill a bit to take advantage of family life.” 

Canada’s second racer in the World Cup Finals downhill, Vancouver, B.C.’s Manuel Osborne-Paradis, skied to a 14th-place finish. 

The ladies’ charged down their downhill track following the men this morning. They also battled tough visibility in the final downhill of the season. Canada’s Larisa Yurkiw, who was recently named the Alpine Canada Alpin female alpine Athlete of the Year for her three podium finishes this year, made a few bumbles in today’s race and finished in 17th -place.

Austria’s Mirjam Puchner took the ladies’ first-place spot today, with Switzerland’s Fabienne Suter in second-place, trailing by 0.13 seconds and Italy’s Elena Curtoni finishing in third-place, 0.17 seconds back. 

Today’s race concludes the downhill portion of the World Cup season and Italy’s Peter Fill takes the top honour securing the Crystal Globe on the men’s side and U.S.A.’s Lindsey Vonn takes it on the ladies’ side. Tomorrow the speed teams are back again for the final super G of the season. 

Men’s Alpine 

3 – Erik Guay

14 – Manuel Osborne-Paradis

Ladies’ Alpine

17 – Larisa Yurkiw (Team Larisa)

For further information or press inquiries, please contact Ashley Shantz at ashantz@alpinecanada.org or call 587.226.3007.

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