Austria wins nations’ title at Whistler Cup

By Published On: April 7th, 2014Comments Off on Austria wins nations’ title at Whistler Cup
Max Kirshenblatt of Whistler finished third in the U16 slalom. Scott Brammer

Max Kirshenblatt of Whistler finishes third in the U16 slalom. Scott Brammer

WHISTLER, Canada — Clouds parted and sun beamed on beautiful Whistler Mountain for the final day of competition at the 2014 Whistler Cup presented by Rio Tinto Alcan.

The U16 women moved to the slalom course and a new leader emerged. From the dominant nation of Austria, Nadine Fest of the Gerlitzen Ski Club took top podium position in one minute, 42.43 seconds.

“I’m really surprised and happy right now. I was so nervous waiting for the second run,” said Fest, who sat fourth following run one. “My first run wasn’t so good, but I think the second run was the best run I’ve ever had!”

Zanete Gedra from Latvia finished 2nd in both runs to clinch the silver medal with a combined time of 1:42.50, and Austria’s Katrin Hinterholzer earned the bronze in 1:43.23.

With parents and grandparents watching (and gate judging) from the sidelines, a young Maja Nymann from the Mt. Washington Ski Club, and Team BC 1, started 40th and skied her way to an impressive 9th place finish as the fastest Canadian in the race with a two-run time of 1:46.61.

“I am so super excited and happy to get a top-10 at the Whistler Cup,” said Nymann who moved up from 17th after the first run. “At the beginning of the day I didn’t know what my competition looked like and I was shooting for top-30. After a pretty fast first run, my goal became top-10. I just wanted to lay it all on the line and the second run felt really fast and smoother than usual, oh my goodness, this is amazing!”

In the men’s giant slalom competition Sunday, some familiar faces took their places on the podium. From Austria, the winner was Thomas Dorner in 1.48.98, and second place went to Dorner’s Austrian teammate, Manuel Traninger, whose combined time was 1:49.99. Traninger and Dorner were first and second, respectively, in Friday’s super G, and followed it up with a first for Dorner and second for Traninger in Saturday’s slalom. Third-place finisher was Norway’s Odin Vassbotn Breivik whose final time was 1:51.89.

Taking nothing for granted, an overjoyed Dorner called this weekend “a dream come true.”

“Today wasn’t easy, the second run was really difficult, but I’m very happy,” said Dorner. “Whistler is really great, the slopes are nice and very different from Austria. The people here are all friendly and I have made some new friends.”

As in the women’s race, a B.C. athlete grabbed the top Canadian spot in the men’s GS. Kasper Woolley of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, and Team BC2, finished 10th with a combined time of 1:52.69. Woolley, whose mom was on the slip crew and dad was on the dye crew during his race, couldn’t have been more thrilled to end what he called a “frustrating” season on such a high note.

“I have been faster in time trials than some of the kids ahead of me, but I have not had the best race season,” explained Woolley. “I knew I could do it and I just went for it and pulled it all together today. I’m excited that I put a good result down finally, because I have been pretty frustrated.”

The eighteen U16 men and women from Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia who made up Team Canada were not able to defend the Nations’ Cup title, which was won by the Austrian Team athletes who amassed 312 points over three days of racing. Second place went to Norway with 152 points and Canada was third with a total of 86 points.

The top Canadian female in the U16 races was 15-year-old Beatrix Lever from Montreal and the Mont Cascade Ski Club who finished in fourth position, missing the podium by a mere hundredth of a second, in the super G. Lever, also in Whistler for her first time, spent the winter training at Whiteface Mountain with NYSEF and took part in the 4-day Team Canada training camp in Whistler in preparation for these races.

“The Team Canada camp was fun and it gave me a chance to see how I compare to other girls in the country,” said Lever. “I thought [the] course was really good, but I feel like I held back a little and could have done better. I was happy to qualify at the CanAms to represent Canada here in Whistler.”

The Whistler Cup also welcomed U14 athletes from around the world for the 2014 U14 International Festival. Over the three days they raced a dual slalom, a slalom and a giant slalom. In the end, the Japanese team was victorious earning 169.5 points, followed by the Ontario 1 team in second with 133.5 points, and the BC 1 team coming a very close third with 130.5 points.

The last time the U.S. sent a delegation of athletes to Whistler Cup was in 2011, and they once again declined to participate this year.

The Dave Murray Award, acknowledging top performances by Canadian males (U14 and U16) at Whistler Cup each, went to: 

U14 – Will Kornya – Ontario – 1st place in slalom

U16 – Max Kirshenblatt – Team Canada/Whistler Mountain Ski Club – 3rd place in super G

The Nancy Greene Award, acknowledging top performances by Canadian females (U14 and U16) at Whistler Cup, went to:

U14 – Madeline Sullivan – Ontario – 1st place in dual slalom

U16 – Beatrix Lever – Team Canada/Quebec (NYSEF) – 4th place in super G

Release courtesy of Alpine Canada

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