Osborne-Paradis leads record Canadian SG score
It was a bittersweet win for the home team at Lake Louise Sunday (Nov. 29).
Manny Osborne-Paradis took advantage of an early start number to hold-off a pair of redemption minded Austrians and was joined by Canadian Cowboy teammates Erik Guay in fourth and Robbie Dixon in fifth for the strongest World Cup super G result ever, but they may have lost World Champion John Kucera after he slid off course and was airlifted away. Team Director Max Gartner was quoted reporting there was “something seriously wrong” with the 24 year old downhill champ.
The Austrians pushed two skiers onto the podium after being shut-out in Saturday’s downhill. Benjamin Raich matched a career best super G result in second and Michael Walchhofer was third.
The Americans had to do with Ted Ligety in eighth place, one spot shy of his career super G best. Andrew Weibrecht continued his good skiing snagging 12th place and Marco Sullivan was 15th for some respectable placings.
Bode Miller failed to score which was not surprising considering a decided lack of speed training. It seemed apparent he was concentrating on line and tactics rather than speed.
“I just pushed it,” said Osborne-Paradise. “I made lots of mistakes but I made sure the skis were always running cleanly and down the fall line and it worked out really well.”
Yes, well enough for the first World Cup win at Lake Louise by a Canadian male since Jan Hudec claimed the downhill in November of 2007. A bit of a home-team advantage, similar to what they hope to enjoy during the Olympic speed races in February, may have played a role in the out-come.
“It’s not an easy super G here at all,” Osborne-Paradise said. “It’s quite fast and the gates come at you fast. I think it’s (all about) confidence. You just have to keep attacking, I was just able to move forward and press on my outside ski when I needed to and just make the ski do what I need to do when I needed it.
“It’s a balls-out kind of racing here, you get an inspection and you go for it.”
An overcast and blustery day – not uncommon in the last few seasons at Lake Louise – made course familiarity all the more important. Ligety said he tried to focus on making clean turns. “I’m happy with it for sure,” he said. “It’s tough with all the wind and light changing. … I’m happy to be in there.”
“Getting second place here is very exciting to me,” said Raich, much better known for his skills in GS and slalom. “It’s a great result. I made a good run . … It was clean and felt good.”
Aksel Lund Svindal, the defending overall and super G champion is nursing a sore leg and was content with a 14th place finish., indicating he skied more as a warm up for Beaver Creek next weekend.
“The doctors were kind of negative about me skiing here so in that way it’s way better than it could have been,” the likable Norwegian star said. “To go to Beaver Creek not having done one turn in six weeks. … Beaver Creek is too tough for that so I felt like I needed to get a little bit done before I get there.”
Dixon, better than his fifth place finish only once in his relatively short career, said he had scared himself during his run, barely navigating the gate coming out of the steepest section of the course, Gun Barrel. “I stuck with it and fought to the end,” he said, calling the fifth place result “awesome” under the circumstances. He spoke for his teammates when voicing concern about their fallen leader, Kucera.
“We are such a tight team and we feed off of each other and with Johnny and I hope there is nothing wrong because if there is it’s going to be a huge blow, he’s skiing so well and he’s just and all-around amazing skier so I hope nothing bad has happened.”
Kucera underwent surgery Sunday night for a fractured tibia and fibula in his left leg at Banff Mineral Springs Hospital. He is not expected to return this season.
Manny Osborne-Paradis photo by GEPA
The SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Equipment
Men’s super G, Lake Louise, Nov. 29, 2009
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Osborne-Paradis, Rossignol/Rossignol/Tyrolia
2 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Walchhofer, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Guay, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Dixon, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Theaux, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Janka, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
10 Cuche, Head/Head/Head
Men’s super G, Lake Louise, Canada, Nov. 29, 2009. … It is the fourth race of 34 on the men’s 2009-2010 World Cup season. … It is the first of six scheduled super G’s. … It is the second of two men’s World Cup races scheduled at Lake Louise this season and the second of five total races planned for the site. … It is the 72nd Cup race hosted by Lake Louise. … the 26th super G and the 11th men’s super G. … Last season’s men’s SG was won by Hermann Maier, his 54th and final career Cup victory before retiring prior to this season. … overcast and windy. … Winning margin is .23 of a second. … Top 10 skiers are within the same second.
It is the second career World Cup win for Manuel Osborne-Paradis, the previous a DH win at Kvitfjell last March. … He betters his mark at Lake Louise by one, having been second in the Nov. 25, 2006 DH. … He leads a record Cup SG showing for Canada 1-4-5 with Erik Guay and Robbie Dixon.
It is the 82nd career World Cup podium for Benjamin Raich his fifth in super G. … He has been second in SG four times and has never won. … Three of those four second place SG finishes have come at Lake Louise.
It is the 41st career World Cup podium for Michael Walchhofer. … Just his sixth in super G, but this third at Lake Louise. … These are the second and third men’s podiums of the season for Austria.
It is the 13th time Erik Guay has placed fourth or better in a World Cup, fifth in SG and the rest in downhill. … Fifth matches the second best career Cup result for Robbie Dixon. … He was fifth in DH at Kvitfjell in March 2009 and fourth at the same site in SG in March 2008. … It is the 41st time Ted Ligety has been eighth or better in a World Cup race. … but just the second time in SG. … The other a seventh at Beaver Creek in December 2008. … It is the fourth time Andrew Weibrecht has been in the top 12 of a World Cup race in nine scoring races. …It is the second time he finished 12 for the weekend, having also ranked 12 for the downhill. … It is the 24th time Marco Sullivan has been in the top 15 of a World Cup race. … It is his fourth best of six scoring results at Lake Louise. … It is the fifth career scoring result for Erik Fisher. … His first at Lake Louise. … It is the 22nd time Francois Bourque has scored in a World Cup SG. … It is his fourth score at Lake Louise, three of them in SG. … It is the 18th career scoring result for Jan Hudec. … His seventh at Lake Louise.
Didier Cuche (10th in race) maintains his lead of the overall World Cup standings 226-165 over Raich. … Carlo Janka (sixth in race) is third at 160. … Ligety is the top North American in fifth at 125, Osborne-Paradis sixth at 115.
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Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Total Time | FIS Points |
1 | 7 | 102899 | OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel | 1984 | CAN | 1:32.93 | 0.00 |
2 | 11 | 50625 | RAICH Benjamin | 1978 | AUT | 1:33.17 | 2.74 |
3 | 21 | 50041 | WALCHHOFER Michael | 1975 | AUT | 1:33.55 | 7.07 |
4 | 13 | 102263 | GUAY Erik | 1981 | CAN | 1:33.68 | 8.55 |
5 | 28 | 102961 | DIXON Robbie | 1985 | CAN | 1:33.72 | 9.01 |
6 | 42 | 192746 | THEAUX Adrien | 1984 | FRA | 1:33.79 | 9.81 |
6 | 15 | 511313 | JANKA Carlo | 1986 | SUI | 1:33.79 | 9.81 |
8 | 3 | 534562 | LIGETY Ted | 1984 | USA | 1:33.87 | 10.72 |
9 | 18 | 510727 | DEFAGO Didier | 1977 | SUI | 1:33.88 | 10.84 |
10 | 19 | 510030 | CUCHE Didier | 1974 | SUI | 1:33.92 | 11.29 |
11 | 17 | 293006 | INNERHOFER Christof | 1984 | ITA | 1:34.00 | 12.20 |
12 | 26 | 530939 | WEIBRECHT Andrew | 1986 | USA | 1:34.04 | 12.66 |
13 | 1 | 380260 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | 1:34.07 | 13.00 |
14 | 20 | 421328 | SVINDAL Aksel Lund | 1982 | NOR | 1:34.08 | 13.12 |
15 | 14 | 533131 | SULLIVAN Marco | 1980 | USA | 1:34.20 | 14.49 |
16 | 12 | 510747 | GRUENENFELDER Tobias | 1977 | SUI | 1:34.22 | 14.71 |
17 | 22 | 292514 | HEEL Werner | 1982 | ITA | 1:34.30 | 15.63 |
18 | 10 | 50753 | KROELL Klaus | 1980 | AUT | 1:34.46 | 17.45 |
18 | 2 | 50858 | STREITBERGER Georg | 1981 | AUT | 1:34.46 | 17.45 |
20 | 9 | 510767 | HOFFMANN Ambrosi | 1977 | SUI | 1:34.63 | 19.39 |
21 | 57 | 201811 | STECHERT Tobias | 1985 | GER | 1:34.68 | 19.96 |
22 | 49 | 201987 | STRODL Andreas | 1987 | GER | 1:34.73 | 20.53 |
23 | 48 | 534939 | FISHER Erik | 1985 | USA | 1:34.75 | 20.76 |
24 | 40 | 191591 | BERTRAND Yannick | 1980 | FRA | 1:34.83 | 21.67 |
25 | 27 | 500150 | JAERBYN Patrik | 1969 | SWE | 1:34.91 | 22.58 |
26 | 63 | 421483 | JANSRUD Kjetil | 1985 | NOR | 1:35.01 | 23.73 |
27 | 5 | 102814 | BOURQUE Francois | 1984 | CAN | 1:35.05 | 24.18 |
28 | 37 | 51332 | SCHEIBER Florian | 1987 | AUT | 1:35.08 | 24.52 |
29 | 35 | 102271 | HUDEC Jan | 1981 | CAN | 1:35.11 | 24.87 |
30 | 53 | 511139 | KUENG Patrick | 1984 | SUI | 1:35.17 | 25.55 |
30 | 4 | 290998 | STAUDACHER Patrick | 1980 | ITA | 1:35.17 | 25.55 |
32 | 24 | 560406 | GORZA Ales | 1980 | SLO | 1:35.20 | 25.89 |
33 | 31 | 510890 | ZURBRIGGEN Silvan | 1981 | SUI | 1:35.26 | 26.58 |
34 | 36 | 103090 | HELIE Louis-Pierre | 1986 | CAN | 1:35.33 | 27.38 |
35 | 47 | 191116 | DALCIN Pierre-Emmanuel | 1977 | FRA | 1:35.40 | 28.17 |
36 | 56 | 501076 | OLSSON Hans | 1984 | SWE | 1:35.44 | 28.63 |
37 | 60 | 380292 | ZRNCIC-DIM Natko | 1986 | CRO | 1:35.53 | 29.66 |
38 | 6 | 560332 | JERMAN Andrej | 1978 | SLO | 1:35.55 | 29.88 |
39 | 30 | 532431 | MILLER Bode | 1977 | USA | 1:35.57 | 30.11 |
40 | 59 | 421400 | MYHRE Lars Elton | 1984 | NOR | 1:35.59 | 30.34 |
41 | 29 | 51005 | SCHEIBER Mario | 1983 | AUT | 1:35.60 | 30.46 |
42 | 41 | 533762 | TRANSUE Jeremy | 1983 | USA | 1:35.87 | 33.53 |
43 | 64 | 511383 | FEUZ Beat | 1987 | SUI | 1:36.07 | 35.82 |
44 | 32 | 150421 | ZAHROBSKY Petr | 1980 | CZE | 1:36.10 | 36.16 |
45 | 45 | 561067 | PERKO Rok | 1985 | SLO | 1:36.25 | 37.87 |
46 | 66 | 292491 | MOELGG Manfred | 1982 | ITA | 1:36.26 | 37.98 |
47 | 58 | 220695 | CRAWFORD Douglas | 1987 | GBR | 1:36.37 | 39.24 |
48 | 67 | 480736 | HOROSHILOV Alexandr | 1984 | RUS | 1:37.10 | 47.56 |
49 | 68 | 491151 | DE LA CUESTA Paul | 1988 | SPA | 1:37.39 | 50.87 |
50 | 69 | 700724 | BABUSIAK Jaroslav | 1984 | SVK | 1:39.84 | 78.82 |
51 | 71 | 90047 | GEORGIEV Stefan | 1977 | BUL | 1:39.89 | 79.39 |
Did not finish 1st run | |||||||
510498 | ZUEGER Cornel | 1981 | SUI | ||||
40171 | BRANCH Craig | 1977 | AUS | ||||
530874 | GANONG Travis | 1988 | USA | ||||
150398 | BANK Ondrej | 1980 | CZE | ||||
53837 | KRAMER Manuel | 1989 | AUT | ||||
430429 | BYDLINSKI Maciej | 1988 | POL | ||||
350032 | BUECHEL Marco | 1971 | LIE | ||||
561085 | KRIZAJ Andrej | 1986 | SLO | ||||
51215 | BAUMANN Romed | 1986 | AUT | ||||
102873 | KUCERA John | 1984 | CAN | ||||
201606 | KEPPLER Stephan | 1983 | GER | ||||
50742 | REICHELT Hannes | 1980 | AUT | ||||
560447 | SPORN Andrej | 1981 | SLO | ||||
533866 | NYMAN Steven | 1982 | USA | ||||
201542 | STRODL Peter | 1982 | GER | ||||
50833 | GRUGGER Hans | 1981 | AUT | ||||
292291 | THANEI Stefan | 1981 | ITA | ||||
50600 | GOERGL Stephan | 1978 | AUT | ||||
532490 | MACARTNEY Scott | 1978 | USA | ||||
291459 | PARIS Dominik | 1989 | ITA |