Norway wins Whistler Cup on gold medal sweep by Solbakken

WHISTLER, Canada – Catherine Dufresne of Montreal kept the focus on her skiing rather than results, and she’ll return home with two medals including a silver in the women’s slalom from Sunday to conclude the Mackenzie Investments Whistler Cup.

Nikola Bubakova of the Czech Republic collected her second gold of the competition clocking a two-run time of 1:22.95.  Dufresne roared back from the fifth spot after the first run to claim the silver in 1:23.88. Elvedina Muzaferija of Bosnia-Herzegovina took the bronze in 1:23.91.

“I was really happy to make a comeback on the second run which was a lot tougher than first one,” said Dufresne. “I gave all I had and it paid off.”

In the men’s giant slalom, Mikkel Solbakken of Norway completed a golden sweep of all three events clocking 1:50.09.  His compatriot Lucas Braathen was second in 1:53.21, and Hiroto Hasebe of Japan third in 1:53.26.

“This is the best I’ve ever skied in my career,” said Solbakken, 15, also the super G and slalom winner over the weekend. “I was having a great season in Europe and it just continued here.”

Justin Vittecoq of Montreal was fourth in 1:53.50 as Canadians grabbed the next eight positions.

“I missed all of last season with a broken collarbone so just being at the Whistler Cup this year is a big step for me,” said Vittecoq.

Norway placed first in the Nations Cup standings with 235 points followed by Canada at 153 and Japan at 104.

Dufresne won the Nancy Greene Award as the top Canadian female skier of the competition and Kyle Alexander of North Vancouver took the Dave Murray Award as the top Canadian male.

Release courtesy of Whistler Cup