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In Kitzbühel, the Canadian Cowboys took to one of the most iconic and difficult downhill tracks on the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup circuit: The Streif. The men’s speed team skied the Hahnenkamm today chasing down the illusive title. Three Canadian Cowboys and a Kitzbühel rookie, charged the Streif today under clear, sunny skies, in front of thousands of cheering fans.
Quebec’s Erik Guay, who came second here in 2013, was the fastest Canadian down with a time of 1:55.50, good enough for a sixth-place finish. Wearing bib number 17, Guay was just 0.49 seconds out from the first-place time after all 62 racers ran the track.
“Today was tough like always,” said Guay. “It was rough and bumpy and you really had to fight all the way to the bottom. I always struggled a bit with the turn into the side hill and today I didn’t ski it as clean as I could. That was the difference between being on the podium and being off it.”
Calgary’s Manuel Osborne-Paradis made a few costly errors that kept him out of the top ten. Osborne-Paradis finished inside the top 20 with a 19th-place Kitzbühel result.
“I’m very happy with how I felt this weekend but race day execution didn’t go as planned so I’m a bit bummed,” said Osborne-Paradis. “I’m happy yesterday’s super-G result going from bib 47 to 14th. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season!”
For Whistler’s Broderick Thompson, today’s successful race marks his first ever World Cup Kitzbühel race. In 2016 Thompson ran the training runs but didn’t push out of the downhill start gate. This year, Thompson ran both training runs, as well as the official race. Thompson finished in 47th-place, officially joining the club of elite downhillers to tackle and conquer the Streif.
“That was fun!” said Thompson. “I can’t wait to do it again next year!”
The men walk away from Kitzbühel without a podium but will be hunting for better finishes next weekend in Garmsich (GER). The men’s slalom team is up tomorrow in Kitzbühel where Trevor Philp landed a person-best result last season.
Canadian men’s results
6 – Erik Guay
19 – Manuel Osborne-Paradis
37 – Ben Thomsen
41 – Jeffrey Frisch
47 – Broderick Thomsen
