ALPINE:

Too many racers, too few Olympic spots for Canada's men's speed team

Nov. 26, 2009 – The Canadian Press          ►Photo: Jan Hudec at Wengen 2009 (Agence Zoom)

LAKE LOUISE, Alberta — For members of Canada's men's alpine ski team, the message leading up to the 2010 Games is clear: Win and you're in.

"If you win a downhill race between now and the Olympics, you're going to start in the Olympics," said Paul Kristofic, team manager for Alpine Canada.

"If someone wins here in Lake Louise this weekend, they'll be starting in the Olympics, 100 percent."

The Canadian men take to the Lake Louise slopes this weekend for the opening speed events of the season. Five Canadian skiers are jockeying for four downhill spots at the Vancouver Olympics.

"We have a fairly deep team, especially on the speed side of things, so you have a good chance that there's more than four guys that are capable and will qualify in that event," Kristofic said in an interview Thursday. "That sort of begs the question: How are you going to decide who gets those actual starts?"

Among the competitors is Calgary's John Kucera, who made history last season when he became the first Canadian to win the men's downhill event at the World Championships. Kucera also finished second in the super-G at Lake Louise last year, an event he won in 2006.

But Kucera wasn't the fastest Canadian in the first day of training at Lake Louise on Wednesday. That distinction went to Whistler, B.C., resident Robbie Dixon, who finished fourth. Dixon was a career-best 20th in the World Cup downhill standings last season.

Manuel Osborne-Paradis of Invermere, B.C., is also coming off a banner year, one which saw him pick up his first career World Cup downhill win. He had three World Cup podium finishes last season.

Mont-Tremblant, Que., resident Erik Guay picked up his 10th World Cup podium result last season, moving him into third place on Canada's all-time list.

And no one seems prepared to count out Calgary's Jan Hudec, who's returning to action after his sixth knee surgery. Hudec, a former World Championships silver medallist who won the downhill event at Lake Louise in 2007, has said his sights are firmly set on a medal at the 2010 Games.

Kristofic said Games hopefuls have to meet the official Olympic criteria and must have two top-12 finishes. One of those finishes must be in the current season.

Assuming those requirements will be met, Canadian ski officials have devised their own set of criteria to determine who gets the coveted Olympic spots.

"Basically, it boils down to who has the biggest chance to win a race or win a medal at the Games. Podium performances are the priority as far as how we decide our rankings when we come into the Games," Kristofic said.

He said ski officials will also look at podium performances last year, though Kristofic insisted Kucera has not yet secured one of the Olympic spots despite his World Championships win.

While some of the Canadian skiers have said winning the World Cup's crystal globe would mean more than an Olympic medal, because the globe represents a season of accomplishment and the Games one day, Kristofic said he doesn't view it that way.

"If preparing a little bit different throughout January, for example, means sacrificing a perfect performance at a World Cup because we're preparing for the Olympics, we're going to do that because the Olympics is the target," he said.

Max Gartner, chief athletic officer for Alpine Canada, echoed that sentiment. "It's an opportunity of a lifetime for the athletes to have Olympics at your home turf," he said. "That doesn't happen to many athletes. We've put a lot of focus on trying to build a team and trying to perform on that given day. So for me, this time around, this year, the Olympics are the most important thing."

Gartner said having too many Olympic hopefuls is certainly a good problem to have. "I think that the guys know that it's going to be tough to get in, so I would assume that their intensity level and stuff is up," he said.

When asked if the tight competition might hurt team unity, Kristofic said he's not concerned. "When it comes time to race, everyone puts their friendship in their back pocket. They cheer for each other, for sure, but they are a brutally competitive group of guys."  SRC