ALPINE:

Whistler Cup Day 2: Quézel, Uryga top podium

April 9, 2011 — Alpine Canada  

WHISTLER, B.C. ― Lambert Quézel and Alex Uryga helped Canada strike gold at the Whistler Cup on Saturday.

Quézel, from Montreal, Que., laid down two solid runs to take top honours in the K2 men's slalom with a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 24.67 seconds.

The Team Canada skier's performance was one of the highlights for the host nation, which finished the day with two golds, one silver and a bronze. Here's a recap of what happened on day two of the Whistler Cup.

K2 men's slalom: Mr. Consistent wins the day 

Quézel wasn't the fastest man down the hill in Saturday's slalom, but he was by far the most consistent.

The 15-year-old's first run of 42.34 seconds was the second-fastest of the day, behind the USA's Cody Wilson (42.03). But while Wilson failed to finish his second run, Quézel clocked the fourth-fastest second run of the day (42.33), allowing him to secure gold by over six-tenths of a second.

"The course was pretty turny. I was skiing pretty smart," said Quézel, who skis out of Mont Saint-Sauveur, Que. "The snow, it was pretty hard. Same as Quebec! I'm pretty excited ― I won the championship!"

Second place went to Lubomir Murarik of Slovakia (1:25.34), while Sam Morse of the USA was third (1:26.22).

K2 women's GS: Steeves surprised to be on podium

Kelly Steeves was hoping for the best but didn't expect a strong result in Saturday's giant slalom.

So when the 14-year-old from Vancouver, B.C., found herself in fifth place after the first run, she knew what she had to do.

"I didn't do that well at nationals in GS so I wasn't really expecting anything," said the Whistler Mountain Ski Club member. "After the first run I was really happy. I just decided to do the same thing on the next run."

Steeves produced the fastest second run (58.27 seconds) to finish third overall with a two-run combined time of 1:52.24.

First place went to Austria's Marie-Therese Sporer, who had the fastest first run (52.61) and finished with a combined time of 1:51.33.

"It's a great day. I'm really happy ― I can't describe how I feel," said Sporer. "It was really fun. It's cool here, very cool."

Second place went to Breezy Johnson of the USA, who had a combined time of 1:52.20.

K1 men's slalom: Uryga on the podium again

Uryga followed his second place result in Friday's kombi with a golden performance in Saturday's K1 men's slalom.

The 12-year-old from Vancouver, B.C., dominated the race by laying down the fastest first-run time (35.45 seconds) and the second-fastest second run time (33.72).

His combined time of 1:09.17 gave Uryga the win ahead of fellow Canadian Ryan Moffat, who skis out of Big White, B.C. Moffat finished with a combined two-run time of 1:09.32.

"I'm really happy," said Uryga. "They were really good runs. I made a little mistake on the second run but it was still good. I thought I would end up in a good position but I never thought I would come first."

K1 women's GS: Smart cookie the top Canadian
Amelia Smart was left wondering what might have been after finishing fifth in Saturday's women's giant slalom.

The 13-year-old from Vernon, B.C., was delighted to be the top Canadian but figured a mistake might have cost her a place on the podium.

"I did pretty good. It was OK, not the best," said Smart. "I was pretty late on one of the gates and I lost a lot of time."

Smart finished with a time of 59.73 seconds in the one-run event. Japan's Asami Katagiri won gold (57.67), New Zealand's Elizabeth Reid was second (58.47) and Slovakia's Petra Hromcova was third (59.30).

The Whistler Cup draws to a close Sunday with the K1 and K2 men's giant slalom and the K1 and K2 women's slalom.

 WHISTLER CUP: K2 MEN'S SLALOM (unofficial results) 

WHISTLER CUP: K2 WOMEN'S GIANT SLALOM (unofficial results) 

WHISTLER CUP: K1 MEN'S SLALOM (unofficial results) 

WHISTLER CUP: K1 WOMEN'S GS (unofficial results)