ALPINE:

Williamson, Wisniewska podium as IPC World Cup kicks of in Italy

Jan. 7, 2011 — Alpine Canada  

ARTA TERME, Italy ― Chris Williamson of Markham, Ont., proved Friday that he is one of the best in the business by winning the men's visually impaired giant slalom at the IPC World Cup alpine season kicked off.

Williamson, who has been skiing with a new guide since the summer, Robin Fémy, clocked a two-run  time of 2 minutes, 23.70 seconds.

"It's good to have a good result after the last time I raced against these guys,” said Williamson, who has been on the team for 13 years. “My performances at the Paralympic Games in Vancouver were what I would qualify as an embarrassment to myself. With my result today I proved that I could do it. I was nervous at the start gate because I still had those performances in my head. Wining today is definitely a relief.

"I'm feeling good on my skis right now and my new partnership with Robin is working really well. We trained on snow and off snow together a lot this summer and we worked hard on getting our communication down. He is a great guide and a great teammate."

Canada scored a second podium Friday as Karolina Williamson finished third in the women's standing category. Marie Bochet from France was fastest and Germany's Andrea Ruthfuss second.

In the men's standing category, Morgan Perrin of Whistler, B.C., was fifth, a career-best IPC World Cup result for the 24 year-old. Perrin was seventh after the first run but had the third-fastest time on the second run, which bumped him to fifth place.

"I'm happy with my race. This is my best result for a World Cup race, so it is good for the morale,” said Perrin. “This is giving me a lot of confidence for the World Championships that are coming soon. My result is good, but my time is a little far from the leader, so tomorrow I'm going to work on getting closer to the leader. If I ski like I skied in my second run, I believe a podium could be a possibility."

Also in the men's category, Matt Hallat of Whistler and Kirk Schornstein of Edmonton finished in ninth and 11th place, respectively.

Josh Dueck of Vernon, B.C., in the men's sitting category, finished in fourth place overall. He was seventh after the first run but had the fastest time in his category in the second run. S-Magazine