Ontario’s Remme and Doan win on Whistler Cup’s final day
WHISTLER, BC (April 12, 2009) – Canada reclaimed the prestigious Whistler Cup title it last won back in 2007, helped by two victories in four races today on the final day of the 2009 event.
The United States ended up claiming second spot in North America’s only international ski race for 11 to 14-year-old’s, with Japan third.
Roni Remme (Palgrave, ON) won today’s ladies K1 Kombi event, which combined elements of giant slalom and slalom in one race. Third in the event last year, Remme said the Kombi is a valuable event for young ski racers to develop their skills.
“This is a good event at the K1 level. It forces you to focus on looking ahead and planning your run to stay ahead of the course,” said Remme, who finished today in a time of 45.97 seconds.
Japan’s Asa Ando was 0.9s of a second back to finish second with Emilie McNeil (Calgary, AB) from the Lake Louise Ski Club finishing third in 47.88s.
THUNDER BAY’S DOAN WINS MEN’S K1 KOMBI
Chris Doan (Thunder Bay, ON) of the Lake Superior Ski Division had a great run and the 13-year old ended up winning the men’s K1 Kombi in a time of 45.92s.
“This was a lot of fun. I had never been to Whistler so coming here this week I learned a lot. The snow was a lot softer than it is at home where it’s usually cold and icy and the course here was a lot longer than what I am used to,” Doan said.
Japan’s Keiya Saito was second, just 0.08s behind with Fedor Myagkov of Russia finishing third.
CZECH RACER ADDS ANOTHER GOLD
Bara Strakova added to her medal haul at this year’s Whistler Cup in today’s ladies K2 giant slalom. Strakova, winner of the super-G and second in the slalom earlier this week, finished today’s one run GS in a time of 55.63 seconds. Americans followed with Paula Moltzan finishing in 55.84s and Mikaela Shiffrin third in 56.07s.
Devon Clarke (Waterloo, ON) from the Craigleith Ski Club was the top Canadian, finishing fourth in 56.52.
“It’s been an exciting week, being here as part of Team Canada. We were all pushing each other to do our best and it was a great experience,” Clarke said.
TWO FINNS ON PODIUM IN MEN’S K2 GS
It was a great day for Finland in the men’s K2 giant slalom, which today was a one run event. Finland’s Mikael Svensk, 14, won in a time of 56.02 with Shogo Arai of Japan just 0.03s back in second. Max Luukko of Finland was third in 57.32.
“I won this race two year’s ago as a K1 so I really wanted to come out today an perform well to match that result. To ski with everyone here and know how you are doing compared to everyone else, it’s a valuable experience,” said Svensk.
The top Canadian was Gabriel Presseault (St-Jerôme, QC), who placed sixth in 57.49s.
“I really wanted to win and I skied with everything that I had. I just lost a little bit of time at the bottom. But I had a lot of fun,” Presseault said.
Today’s races bring an end to the 2009 Whistler Cup and a something of a symbolic end to the 2008/09 ski racing season in Canada.
The Dave Murray Award acknowledging the top results from Canadian male skiers at Whistler Cup went to Doan (K1) and Broderick Thompson (Whistler, BC) (K2).
The Nancy Greene Award acknowledging top results for Canada’s ladies skiers went to Remme (K1) and Kailee Darlington (Whistler, BC) (K2).
Races at the Whistler Cup are split by age into K1 (11 and 12-year-old’s) and K2 (13 and 14-year-old’s).
WHISTLER CUP 2009 UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 12TH, 2009 – MEN’S K2 – GIANT SLALOM
|
1 |
5 |
SVENSK Mikael |
FIN |
FIN |
56.02 (1) |
|
2 |
20 |
ARAI Shogo |
JPN |
JPN |
56.05 (2) |
|
3 |
25 |
LUUKKO Max |
FIN |
FIN |
56.32 (3) |
|
|
|
Top Canadian |
|
|
|
|
6 |
7 |
PRESSEAULT Gabriel |
St-Jerôme, QC |
M-OLY |
57.49 (6) |
WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 12TH, 2009 – LADIES K2 – GIANT SLALOM
|
1 |
11 |
STRAKOVA Bara |
CZE |
CZE1 |
55.63 (1) |
|
2 |
14 |
MOLTZAN Paula |
USA |
USA1 |
55.84 (2) |
|
3 |
10 |
SHIFFRIN Mikaela |
USA |
USA1 |
56.07 (3) |
|
|
|
Top Canadian |
|
|
|
|
4 |
21 |
CLARKE Devon |
Waterloo, ON |
CRAIG |
56.52 (4) |
WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 12TH, 2009 – LADIES K1 – KOMBI
|
1 |
12 |
REMME Roni |
Palgrave, ON |
ALPINE |
45.97 (1) |
|
2 |
3 |
ANDO Asa |
JPN |
JPN |
46.87 (2) |
|
3 |
13 |
MCNEIL Emilie |
Calgary, AB |
LOUISE |
47.88 (3) |
WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 12TH, 2009 – MEN’S K1 – KOMBI
|
1 |
18 |
DOAN Chris |
Thunder Bay, ON |
LSSD |
45.92 (1) |
|
2 |
17 |
SAITO Keiya |
JPN |
JPN |
46.00 (2) |
|
3 |
3 |
MYAGKOV Fedor |
RUS |
RUS |
46.57 (3) |
COMPLETE RESULTS (Today’s result may not be immediately available)
ABOUT THE 2009 WHISTLER CUP
Hosted by the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (www.wmsc.info), the Whistler Cup is the only international ski racing event for 11 to 14-year-olds in North America. World Cup winners to have participated in the Sierra Wireless Whistler Cup include Canadians Erik Guay, Britt Janyk and Emily Brydon as well as Austria’s Benjamin Raich, Slovenian Tina Maze and Anja Paerson of Sweden. For more information on the Whistler Cup please visit the event website at www.whistlercup.com.
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