GUAY OF HOPE
Canuck's weekend performance fires up men's team
Erik Guay couldn't have asked for a better start to the World Cup season.
The 22-year-old product of Tremblant, Que., put his stamp on the ski-racing circuit yesterday, adding a top-10 finish in the super-G to go with his second-place performance in Saturday's downhill.
"After (Saturday), I knew I was skiing well and, after today, I know I can compete with these guys," said an enthusiastic Guay.
The day before, he became the first Canadian skier to reach the podium in a World Cup race at Lake Louise.
Yesterday, Guay proved Saturday's performance was no fluke.
Guay didn't podium but his time of one minute 38.04 seconds was good enough for sixth.
Austrians swept the top three: Hermann Maier (1:36.69), Michael Walchhofer (1:36.95) and Stephan Eberharter (1:37.24).
"Coming into (the Winterstart World Cup) ... I wasn't too sure what to expect, Guay said. "Nobody really is expecting anything because it's the first race of the year.
"I hope I can keep going this way. The thing is to stay consistent throughout the year."
Guay hopes his performance will put the international spotlight on the Canadian team.
"I think it's very important. The Canadian team hasn't had great results in the past but since (Alpine president) Ken Read got on board and hired new coaches and trainers, everything has just sort of fallen into place," said Guay.
"It's hard for Canadians to follow a sport in which no athletes compete well and they don't have the results they are looking for.
"But perhaps now that the Canadian team has picked it up and performed well, maybe now the public will notice."
Read agrees.
"This is unbelievable," said Read.
"This is what you're working for -- to put an athlete on the podium and create an engine of excitement, energy and momentum for us."
Among one of the first starters out of the gates yesterday, Guay didn't hesitate to get his name on the leaderboard.
After 15 competitors, he had the fastest time and had racers, peers, family and media telling themselves this kid's for real.
As for the technical portion of the race, Guay said he was happy with how it went and liked the conditions of the course.
"It's a fast super-G course that's really rhythmical," he said.
"The bottom part is flat and it's crucial to bring your speed onto the bottom flat."
"That's where I skied really well.
"I had a little bit of a tough time on the top part and didn't ski that well but, all in all, I'm really happy."
With such a great start and a full season ahead of him, Guay admits he might let loose to celebrate his weekend.
"We'll probably go out for a champagne bottle or two and visit the town," he said.
Yesterday's results were bolstered by top 30 finishes from Jan Hudec of Banff (15th) and Vincent Lavoie of Quebec City (21st).