THE DAY ARRIVED - HE'S ERIK THE GOLD
Erik Guay was just 12 years old the last time a Canadian skier won a World Cup men's downhill race.
So it was only natural yesterday -- a full 13 years after Cary Mullen won in Aspen -- Guay punctuated his first World Cup win by paying tribute to the man who helped inspire him.
"I was just a little kid in Tremblant growing up and hoping that one day I could do the same thing as him," said Guay following the race at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. "I've been training for the last 10 years for this. It's really something special."
Mullen couldn't agree more.
"I've been hanging onto that record for awhile and I've been waiting to hand over the torch for too long but I'm so happy it's to him," said Mullen, 37, from his Calgary home where he jokingly admitted Guay's comments made him feel "a little old."
"Over the last three or four years I figured it would be him (who would win Canada's next downhill) but then there have been other charges lately from (Calgary's Jan) Hudec, (Calgary's John) Kucera and Manny (Osborne-Paradis of Vancouver). It's just such an exciting time."
Indeed it is for Canada's men's side, which posted another brilliant day yesterday with Hudec having his best world Cup finish (fifth) and Osborne-Paradis finishing seventh.
But the man of the hour was Guay, who officially confirmed what many of his competitors have believed for years -- he is among the sport's elite.
"I was really attacking at the bottom part of the course," said Guay, a podium finisher in each of the last three World Cup downhills and fourth at the recent World Championships in Sweden.
"When I came through the finish line and I looked back and saw my time I was just ecstatic. I threw up my hands and pretty much knew the race was finished at that point."
After all, he was half a second ahead of previous race leader Andrej Jerman of Slovenia, who won Friday's race. After a slow start to the season that saw several of his teammates steal the spotlight with shocking regularity, the undisputed team leader now sits fifth overall in the World Cup downhill standings.
Topping speeds of 120 km/h yesterday en route to his seventh career World Cup podium finish, the affable native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., won his first gold medal on one of the world's most challenging courses.
The win bolstered the Canadian team's medal total to 11 this year -- 10 on the big circuit and one, Hudec's silver, from the world championships -- which is one short of their total a year earlier.
Guay jokingly credited his recent success to the Mohawk-style haircut he and several of his teammates have been sporting the last two weeks.
"It's not the greatest haircut I've ever had but it's paying off right now," laughed Guay, who Mullen hoped to congratulate via fax.
The team's recent success gives Mullen and his former teammates plenty to talk about during an upcoming ski team reunion in Mexico later this month.
"I was chatting with (cousin) Chad (Mullen, a former teammate) and was saying what an exciting time it is and saying how proud we are and how strong the program is now," said Mullen, a popular public speaker who retired in 2000 due to a concussion.
"Finally we have some great leadership with Ken Read who has the focus on winning and resources to go out, market and raise money. We've got depth and we've got top producers, which is what you want. That means it's sustainable."