Led by John Kucera, Canadians posted two of the four fastest times in downhill training for this weekend’s season opening alpine World Cup speed events.
Kucera, whose lone win came in Lake Louise two years ago, is trying to use this World Cup season as a springboard for the 2010 Winter Games, which will be held in Vancouver in 15 months.
Austrian Georg Streitberger was second-fastest, clocking 1 minute, 47.32 seconds on the Whitehorn Mountain course, while Swiss Ralf Kreuzer came from the back of the pack to finish third in 1 minute, 47.47 seconds.
Kucera’s Canuck teammate Eric Guay was fourth, just over half-a-second behind the fastest time.
American Scott Macartney was fifth, while Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal finished sixth in the final of three training runs this week.
Reigning World Cup overall champion Bode Miller, World Cup downhill champ Didier Cuche and Crystal Globe runner-up for the past two seasons Benjamin Raich decided to skip training on Friday.
Kucera is trying to fill the void on the Canadian team left by the loss of Jan Hudek, who is recovering from his third knee injury. Hudek won the Lake Louise downhill last year.
The 24-year-old Kucera won the Lake Louise super-G in the 2006-2007 season. He finished seventh in the downhill and super-G last year.
Kucera wore bib No. 4 and benefited from an early start time.
“I am always going for No. 1. I never race for No. 2,” said Kucera, who placed 27th in downhill at the 2006 Turin Olympics. “It was definitely smoother than what I ran on yesterday. This year is going to be one of the more difficult races here. There are no real fast flat sections anymore. It is quite technical, even on the flats and it is bumpy, so it should be an interesting race tomorrow.”
The 27-year-old Streitberger had his best showing in Lake Louise last year, when he finished ninth in the downhill.
Starting from the second spot on Friday, Streitberger was the fastest of the mighty Austrians who have made Lake Louise their personal playground over the years.
“We are always challenging each other in training,” said 10-time career downhill winner Michael Walchhoffer, explaining the Austrian dominance. “Skiing is the No. 1 sport in Austria, so if you can win some races you are a hero.”
Streitberger is one of the rising stars on the Austrian team. He has gone from 117th in the world in his rookie year in 2005, to 33rd overall in last season.
Streitberger started from the 57th position on Friday and bumped Guay out of third spot.
Like Kucera, Guay has just one career World Cup win. The 27-year-old won the downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, two years ago.
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