WHISTLER, B.C. (April 10, 2011) – Canada won its fourth Nations’ Cup in five years as the host nation closed out the Whistler Cup with another golden performance on Sunday.
Roni Remme, of Collingwood, Ont., followed up her second-place result in Friday’s K2 super-G by winning Sunday’s K2 women’s slalom.
The 15-year-old’s victory was one of the highlights of the day for Canada at the world-renowned event for elite young ski racers. In its 19th year, the Whistler Cup features 450 skiers aged 11 to 15 from a total of 25 countries.
The U.S. was the top nation in the K2 age-category but Canada led the way in K1 and took the overall Nations’ Cup title with 306 points. Team USA was second with 212 points and Japan was third (164).
“It was fantastic, super, a great job,” said Benoit Lalande, team leader for Team Canada’s K2 squad. “At that age they are put under pressure and they have to perform in an international race. At 14 years old that’s very impressive.”
Here are the highlights from the final day of competition:
K2 women’s slalom: Remme’s golden day Remme had one last chance to go for gold on Sunday – and she didn’t disappoint.
“I’ve been working for this all season,” said Remme, who clocked a two-run combined time of one minute, 22.26 seconds. “It feels really great. I’m so happy I got what I’ve been working for.”
Remme put time into her course inspection and all the pre-race planning paid off.
“Going into the first run I was looking at the course and trying to figure out where to look for speed,” said Remme, a member of Collingwood’s National Ski Academy. “I was really happy with my first run so going into my second run, I knew I had to have a clean run. I think I got what I was looking for.”
The Austrian duo of Marie-Therese Sporer (1:23.16) and Theres Steinlechner (1:25.23) were second and third, respectively.
K2 men’s giant slalom: Mooney lands title Ryan Mooney was delighted that his win in Sunday’s giant slalom helped make the USA the leading nation in the K2 age category.
“It’s really important to us,” said the 15-year-old from Western Massachusetts, who took the GS title with a two-run combined time of 1:45.08. “We’re stacked this year – really deep. It’s awesome.”
Mooney had the second-fastest first run (52.79) and reacted better than anyone else to the snowy conditions in the second run.
“I was very happy with how it went. It was awesome,” he said. “First run it was a great set, there wasn’t too much snow. The second run, the snow really rolled in. It was a little bumpy.”
The top Canadian in Sunday’s K2 giant slalom was Lambert Quézel, of Montreal, Que., who won Saturday’s K2 slalom.
“On the first run, I was aggressive. It was very good,” said Quézel, who was fifth with a two-run combined time of 1:46.45. “But on my second run I was too safe. I’m not happy but I’m not that mad, either.”
Austria’s Marco Ladner was second (1:45.11) and the USA’s Colby Lane was third (1:45.95).
K1 women’s slalom: Soleil shines in snowy conditions Soleil Patterson brightened up Canada’s day with a third-place finish in the K1 women’s slalom.
The 12-year-old from Rossland, B.C., laid down two solid runs to finish with a two-run combined time of 1:12.90.
“It was really nice. It was snowy but I had a good run,” she said. “Everything went well. I got a bit late on some gates but it was OK. It’s been an amazing week. With all this excitement, it’s been fun.”
Canadians Ella Alfonso and Laura Swaffield were fourth and fifth, respectively. The slalom was won by Japan’s Asami Katagiri, who also won gold in Saturday’s giant slalom. Katagiri clocked a combined time of 1:11.39 Sunday and Sona Moravcikova, of Slovakia, was second with a time of 1:12.73.
K1 men’s giant slalom: Moffat the top Canadian Canada’s Ryan Moffat produced another solid performance in Sunday’s K1 giant slalom, but was disappointed to finish just out of the podium positions.
The 12-year-old from Kelowna, B.C., was the top Canadian on the day, finishing fifth with a time of 57.51 in the one-run event.
“My run felt really good but it wasn’t enough,” said Moffat. “I’m still happy. It’s been really cool here.”
The winner of Sunday’s giant slalom was Chile’s Kai Horwitz, who clocked a time of 56.43.
“It was good – really good,” said Horwitz.
Tomas Varjassi, of Slovakia, was second (56.67) and Denmark’s Peter Moe-Lange was third (56.97).
DAVE MURRAY AND NANCY GREENE AWARDS WERE HANDED OUT
The Dave Murray Award acknowledging the top performance from a Canadian male skier in K1 and K2 at Whistler Cup went Alex Uryga of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (K1) and Lambert Quezel of Quebec (K2).
The Nancy Greene Award acknowledging the top results from Canada’s female skiers at Whistler Cup went to Laura Swaffield of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (K1) and Roni Remmi of Ontario (K2).
ABOUT THE WHISTLER CUP: The Whistler Cup, presented by Rio Tinto Alcan, is an international event for ski racers aged 11 to 15. In its 19th year, it featured 450 skiers from 25 countries. World Cup winners who have participated in years past include Canada’s Erik Guay and Britt Janyk, plus international stars including Slovenia’s Tina Maze, Sweden’s Anja Paerson and Benjamin Raich, of Austria. For more information about the Whistler Cup, visit: http://canski.org/whistler-cup or www.whistlercup.com