Rebensburg rules at Lake Louise super-g
German veteran gets first World Cup win while top Canadian finishes in 19th place
Canada's only stop on the alpine World Cup speed circuit wrapped up Sunday with German veteran Viktoria Rebensburg atop the Lake Louise super-g podium for the first time.
“The super- G here looks tougher than it is, so I tried to push as hard as I could from top to bottom and obviously, it worked out pretty well,” said the 30-year-old Red Bull team athlete.
“I think for sure my technical skills were helping me in this case to make a little drift to have enough elevation or direction.”
For two weeks, the storied Chateau Lake Louise had been transformed into a particularly lavish athlete's village, home to all 65 of the fastest men and 47 of the fastest women on two skis. It's the only stop on the World Cup circuit with that sort of arrangement.
Through three days of the women's field racing at the Rocky Mountain resort, Lac-etchemin, Que.'s Marie-michèle Gagnon was the standout Canadian performer.
“I'm in a really confident space, so I really wanted more today,” said Gagnon of her 19th place finish on Sunday, 1.7 seconds behind the leader Rebensburg.
“Whatever though, right? It's just one race out of a whole season, and it's good to be in this position where I get fired up because I messed up.”
Last season marked a transition in the 30-year-old's career as she shifted her focus entirely to the ‘speed' disciplines of super- G and downhill.
“I feel like I belong more to the speed side now, whereas last year I was kind of really like, ‘What am I doing?' That I was a slalom skier, and that I should've stuck there,” she said from the finish area.
“Now I'm in the start with these superstars all around me, and I'm like ‘OK, I belong here,' which is cool.”
The loudest cheers from the fan bleachers at the base of Lake Louise weren't for any of the home team speed queens, however.
Instead they were reserved for Ester Ledecká, the Czech athlete who wowed the world at last year's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang when she claimed gold medals in both ski and snowboard alpine racing. The Canadian Rockies are a popular location for young Czechs looking for a combined travel and work experience, and Ledecká's compatriots turned out in droves with flags and posters to support the 24-year-old.
“Around Calgary there's a big Czech community, and it's great to have such a crowd behind me,” said Ledecká.
“I'm really happy that they come all the way here and cheer for me.”
She returned the favour throughout the weekend, as her lively group of supporters watched her race to the top of the podium at Friday's downhill, a fourth-place finish at Saturday's downhill, and a 30th place finish in Sunday's superG.
“It's important to support someone in an exotic country,” said the Czech Republic's Mike Masar, currently residing near Banff.
“Obviously, a lot of ski racing fans go to Austria, but not necessarily Canada or the States so it's always nice for the racers to see some Czech flags and make them feel as close to home as possible.”
It's a short time span, but long plane ride, to the next speed stop on the women's World Cup calendar at St. Moritz in Switzerland.
“I'm used to the jet lag, it's an advantage because these Europeans don't do that as much as we do,” said Gagnon, who boards her flight to Europe on Monday and should be on snow by Thursday.
“They say that it's going to be so hard going home, and I'm like ‘Ha!' We all know how to get over it because we have our tricks. We know when to go to bed, when to not have our lights on, and it's going to be enough time until the weekend.”
The Dec. 14 race will be broadcast live on the CBC'S online streaming service at 2:30 a.m. For racing fans with a non-compatible body clock, it will be later accessible on demand.