Bilodeau frustrated by form as Olympics near
Vancouver 2010 hero a surly silver medallist at World Cup event in Calgary
CALGARY — Blame the allencompassing hype surrounding the five- ring circus, unparalleled for any sporting event outside the FIFA World Cup. Blame the millions of eyeballs tuning in from parts unknown all over the globe. Blame the romanticism of a spectacle with origins dating back to the times of Zeus in Ancient Greece.
Be they summer, be they winter, the Olympics have a way of throwing the most even- keeled individual off- kilter. No one, regardless of resume, regardless of stature, is immune from the vice- grip of pressure.
For that reason, one troubleshooting volunteer at the 2006 Turin Winter Games carried around complimentary chocolates to soothe the frayed nerves of anyone on the verge of an Olympic- sized meltdown.
On Saturday, reigning Olympic champion Alex Bilodeau needed a chocolate in the worst way at the finish line of the FIS Freestyle World Cup moguls event in Calgary.
In reality, the host nation enjoyed a spectacular day on the steep moguls pitch at Canada Olympic Park. Justine Dufour- Lapointe ( gold) and Chloe Dufour- Lapointe ( bronze) won medals on the women’s side. In men’s action, Canada went 1- 2, with the quiet superstar Mikael Kingsbury capturing the 15th single moguls victory of his World Cup career and Bilodeau standing one step down in second.
During the victory ceremony, Bilodeau looked more like a man who had just received an audit letter from the Canada Revenue Agency than someone who had just registered a secondplace finish on the World Cup stage.
Jaw clenched, the 26- yearold managed a weak smile before later breaking down his displeasure with the coaching staff
Forever a hero in this country as the first Canadian to win Olympic gold on home soil — regardless of what happens at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia — Bilodeau declined interview requests on the hill. Visibly agitated, he also skipped a previously scheduled national media conference call two hours after the event.
“Right now, he’s in treatment for a massage for his legs,” said coach Michel Hamelin, standing in for his athlete on the call. “Today at the course, he was down about the result. He felt that when he skis right now, even if he does his best, he feels that he skis with a rock in his pocket.”
At issue: the margin of error. In moguls, results are determined by a combination of the time it takes to cross the finish line and the scores awarded by judges for style and execution of the two jumps.
On Saturday, Kingsbury punched the air repeatedly as he crossed the finish line, cruising to the top of the podium with 86.50 points. Bilodeau came in second with 84.76 points.
“The gap is a bit too much,” Hamelin said. “If we were second with a little tighter score, we’ll be fine with it.”
Judging by his body language, Bilodeau is far from fine with the situation with the Olympic countdown clock sitting at 32 days.
Canada strikes silver in World Cup luge relay
At Konigsee, Germany, Canada continued to push toward its first Olympic luge medal, winning silver in the team relay at a World Cup event Sunday.
Sam Edney, Alex Gough and Justin Snith, all from Calgary, and Tristan Walker of Cochrane, Alta., joined forces to win silver in two minutes 44.499 seconds.
“We had a race full of little mistakes from all three sleds including Sam bumping the wall off the start. Having made mistakes, and to still finish second, shows the class these three sleds are sliding in right now,” said Canada head coach Wolfgang Staudinger. “It was another great day and we are happy with how things are going.”
Germany finished on top at 2: 42.781, while Italy took bronze in 2: 44.681.
It was the third silver for the Canadian foursome in the team relay this year.
The team competition consists of one female sled, one male sled and one doubles team sled. Each athlete completes one run for a combined final time. The event will make its Olympic debut next month at the Sochi Games.
In singles competition, Felix Loch of Germany easily won his third World Cup luge race of the season, with Edney finishing fifth.
Canadians rank fifth in women’s bobsleigh
At Winterberg, Germany, Sandra Kiriasis drove to a World Cup bobsleigh win on her home track on Sunday, edging Elana Meyers of the United States by the slimmest of margins.
Germany’s Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in 1 minute, 55.41 seconds — a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA- 1 a huge push in the second heat.
The reigning Winter Olympic champions — Heather Moyse of Summerside, P. E. I., and Kaillie Humphries of Calgary — were 0.22 seconds back in fifth place. Fellow Canadians Jenny Ciochetti of Edmonton and Chelsea Valois of Zenon Park, Sask., finished in 14th place, 1: 36 behind the winning duo.
Later Sunday, Germany swept a four- man race, dominating once again on home ice. Maximilian Arndt won his second gold medal in as many days, prevailing in 1: 50.09 to extend his lead in the World Cup four- man standings. Francesco Friedrich drove to silver in 1: 50.32 and Thomas Florschuetz took the bronze in 1: 50.49.
Calgary’s Chris Spring and his crew of Jesse Lumsden of Burlington, Ont., Ottawa’s Cody Sorensen, and Saskatoon’s Ben Coakwell were fifth in 1: 50.83. Lyndon Rush of Humboldt, Sask., Calgary’s Lascelles Brown and Edmonton’s Dave Bissett and Neville Wright were ninth in 1: 51.17.
U. S. teen skis to second slalom win of season
At Bormio, Italy, American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin fought through snow, rain and deep ruts to win her second World Cup slalom of the season Sunday, displaying her ability to deal with all types of conditions a month before the Sochi Olympics.
The 18- year- old Shiffrin led by 0.03 seconds after the opening run and ending up winning by 0.13 ahead of Maria PietilaeHolmner of Sweden for the sixth victory of her career.
Marie Michele Gagnon of Lac- Etchemin, Que., moved from 16th to fifth after a solid second run in tough conditions gave her a combined time of 2: 01.52. Gagnon moved up to third in the World Cup slalom standings and eighth overall.
Erin Mielzynski of Collingwood, Ont., was 17th in 2: 02.29.
Austrian seizes gold in Nordic combined
At Chaikovsky, Russia, Wilhelm Denifl of Austria took advantage of a weakened field to claim his first career individual Nordic combined World Cup victory on Sunday.
Denifl, the 2003 team world champion, produced the longest jump during a training session and got a 30- second advantage over second- placed Evgeniy Klimov of Russia at the start of the race after the jumping portion of the competition was cancelled because of high winds. The victory lifted Denifl to ninth place in the overall World Cup standings..
France’s Fourcade shoots to wider lead in biathlon
At Oberhof, Germany, defending overall champion Martin Fourcade won the men’s biathlon mass start to extend his lead in the World Cup standings on Sunday, while Norway’s Tora Berger won the women’s race.
Fourcade missed only one target as he completed the 15- kilometre race in 37 minutes, 39.4 seconds, beating Alexey Volkov of Russia. The Frenchman leads the standings by 462 points, 169 ahead of Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen, who finished 11th.