SRC Magazine Olympic Week 2

MAGNIFICENT MÄELLE Ricker rides to SBX gold

SUPER SVINDAL Norwegian fends off Miller for super-G gold

DOWNHILL DIVAS Americans Vonn, Mancuso savor Olympic glory

OLYMPIC WEEKLY NO. 2 Feb. 26, 2010

U.S. TEAM DOMINATES AT CYPRESS AND WHISTLER

Volume 5, Number 5

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Jean-Philippe Roy

Passion* Great athletes have great passion: for the exhilaration of going faster and further, for the thrill of testing their own limits and for the satisfaction of taking their sport to new heights. We follow their highs and lows for the sheer joy of watching great men and women give it everything they’ve got.

Good luck to all our athletes as they compete on the world stage.

Proud to say we support Alpine Canada Alpin.

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*connectedthinking © 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. All rights reserved. “PricewaterhouseCoopers” refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership, or, as the context requires, the PricewaterhouseCoopers global network or other member firms of the network, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity. 6047-0110 Jean-Philippe Roy photographed by ACA/Pentaphoto.

TABLE OF

CONTENTS SRC Olympic Weekly – February 26, 2010 – Vol. 5, No. 5 6

SLOPESTYLE Mad hatters take center stage

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ALPINE OLYMPIC COVERAGE Downhill divas: Vonn, Mancuso go 1-2 to boost Team USA alpine fortunes; Riesch gains redemption; Norway’s Svindal looms large in super-G

14

SNOWBOARD OLYMPIC COVERAGE Golden performance by Canada’s Ricker; Shaun White rules again

18

CROSS-COUNTRY OLYMPIC COVERAGE Babikov, Renner turn in top-10 efforts; Majdic offers inspiration

20

FAST & FEMALE The Crawford Sisterhood hits the XC scene

22

BLAST FROM THE PAST

EDITORIAL/PRODUCTION Editor-in-Chief

Gordie Bowles

Publisher

Mark Kristofic

Graphic Designer Senior Editors

Mark Tzerelshtein Michael Mastarciyan Don Cameron

Senior Photographer

Paul Morrison

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Tom McCarthy, Sean Stevens, Marina Ellis, Brian Stemmle, Carl Petersen, Michael Mastarciyan, Howard Cole, John Evely, Oliver Kraus, Mike Ridewood, Michel Painchaud.

The saga of Jungle Jim Hunter 24

MARKETPLACE

ADVERTISING Sales Manager

EDITOR’S NOTE By Gordie Bowles

American grit stole the thunder from Canadians at Whistler ankee Doodle Dandy.

The start of the second week in Vancouver-Whistler belonged to the Americans. At press time for this magazine, Team USA had collected 20 medals, 15 coming from the snowsports events. Canada: seven, with four from snowsports.

International superstar Lindsey Vonn brushed aside Olympic-sized pressure, a presumably bum leg and a surprisingly stellar run from teammate Julia Mancuso (see “Olympic divas” on page 10) to claim the gold medal on the world’s toughest women’s downhill course. Bode Miller returned to his previous form with two speeds medals, joined on the super-G podium by Andrew Weibrecht with a breakout bronze-medal. The Americans will go on record as the most successful U.S. alpine team in Olympic history.

The Games’ other international icon, American Shaun White, overpowered the men’s snowboard halfpipe field, cruising to victory and adding to his Phelps-esque status (see “Shaun White to Obama: ‘I’m free for dinner’” on page 16).

It seems the only USA choke came from the other Lindsey — Jacobellis, who was woman-handled in the snowboardcross semifinals by Canadian golden gal Mäelle Ricker, crashing out in the first corner when vying for position with the Canadian. The Squamish, B.C., boarder’s triumph over Jacobellis (see “Magnificent Mäelle” on page 14) was comparable to a Canadian win over USA in hockey, women or men.

But it is still early, folks, with plenty more time for Canuck hardware ... and lots more time to admire the hard-to-ignore beauty and unrelenting athletic prowess of Mrs. Vonn under the can’t-getany-better conditions at Whistler and Cypress (side note: We Canadians must apologize to the British press for all the sunshine and near-perfect conditions ...)

Ain’t it a Vonn-derful Life?

Y

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www.bkmedia.ca Gordie Bowles Editor-in-Chief

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SLOPE

Manny Osborne-Paradis. Photo: Michael Painchaud

STYLE By Michael Mastarciyan, for SRC

CALL OF THE

n.

Robbie Dixo tarciyan Mas el ha ic M o: Phot

MOUNTAIN MEN The World Cup’s mad hatters take center stage

6 SRC www.srcmag.ca

SLOPE

STYLE D

“I love wearing Cottontail they’re in regular civvies. Put but I think it looks better on them in red, black and white Robbie!” McIntosh told me plaid ski jackets and it’s a fullas she placed it on Dixon’s blown Paul Bunyan tall tale set head at the aforementioned in a ski resort. victory celebration.

The vibe emanating from this “I think it looks cool, but is definitely Vermont backcounI like my hats to have a try maple syrup factory. Then more urban look. I’m more again, it would look just as at of a city boy than a woodshome in the forests surrounding man,” Dixon said with a two-time Olympic host city Lake laugh.

Placid — which also happens to be Scott Macartn The hats are not the the home of U.S. Ski Team young ey, U.S. Ski Te Photo: Michae am l Painchaud . only “woodsy” apparel gun Andrew “Warbird” Weibrecht. adorning the fastest skiers on the planet this season.

“I think our new team jackets Next case in point – the U.S. Ski Team “Lumlook great and I’m sure I’ll fit right in back home ber” ski jackets. in the Adirondacks both on and off the slopes,” U.S. Ski Team members look like big hulking Weibrecht said, “whether I’m skiing or chopping lumberjacks (and that’s not an insult) when wood.” SRC

performance. inspired.

Good Luck Britt!

Photo: Paul Morrison

avy Crockett, Daniel Boone, Paul Bunyan, Big Joe Mufferaw, Radisson and Groseilliers — all famous mountain men, lumberjacks, fur trading explorers — and now style icons among the World Cup ski racing set.

Case in point? “The Manny Hat,” the most memorable thing from the Lake Louise Winterstart men’s World Cup outside of Manuel Osborne-Paradis’ super-G victory and John Kucera’s heartbreaking crash.

Basically a big, black, faux furry trapper hat, the Manny Hat — or as its creators at Silverfoot call it, the Cougar Ridge Team Hat, is similar to the famous Ushanka hat worn by Russian soldiers in World War II, but it’s also very similar to hats worn by rugged outdoorsy types in North America for eons.

A serious cold fighter, the Manny Hat (sorry Silverfoot, I can’t call it anything else) might look goofy to people who live in warmer climates, but when it’s minus-30, who cares about looks!

“I love the hat because it’s warm and looks cool in a vintage sort of way,” Osborne-Paradis told me after he “rocked it” (in his words) on the victory podium in Lake Louise.

“And if anyone says it doesn’t look good, I don’t care because I don’t have to look good — I already have a girlfriend, ha ha!” he added with a big laugh to a group of journalists interviewing him after his win.

The Manny Hat even has an Olympic connection.

“Manny came home from Torino with a hat similar to this one,” Silverfoot owner Maria Sederholm said. “They apparently gave them out at the drug-testing tent, of all places, and he came home and asked if we could make some up for the team, so I said we would. We’ve had them for a couple of years, and I guess the mood struck him this year and he picked one up for Lake Louise and decided to wear it.”

Osborne-Paradis’ mother, Jae, is Manny’s biggest supporter and is also a fan of the hat.

“I got hold of a bunch of Manny hats for his fan club and we wore them in Beaver Creek, but now, of course, he’s stopped wearing it,” she added with the same impish smile and twinkle in her eye her son clearly inherited from his mother.

The perfect companion for the Manny Hat is a hat called “Cottontail” worn by his girlfriend, Lana McIntosh, and sometimes by his Calgary roomy and teammate Robbie Dixon.

“Cottontail,” which is basically a Davy Crockett-style coonskin cap with a tail (although this one is in faux rabbit fur) made a guest appearance at Manny’s post-Lake Louise super-G race victory party.

What does PI stand for?

A financial services firm at peak performance.

PI Financial is the proud sponsor of Whistler’s Britt Janyk, one of Canada’s top downhill and Super G racers.

In this, the most important season of her great career, she can count on the support of PI Financial and all of its employees in Vancouver, Victoria and Calgary!

www.pifinancialcorp.com 604.664.2900 Member – Canadian Investor Protection Fund

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SRC 7

BORN AGAIN BODE American Bode Miller used the Olympic stage to showcase a rejuvenated spirit, claiming multiple medals at the Vancouver Games. Miller is seen here in the men's super-G just above Fallaway, en route to a second-place finish.

Photo: Paul Morrison/SRC

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SRC 9

OLYMPIC

ALPINE Women’s DH

Britt Janyk, who grew up skiing at Whistler, was close but missed out on a downhill podium, finishing sixth.

Photo: Paul Morrison/SRC

DOWNHILL

DIVAS AMERICAN VONN WHISTLES TO GOLD, TEAMMATE MANCUSO SILVER

WHISTLER, B.C. — Lindsey Vonn lived up to expectations and won the women’s Olympic downhill, and childhood rival and American teammate Julia Mancuso took a surprise silver medal.

In a race characterized by several crashes — including one to Swedish standout Anja Paerson — Vonn’s bruised right shin proved not to be a hindrance as she sped down Franz’s Downhill in 1 minute, 44.19 seconds.

“This is everything I’ve wanted and hoped for,” Vonn said, her voice choked with emotion.

Rumours had swirled throughout the week that the 26-year-old superstar – who came to Whistler as the clear favourite and expected to capture five medals, had succumbed to the pressure and was over-exaggerating the amount of pain she felt.

But the Minnesota native who lives and trains in Vail, Colo., put on a skiing clinic for all the world to

10 SRC www.srcmag.ca

see, quieting critics with a convincing performance just ahead of flag-waving teammate Mancuso.

Mancuso finished 0.56 seconds behind, giving the Americans the first 1-2 finish since the 1984 Sarajevo Games, when brothers Phil and Steve Mahre took gold and silver in the slalom and Debbie Armstrong and Christin Cooper accomplished the feat in giant slalom. Mancuso also won the giant slalom at the 2006 Torino Games but hadn’t finished on the podium since the Olympic test downhill here two years ago.

But it was clearly Vonn’s day. Waiting in the starting gate with the sun reflecting orange off her goggles as she stared down the course, Vonn was a study in concentration. Kicking out of the start without regard to her bruised shin, she increased her lead at the first three checkpoints, kicking up a trail of smoky snow in her wake as if she were a race car, tucking at every opportunity.

Lindsey Vonn, two-time defending World Cup overall champ, won her first career Olympic gold in the Vancouver 2010 downhill. Photo: Paul Morrison/SRC

The Canadians were off the pace, although Britt Janyk, who grew up skiing in Whistler, was in a podium position for a short period before moving back to sixth place. Emily Brydon finished 16th and Shona Rubens 21st.

“I would have loved to stay on the podium but I’m happy to be right there in the mix,” Janyk said. “I raced hard today. It’s the Olympics, you have to give it your all, and that was my goal, to push out of the start gate and leave nothing behind, and I did that on my run.”

Janyk, like Erik Guay in the men’s downhill, nearly capitalized on the massive Canadian support at Whistler.

“I was standing in the start gate thinking, ‘Wow, this is incredible, this is my hill, my home town, and the crowd is here for me,’ ” she said. “I really tried to take that feeling with me down the course. It was a really tough course, a little bit bumpy and really hard on the legs. Definitely one of the toughest and most exciting courses. I may be biased because I’m from here, but it is my favourite course by far.”

The many DNFs might have had an impact on Rubens, who placed 21st in 1:48.53 after leaving the start gate following one of the lengthy delays.

“It was definitely a bit of a struggle with the long delay. You have to try to make the most of it, but it is hard when there is a big delay before

OLYMPIC

Women’s DH

REDEMPTION FOR RIESCH WITH SUPER-COMBI GOLD

your run,” Rubens said. “So it was definitely tough mentally and a tough course, but that’s ski racing. We have to get used to delays. When it comes down to it I didn’t have a great run.” SRC — SRC’s Gordie Bowles, The Canadian Press and Alpine Canada contributed to this report

WHISTLER, B.C. — There were no distractions for Maria Riesch this time. Nobody falling directly in front of her at the start of the downhill track, nobody crashing off the massive jump at the finish.

The veteran German racer won the gold medal in the Olympic super-combined race, giving the week a new flavour, with American Julia Mancuso grabbing her second-straight silver medal and Sweden’s Anja Paerson a remarkable bronze one day after a bruising crash in the downhill.

“Today everything was fitting together,” Riesch said. “That’s what I said before these Olympics Games — for winning a gold medal everything must be perfect that day for you.

Today everything was perfect for me.”

Riesch acknowledged she was a bit spooked in Wednesday’s downhill, her Olympic

ALPINE

debut, when the two racers immediately before her crashed — Marion Rolland of France fell and tore her ACL before she even got to the first gate and Paerson of Sweden made a crash landing after flying 60 meters — half a football field — off the course’s final jump.

Riesch finished eighth as her chief rival, Lindsey Vonn, claimed gold.

In the super-combined, Riesch sat second behind Vonn after the downhill leg, then put down an error-free slalom run to put the pressure on the American, the last of the leaders to ski in the second run.

Vonn hooked a tip midway down and the gold was Riesch’s.

Apparent friends off the slopes, Riesch admitted she wasn’t too disappointed about Vonn’s fall.

“Today it was a bad (day) for her, yesterday it was a bad day for me,” Riesch said. “That’s how sports is.”

— The Canadian Press contributed to this report

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SRC 11

OLYMPIC

ALPINE Men’s Super-G

SUPER SVINDAL

NORWEGIAN FENDS OFF RELENTLESS MILLER, RISING STAR WEIBRECHT FOR SUPER-G GOLD

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WHISTLER, B.C. – Bode Miller’s quest for his first Olympic gold was denied by Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal in the Olympic super-G, while Canadian Erik Guay was again oh-soclose to a podium.

Svindal turned in a memorable performance, finishing in 1 minute, 30.34 seconds on a tough, icy track that gave many racers problems staying within the painted blue lines guiding the course. Miller was second, trailing by .28 seconds, and Andrew Weibrecht of the United States was .31 behind Svindal in third.

Erik Guay was again the fastest Canadian, finishing fifth with a time of 1:30.68. A bobble early

in his run set him back, and he was unable to claw back enough time for a podium spot, finishing only .03 seconds from bronze, .06 from silver.

“Today’s harder than most — to be three-hundredths from third place and six-hundredths from second is tough to swallow,” said Guay, the 28year-old Mont Tremblant, Que., veteran. “And to make that mistake up top cost me three-tenths, so it was there today and within my grasp.”

Canadian Manny Osborne-Paradis did not finish his run, skiing out at the bottom of the Weasel section. Robbie Dixon did not finish for the second-straight race, and Jan Hudec finished outside the top 20. Hudec skied late,

OLYMPIC

Men’s Super-G

ALPINE

Bode Miller claimed his second medal of the Games and his fourth Olympic medal overall, having collected two silvers at Salt Lake in 2002.

Photo: Brian Robb Aksel Lund Svindal is flanked on the podium by Bode Miller, left, and underdog American Andrew Weibrecht, who turned in a career performance on the Whistler super-G track. Photo: Agence Zoom

Aksel Lund Svindal continued Norwegian dominance of super-G. Kjetil Andre Aamodt won it in 1992, 2002 and 2006. Photo: John Evely

when the snow had softened due to increasing sunshine.

“It’s a learning experience,” said a dejected Dixon. “It obviously didn’t go the way I wanted it to go but it’s racing and there’s only three spots that count here, and I tried to get there today. It’s a fine line that we walk between success and failure.

“It sucks. It hurts. I am pretty pissed. But I got a few more Olympics.”

Didier Defago of Switzerland, Monday’s downhill gold medallist, was well off the pace Friday. Svindal won silver in the downhill and Miller bronze, while Guay was just .33 back of Defago for fifth place in that race.

Team USA is dominating the Vancouver medal standings, and with six medals — three by men, three by women — the U.S. squad is now the most successful U.S. alpine team in Olympic history.

Miller now has four Olympic medals, the most ever by a U.S. alpiner. In addition to his two medals here, he nabbed silver medals from the 2002 Salt Lake Games in giant slalom and combined. The super-G silver was the ninth medal for Miller at the elite alpine events — the Olympics and World Championships.

Miller delivered a run that resembled his old form — a perfect blend of risk taking and technical precision — to give the New Hampshire native his fourth Olympic medal.

But Svindal continued Norwegian dominance of a race that was added to the Olympic program at the 1988 Calgary Games. Norway’s great Kjetil Andre Aamodt won it in 1992, 2002 and 2006, and Svindal’s win gives the Scandinavian nation a 4-for-7 record in the event’s Olympic history.

“It’s been a lot of work getting to where I need to be for winning races,” Svindal said.

Svindal, starting eight places after Miller, trailed the American by 0.30 seconds at the first time split but made up the difference and had a .02 lead at the halfway point. He extended his lead along the bottom half of the course. The soft-spoken Norwegian was clocked at 114.8 kph at a speed check where Miller went through at 100.9 kph.

Still winless in alpine at these Games, Canada has fewer contenders in the tech races.

Guay said injuries and expectations can play a role in results.

“We came in here without our full team like we were expecting. With John Kucera, Francois Bourque and JP Roy, we would have had a 50 percent better chance of finishing on the podium,” Guay said. “We would have had a lot more shots at the can. The Americans didn’t have those injuries and were able to come in here with a strong team. Weibrecht is a guy who charges hard every race and I don’t think he had the same pressures as those other racers and he charged it hard today.”

Counting the World Cup, World Championships and Olympics, Guay has now finished in the top 10 a total of 31 times, including six podiums and nine fourth- or fifth-place finishes, since the Torino Games, when he finished fourth in super-G. “I’m tired with it,” said Guay. “There’s something there that needs to change, needs to be unblocked. (I need to) let it go and get those victories and podiums. I’m over it; I don’t want fourths and fifths anymore.”

Osborne-Paradis entered the Games with immense pressure given his outstanding season on the FIS World Cup tour.

“I like the pressure, I like the fact that the eyes were on me and wanting me to do well,” Osborne-Paradis said. “I had my first podium and first win at Lake Louise. I like when people pay attention to what we do because we work really hard.” SRC — SRC’s Gordie Bowles and The Canadian Press contributed to this report www.srcmag.ca

SRC 13

OLYMPIC

SNOWBOARD

Mellie Francon of Switzerland competes at Cypress Mountain during the women’s snowboardcross semifinals. Photo: Paul Morrison/SRC

MAGNIFICENT MÄELLE: RICKER RIDES TO SBX GOLD WEST VANCOUVER, B.C. — For Mäelle Ricker, winning Olympic gold in front of a screaming Canadian crowd on the mountain 20 minutes from her childhood home was “like a crazy dream.”

After two of her main rivals — American Lindsey Jacobellis and teammate Dominique Maltais — crashed out before the finals, Ricker jumped to an early lead in the finals, keeping distance ahead of Deborah Anthonioz of France and Olivia Nobs of Switzerland, who finished 2-3.

Ricker’s gold added to a cluster of Canadian medals snagged on Cypress Mountain in a few days — by her snowboardcross teammate Mike Robertson of Canmore and moguls skiers Jenn Heil and Alexandre Bilodeau.

The Vancouver Games served up more heartbreak for Jacobellis.

14 SRC www.srcmag.ca

Canadian Maëlle Ricker talks to the media following her victory in the women’s final, winning Canada’s first-ever snowboardcross gold medal. Photo: Paul Morrison/SRC

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OLYMPIC

SNOWBOARD

SHAUN WHITE TO OBAMA: ‘I’M FREE FOR DINNER’

Maëlle Ricker. Photo: Paul Morrison/SRC

Photo: Agence Zoom

The Olympics conquered once again, Shaun White says he’s ready for things to “get weird.”

And it’s already starting.

An hour after the snowboarding superstar provided one of Vancouver’s signature moments by landing his Double McTwist 1260 during a celebratory run down the halfpipe, a reporter asked White if he had designs on the movies.

“Only action-packed ones,” he said with a laugh while raising his slight arms in the air. “Slo-mo running. Flying off buildings.”

Hey, he’s had plenty of practice.

There are no plans to go Hollywood. At least not yet. His goals in the near future are considerably more grounded: Sleep. A little surfing. Some skateboarding. Maybe hang with the president.

“I’m free for dinner,” White said.

Considering White’s celebrity — ratings for his gold-medal run on NBC eclipsed Fox juggernaut “American Idol” — U.S. President Barack Obama might want to find a hole in his schedule.

Four years ago, White was a fresh-faced 19-year-old who was known as much for his red locks and his hipster nickname, “The Flying Tomato,” as for his ability on the halfpipe.

Gold in Torino made him an instant celebrity. He’s spent the interim becoming his sport’s first true crossover star, complete with a video game, clothing line and million-dollar smile that Madison Avenue covets.

That sun-splashed day in Italy seems like a lifetime ago. The sport has changed since then. He has, too.

The decision to raise the height of the halfpipe from 17 to 22 feet in 2008 offered riders a new canvas on which to paint their gravity-defying tricks. And staying at the sport’s forefront has sometimes come at a price.

Kevin Pearce, a friend of White’s and another star in the sport, was seriously injured on New Year’s Eve while practicing a difficult double cork — a trick that sends riders’ hips over helmet twice.

White has spent a year working on his own take of the double cork — the Double McTwist, also known as the Tomahawk, in which he packs two flips inside 3½ twists.

Perfecting the risky maneuver has been painful. He injured his ankle while taking the first tentative steps toward it last summer, and did a horrific face-plant while trying to throw it down at the X Games last month.

Hours later he popped back up and nailed it to win gold. It’s what he does.

“I think what separates Shaun from the majority of the snowboarders is his focus and his motivation,” said bronze-medal winner and teammate Scotty Lago. “He’s a perfectionist, and that’s what makes him one of the best.”

— The Canadian Press

Looking to redeem herself after giving away a victory four years ago, Jacobellis’ return trip to the Olympics was even worse. Early in her semifinal race on the snowboardcross course Tuesday, she lost her balance on a jump, wobbled and skittered to try to regain her balance, but clipped the outside of a gate. She raised her hands in disbelief, then clasped them over her helmet. The most dominant rider in the world for most of the past decade didn’t even make the medal round.

But Ricker, the top-ranked rider in the world, had her own making up to do because of that 2006 Olympic final where she was airlifted after a crash left her with a debilitating concussion.

This time, Jacobellis went out just behind Ricker in the semis.

“It was a close start,” Ricker said. “I don’t think we clipped, I didn’t feel our boards come in contact. I just tried to stay on my line and continue what I was doing. I didn’t know she went down until after the run. I had a good start and was able to take my line.”

Of her finals approach, Ricker said, “I tried to explode out of the gate. I really wanted to get out of that gate as fast as I can.”

“Before the finals I had to make some adjustments,” Ricker said. “I needed to get back to the game plan, get back to riding my way.”

— SRC’s Gordie Bowles and The Canadian Press contributed to this report

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OLYMPIC

CROSS-COUNTRY CANADIANS CLOSING THE GAP, LOOKING FOR MORE WHISTLER, B.C. — Callaghan Valley has been a continued celebration for the Swedes, Norwegians and even the Swiss, while the Canadians are still seeking their first podium.

At the beginning of the second week at Whistler Olympic Park, the Canadians were hanging their hat on two top-10 finishes, an eighth place by Russian-turned-Canadian Ivan Babikov in the men’s 15-kilometre freestyle and Sara Renner’s 10th place in the women’s 10-kilometre free.

And while the Canuck skiers were the first to say that wasn’t reason enough to break out the champagne, they also see the signs that they’re closing the gap one stride at a time.

“If you look at the Olympic record for male cross-country skiers in Canada (previously 14th, set by Pierre Harvey in 1988), that’s a breakthrough,” Gord Jewett said, noting Babikov’s eighth-place finish. “That says a load. And you have a guy like Alex (Harvey), who is 21 and he’s in the top 25 now. I think everyone in Canada has to look at this as a breakthrough for our nordic program.”

“Ivan is phenomenal to be that close in the top 10,” praised George Grey, who finished 29th out of 96 racers. “Our sport program has come a long way and we’re showing it. The top 10 and podiums is what we’re looking for.”

For Babikov, the 15 km showed he could hang and challenge the likes of Switzerland’s Dario Cologna, Italy’s Pietro Piller Cottrer and Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic, the three medallists. Babikov ended up just 18 seconds shy of Bauer’s bronze.

But after Cologna delivered the first gold medal Switzerland has ever won in Olympic cross-country skiing, the Canadian team is looking to get the Maple Leaf on the podium in front of the home crowd.

Harvey showed glimpses of podium potential with a solid effort in finishing 25th place in the men’s 15-kilometre free, catching the eyes of some of the field’s veterans, including Cologna, who has labeled Harvey a budding star.

“I felt really strong and I kept exactly to the plan (to race hard yet patiently),” said Harvey, whose best result in a World Cup 15 km is 34th. “I wanted to break the ice. It’s a good warmup race for me. Now I’m officially an Olympian, so when I go on the start line on the 30 km I won’t be a rookie anymore.”

Canadian Chandra Crawford in sprint classic finals. Photo: John Evely

PETRA’S COURAGE: SLOVENIAN SHOWS OLYMPIC SPIRIT, AND GRIT Slovenian cross-country star Petra Majdic had been anticipating this day for a long, long time.

A hero in Slovenia, Majdic was the prohibitive favourite for the women’s cross-county sprint, held Wednesday at Whistler Olympic Park. She has dominated classic sprinting on the World Cup circuit for the past two seasons — her tall, lanky frame and surprising tempo powering away from competitors. She skipped the first race of the Olympics, the women’s 10 km, to prepare for the sprint.

Then disaster struck.

Majdic fell off the side of the race course in training and injured her ribs, prompting Slovenian officials to call the tracks on the Whistler-area course “dangerous.”

Majdic tumbled down the side of the course during a warmup loop for the 1.4-kilometre classic race and had to be helped back up. She winced and held onto her ribs, her nose bleeding as she battled extreme pain, but later medical tests showed they were not broken.

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Most athletes would have thrown in the towel and gone to the hospital. But despite her horrendous fall, Majdic wasn’t willing to give up on her Olympic dream. She was in obvious pain during her qualifying heat, but still qualified comfortably. The knockout heats were more difficult — she collapsed in pain at the end of her quarterfinal, which she won handily. She was then fourth in her semifinal, but a fast time got her through to the final.

Visibly in pain, Majdic managed to qualify 19th, just behind Canadian Chandra Crawford, who qualified 18th.

As she prepared for the final, Majdic maintained third position for the first few climbs, falling to fourth before clawing her way back to claim the bronze medal. Exhausted, Majdic was carried from the finish line by her service people, then hobbled to the flower ceremony. She had obvious difficulty climbing the step to the bronze-medal podium, but put on a brave face, smiled and waved to the crowd.

This is a story sure to become part of Olympic lore — the athlete who went off the trail into a deep ravine, yet found the will to grab a bronze medal on the world’s biggest sporting stage.

Slovenia’s Petra Majdic being helped to the Majdic is a huge star in Slovenia. This demonstration of courage podium by her coach in women’s classic and force should rightfully put her at a level with the world’s pursuit 15-kilometre race, where she took biggest sporting heroes.

— Tom McCarthy a bronze medal. Photo: John Evely

FAST &

FEMALE By Dominique Carrier

THE CRAWFORD

SISTERHOOD of the Travelling 4-Leaf Clovers Biathlete, XC star achieve dream of Vancouver Olympic experience hortly after winning Olympic gold in the women’s cross-country sprint at the Torino 2006 Olympics, Chandra Crawford and younger sister Rosanna — a biathlete — formed their own special siblings club, dubbing it “Super Lucky Awesome Sisters.”

Both believing in their ability as elite athletes and optimistic about competing in the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver in their respective sports, they began a tradition of exchanging encouraging notes with four-leaf clovers drawn all over them, and repeatedly writing, “Super Lucky Awesome Sisters.”

The notes have accompanied them throughout their ski season, traveling in their bags with

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them across Europe, and have become increasingly comforting, especially in the past 12 months as the two sisters dealt with the challenges of being full-time athletes plagued by injury.

“We have encouraged each other and been supportive through the highs and lows of the past four years,” said 26-year-old Chandra, who is in final preparations for the Winter Games. “But when we both struggled with our fair share of injuries and health issues, we needed each other more than ever.”

A year and a half ago, Chandra began suffering from ankle tendon problems, which required her to undergo numerous treatments and sur-

Rosanna

(left) an dC

handra.

Photo: G

len Craw

ford

gery to help manage her pain. The serious injury prevented her from racing throughout the 2008-09 season.

Rosanna, too, has endured her share of injury, beginning with a hip and spine injury a few years ago and last season’s diagnosis of a heart rhythm disorder in which the heart beats faster than normal. This condition required surgery in December 2008 to correct the problem.

The Crawford sisters’ injuries prevented them from training and racing full-force, an obvious letdown for a pair of passionate and enthusiastic athletes. But their spirits never waned.

FAST &

FEMALE

“Last winter, I watched [national team men’s athlete] Devon [Kershaw] and my teammates get ready for another tour, and all I kept thinking was that I needed to stay strong and positive, so that I could join them sooner than later,” said Chandra.

“A big part of healing properly is patience, but more importantly, never letting the injury get you down.”

Chandra needed a top-20 result to qualify for Vancouver after sitting out the entire last season.

Only two months before the Games, she succeeded with a 12th-place finish at a World Cup skate-ski sprint race in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Just a few weeks before the start of the 2010

Chandra (back) and Rosanna.

Photo: Glen Crawford

Chandra running beside her little sister Rosanna during a biathlon competition in 2009.

Photo: Glen Crawford

Winter Games, at the beginning of January, 21year-old Rosanna earned her spot on the Canadian Olympic biathlon team with a second-place finish during Olympic trials, in their hometown of Canmore, Alberta.

The “Super Lucky Awesome Sisters” had realized their dream of competing together at the Olympic Winter Games.

This mantra of staying positive and overcoming adversity to achieve your ultimate goal is at the forefront of Chandra’s sport philosophies, and what she hopes to convey with her rapidly growing organization, Fast and Female presented by Best Buy. The organization’s Web site is www.fastandfemale.com.

Fast and Female was founded in 2005 by

Crawford and teammates with the goal of “Empowering Young Women through Sport.” The organization focuses on building confidence and leadership skills in young girls, led by Fast and Female ambassadors, members of the national, provincial and club ski teams. Both Chandra and Rosanna are ambassadors.

“It’s important to always believe in your dream, and more importantly in yourself,” said Chandra. “Though there may have been some discouraging moments over the last couple of years during our down time, Zanna and I have always thought deep down that this could happen. Having the chance to both be part of the 2010 Games is amazing and a great reward for our perseverance.” SRC

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BLAST FROM

THE PAST By Kevin Stevens

THE PHANTOM

PODIUM Canada’s Jungle Jim won bronze at ’72 Games — or did he?

fter 38 years, it remains a Winter Games cold case. An Olympic whodunit. Was “Jungle” Jim Hunter robbed of an historic Olympic bronze medal at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Games? Or is one of the charter members of the Crazy Canucks just that — crazy?

The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame says Hunter raced to a bronze-medal finish in the combined at the 1972 Olympic Games, but the Canadian Olympic Association lists figure skater Karen Magnussen’s silver as Canada’s only medal in Japan nearly four decades ago.

Nine Winter Games have come and gone and another is looming large in Vancouver, but the mystery remains: Was Jungle Jim the first Canadian male to medal in alpine skiing at the Olympic Games, as he claims, or is it the figment of a vibrant Olympic imagination?

The answer lies in a sort of Olympic Twilight Zone, somewhere between reality and wishful thinking.

Jungle Jim did win a bronze medal for an impressive body of work on the Sapporo ski hills, but the accomplishment came with an Olympic asterisk.

From 1948-80, the alpine skiing events at the Winter Olympics also served as the World Championships, which are held every two years. In 1972, the combined event was part of the World Championships program — not the Winter Games — so while Jungle Jim’s results all came in official Olympic events — slalom, giant slalom and downhill — when put together they add up to a World Championships bronze medal.

“I can’t fathom it sometimes how I went to the Olympics, I come home, and I know I’m a bronze medallist, and no one else seems to know,” said Hunter. “We go to the closing ceremonies and I’m thinking, am I or am I not the bronze medallist?

We get on the plane and fly back home and all the way I’m going, ‘Am I a bronze medallist or aren’t I?’ “I get off the plane, the media are there and I’m still thinking, ‘I’m a bronze medallist but nobody knows.’

“I’m thinking about where I’ve been, I’m thinking about coming from Saskatchewan believing I

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would be the best skier in the world and nobody said a word about a bronze medal.”

For nearly a year, Hunter was left in Olympic limbo. Just as thoughts of the phantom medal were beginning to fade, Hunter was summoned to a cocktail bar in Val d’Isere, where he was finally presented with the bronze he was never really sure existed. There was no podium to climb, no flag raising and no recognition other than a handshake and the long-awaited confirmation he had sought.

“I looked at the FIS guy in some cocktail bar in Val d’Isere, France, and he finally gives me the answer I had been waiting for, ‘You are the Olympic bronze medallist.’ “‘This is for your three performances in the slalom, giant slalom and downhill at the Olympics.

It’s for your performance at the Olympics, but we’re not going to call it an Olympic medal.’”

“I don’t want this to come across as sour grapes, but I cannot understand why we would not fight to make that an Olympic medal instead of just accepting it as a FIS bronze medal.

“You won’t find it in the Olympic record books — it’s in the World Championship and FIS records.

“I think about it and I go, ‘That’s what we do in Canada.’ We just accept what we get and we are thankful for what we get. We are a great country for being grateful.”

Hunter in action in a World Cup downhill in Val d’Isere, France.

Photo: Courtesy Canadian Ski Museum and Alpine Canada Photo below: Jim Hunter (right) celebrates his bronze medal on the World Cup podium in Wengen with legendary Austrian Franz Klammer (centre) winning the race. Photo: Courtesy Canadian Ski Museum and Alpine Canada

While the events surrounding Sapporo have left a bitter taste, Hunter remains a huge supporter of the Olympic movement and the athletes who dream of standing atop the podium.

Now 56 and the father of four girls, Hunter remains connected to the ski community. He authored the National Ski Team Play Book. Brash and opinionated, Hunter sought the Alpine Canada CEO job that went to fellow Crazy Canuck Ken Read.

He hosts a show focusing on Olympic and amateur athletes on a Calgary all-sports radio station. He organized the hugely successful torch relay for the 1988 Calgary Winter Games, and said he has raised through his own efforts more than $100 million for amateur sport.

But most of all, Hunter remains fiercely proud of the Crazy Canuck legacy.

“We shook the European world of ski racing to the point they literally feared us,” Hunter said proudly. “I don’t think this country realizes that’s the reason why the Crazy Canucks hangs around and is still there.

“Look at our history of sport and see if you see anything — other than hockey — that has changed the scope or had the impact of it from a sport perspective.

“The identity of the Crazy Canucks and what the five us did ... we were five guys who changed the world of sport.

“I could see what the future could be and said, ‘Man, I got to be involved.’ To me the Olympics are not just another race. To me it is why you are doing what you are doing.

“It is the only measuring stick in sport today that has the endurance to have one day’s performance be remembered forever.” SRC

BY THE

NUMBERS QUICK FACTS ABOUT THE VANCOUVER 2010 WINTER GAMES • 17 days of Olympic Games events • 10 days of Paralympic Games events • 5,500 Olympic Games athletes and officials (projected) • 1,350 Paralympic Games athletes and officials (projected) • 80+ countries participating in Olympic Winter Games • 40+ countries participating in Paralympic Winter Games • 10,000 media representatives • 3 billion worldwide television viewers • 75 million visits worldwide to vancouver2010.com (projected)

2010 TIMELINE 2005 – 2006: Venue construction begins on all 2010 competition and non-competition sites FEBRUARY 10 – 26, 2006: 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy.

VANOC sends an observation team.

WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES (1994-2006) HISTORICAL MEDALS

TORINO 2006 Nation 1 Germany 2 United States 3 Canada 4 Austria 5 Russian Fed. 6 Norway 7 Sweden 8 Switzerland 9 Korea 10 Italy

Gold 11 9 7 9 8 2 7 5 6 5

SALT LAKE CITY 2002 1 Germany 12 2 United States 10 3 Norway 13 4 Canada 7 5 Austria 3 6 Russian Fed. 5 7 Italy 4 8 France 4 9 Switzerland 3 10 Netherlands 3

Silver Bronze 12 6 9 7 10 7 7 7 6 8 8 9 2 5 4 5 3 2 0 6

16 13 5 3 4 4 4 5 2 5

8 11 7 7 10 4 5 2 6 0

Total 29 25 24 23 22 19 14 14 11 11

36 34 25 17 17 13 13 11 11 8

NAGANO 1998 Nation 1 Germany 2 Norway 3 Russian Fed. 4 Austria 5 Canada 6 United States 7 Finland 8 Netherlands 9 Japan 10 Italy LILLEHAMMER 1994 1 Norway 2 Germany 3 Russia 4 Italy 5 United States 6 Canada 7 Switzerland 8 Austria 9 South Korea 10 Finland

Gold 12 10 9 3 6 6 2 5 5 2

10 9 11 7 6 3 3 2 4 0

Silver Bronze 9 8 10 5 6 3 5 9 5 4 3 4 4 6 4 2 1 4 6 2

11 7 8 5 5 6 4 3 1 1

5 8 4 8 2 4 2 4 1 5

Total 29 25 18 17 15 13 12 11 10 10

26 24 23 20 13 13 9 9 6 6

MARCH 10 – 19, 2006: 2006 Paralympic Winter Games in Torino.

VANOC sends an observation team.

SUMMER 2007: Construction to begin on the Vancouver Olympic Village and the Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Village 2007: Vancouver 2010 Winter Games mascot to be selected WINTER 2007/2008: Games venues to be available for athlete training 2008: VANOC to begin volunteer recruitment. An estimated 25,000 volunteers are required to stage the Games.

AUGUST 8 – 24, 2008: 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing, China. VANOC sends an observation team.

SEPTEMBER 6 – 17, 2008: 2008 Paralympic Summer Games in Beijing.

VANOC sends an observation team.

FALL 2008: Vancouver 2010 Winter Games ticket sales WINTER 2008/2009: Sport Events for the 2010 Winter Games 2008: Media Accreditation for the 2010 Winter Games. An estimated 10,000 media members expected to be accredited.

FALL 2009: 2010 Winter Games Olympic Flame (torch) Relay FEBRUARY 12 – 28, 2010: XXI Olympic Winter Games MARCH 12 – 21, 2010: X Paralympic Winter Games

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