Lake Louise (AB), Canada –Two young skiers preparing to make their World Cup debuts flew the flag for Canada in the first women’s downhill training run at the Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup on Tuesday.
Sarah Freeman, 19, of Pincher Creek, Alberta, and Tess Davies, 20, of Canmore, Alberta, were both sporting huge smiles after following the likes of American superstar Lindsey Vonn down the hill. The bubbly duo, members of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team women’s prospect training group, admitted to feeling some first day nerves as Davies went off course near Fall Away and Freeman went wide, losing valuable time. With training runs also scheduled for today and Thursday, both girls will have plenty of time to get used to their surroundings before the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup downhill races get underway Friday and Saturday.
“There are lots of things I can fix for tomorrow but I’m happy with it. I got the jitters out of the way,” said Davies, who was sporting a fat lip but an even bigger smile after a small hip slide following her fall. “On Fall Away I lost my downhill ski and when that happens it doesn’t tend to go well!”
Vonn, who won the super G and was second in the downhill at Lake Louise last year, was over a second-and-a-half faster than her nearest rival in Tuesday’s training run after clocking a time of one minute, 54.79 seconds. Vonn skipped Sunday’s World Cup slalom in Aspen, Colo. to allow a training injury to heal ahead of this weekend’s speed events in Lake Louise. Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg (1:56.45) and Austria’s Elisabeth Goergl (1:56.50) were second and third fastest, respectively.
Freeman, who was a forerunner in Lake Louise at the last two World Cups and has also competed in Nor-Am Cup races here, finished 60th with a time of 2:05.46.
“The jump was pretty easy and then after Fish Net I didn’t dive down the hill enough. I went really wide and close to the net,” said Freeman. “You have to start somewhere, right?
“My heart was pumping after Fall Away,” she added. “It’s OK, though. First time down!”
With Canadian Alpine Ski Team veterans Kelly VanderBeek, of Kitchener, Ontario, and Larisa Yurkiw, of Owen Sound, Ontario, continuing to work their way back to competitive racing following long-term injuries, Freeman and Davies are set to represent Canada in the two World Cup downhill races being staged here Friday and Saturday. Emerging World Cup star Marie-Michèle Gagnon, of Lac-Etchemin, Quebec, and youngster Madison McLeish, of Whistler, British Columbia – both Canadian Alpine Ski Team members – are expected to compete in Sunday’s super G.
“It was a tough first day but we have a long week. We have three training runs and they both know this hill,” Hugues Ansermoz, head coach of Canada’s women’s team, said of Davies and Freeman. “The expectation was not about the time today; it was about showing what they can do on a hill they have been racing and forerunning. The goal this week is just for them to say, at the end of the week, ‘I skied my best.’ ”
Freeman is one of Canada’s most promising young speed skiers. She was ninth in downhill at the 2011 FIS Junior World Ski Championships in February and placed second in downhill at the Canadian championships in Nakiska, Alberta, in March. Freeman was told a while ago that she might get the chance to make her World Cup debut this week but it didn’t start to sink in until a few days ago.
“It wasn’t 100 per cent until we checked into (The Fairmont) Chateau Lake Louise. Then I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is happening,’ ” said Freeman, whose family has an organic cattle ranch in Pincher Creek. “It’s exciting. (Swedish superstar) Anja Paerson wished me good luck going up the chair – that was so cool.”
Davies was a forerunner in last year’s Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup and also competed in several Nor-Am Cup races here. She comes from a skiing family, but her siblings chose a slightly different path.
“My brother and sister are both biathletes,” said Freeman, a former member of the Raymond James Alberta Ski Team. “We all downhill skied and cross-country skied but when I turned 15 I had to make a choice. It’s a lot easier to go downhill than uphill!”