Thomas Grandi set new mark for Canada

28 years after Canada’s first victory in a men’s World Cup downhill in Val d’Isère by Ken Read, Thomas Grandi came very close to celebrate the first Canadian win in a slalom. The 31-year-old veteran, who reached his second podium after being 3rd in a giant slalom in November 1997 in Park City, Utah, achieved the best ever Canadian performance in slalom 37 years after Scott Henderson came in 4th in a slalom in Franconia, New Hampshire during the first World Cup season.

The skier of Banff was extremely happy by his astonishing performance despite getting so close to his first World Cup triumph.
“I fought hard for this and I’m really proud of my performance today,” Grandi said. “I was very excited after I clocked the fastest time in the first run and I gave my best in the second run to stay in the lead. I was extremely calm and relaxed at the start, I didn’t feel any pressure. I was ready to charge as much as possible for my first win. I have no regrets; I gave what I could to win this slalom. The Hahnenkamm races in Kitzbühel are the most prestigious on the tour, they are like the yearly World Championships for us. To be on the podium here is awesome.”

Grandi impressed the rest of the field by his strong nerves. “I have learned not to panic, to stay calm,” he explained. “I didn’t know that Kalle was in the lead, I just let the skis run smoothly. I was very pleased when I ended my second run.”

“This is a dream for me, it’s indescribable. It means a lot to have two strong runs in a row. It’s amazing. It really means that I’m mentally strong. I also to thanks all the people who helped me achieving this, our great staff, our excellent coaches and al the people who believed in me despite my low moments.”

Last week, Grandi missed by only 7/100 of a second the chance to reach his first slalom podium in Wengen where he dominated all his rivals in the second run. Yet he had lost too much time in the first leg to have a serious chance to get at the top of the podium. So today, he already took all risks in the first leg which he won. “It was my day, I felt very confident before the race and I perfectly mastered the difficulties of that run. It was as if nothing could happen to me today after a series of strange incidents which took place this morning.”

“While I walked to the lift station, I slipped on the road and I badly hit the ground with my head. Fortunately, I wore my helmet so I didn’t get injured – it could have been a bad spill. As you know, all the gondolas are named by a former winner. I found out that sat in the “Ken Read” gondola before the first run. Before the second run, I took the “Alberto Tomba” gondola – he was my great idol when I started to compete. I took these coincidences as a good omen.”

He was right. He is now aiming for more on Tuesday in Schladming’s famouse night slalom.

PL