Lake Louise: Jan Hudec fulfills dream in Canada

Canada’s Jan Hudec fulfilled his dream by clinching his first World Cup win Saturday at the Bombardier Winterstart World Cup in Lake Louise. He was the second Canadian to win a downhill in Canada since 1989.

CANADA'S JAN HUDEC fulfilled his dream by clinching his first World Cup win Saturday at the Bombardier Winterstart World Cup in Lake Louise. He was the second Canadian to win a downhill in Canada since 1989.
    The 26-year-old Czechoslovakian immigrated to Germany with his parents at 6, and said skiing in front of his home crowd was extra special.
    "My dreams were fulfilled and it was pretty amazing to do it in front of family and friends," Hudec told Ski Racing. "What [winning] meant to me was a sense of gratitude that my family made the trip from [across the world] in 1986. … It was a culmination of the dream being fulfilled."
     After winning the training run on Friday, Hudec said he felt confident prior to the first run on Saturday. However, the pressure of being on home soil made him extremely nervous going into the second run. The light was flat; the wind was blowing; and the course was icy and bumpy. These were all variables that had made him nervous since spending three years rehabbing three separate knee injuries.  
    "In the past, I had trouble with flat light, especially after the knee surgeries,” he said. “That's when I would get tentative. I just had to have strong faith. Today was a big stepping stone for me … it's one of the most special races in my book.”
    Hudec won with a time of 1 minute, 42.79 seconds besting runner-up Marco Sullivan of the U.S. by nearly a quarter-second.