Canadian Alpine ski team announces roster for 2004-2005 season opener in Sölden

Canadian Alpine ski team announces roster for 2004-2005 season opener in Sölden{mosimage}FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CALGARY (Alberta), October 21, 2004 РThe first World Cup races of the 2004-2005 ski season will be held this weekend, on October 23 and 24, in Șlden, Austria. With much anticipation, the Canadian Alpine Ski Team announced its roster for the first World Cup giant slalom races of this pre-Olympic season.

Lead by Head Coach Hugues Ansermoz, the Canadian Alpine Ski Team women’s program was granted nine quotas for the first giant slalom race of the World Cup season. Aiming to capitalize on this four-quota increase in comparison with last year’s five giant slalom quotas for the women, Canada will be sending its top nine technical racers to Sölden.

Allison Forsyth, 15th in the 2003-2004 World Cup giant slalom standings, will be joined by teammates Britt Janyk, Geneviève Simard, Sophie Splawinski, Brigitte Acton, Gail Kelly, Emily Brydon, Christina Lustenberger and Anna Goodman. Blazing down Austria’s Rettenback Glacier on October 23, our nine Canadian women will seek to surpass Sweden’s Anja Paerson who was last year’s giant slalom and overall World Cup champion and will hope to out ski Germany’s Martina Ertl who was the 2003 Sölden winner.

On the men’s side, Head Coach Burkhard Schaffer will also be maximizing his four-quota allowance for the men’s October 24 giant slalom race. For this occasion, Thomas Grandi, 13th in the 2003-2004 giant slalom World Cup overall standings, will be accompanied by three other technical specialists, namely Jean-Philippe Roy, François Bourque and Julien Cousineau. Together, they will aim to conquer the podium, surpassing last year’s Sölden winner and overall giant slalom World Cup Champion, Bode Miller from the United States.

The next stop for the ladies will be in Aspen, Colorado, with 2 slaloms and 1 giant slalom beginning on November 26, 2004. The men’s next showing will be on home turf, at Lake Louise, Alberta, with one downhill and one super G beginning November 27, 2004.

Alpine Canada Alpin is the governing body for ski racing in Canada. Its 27,000 members are athletes, coaches and officials, including the elite racers of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team and the Canadian Disabled Alpine Ski Team. For more information on Alpine Canada Alpin, visit www.canski.org

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INFORMATION
Marie-Hélène Thibeault
Alpine Canada Alpin
T.: 403.777.3204
mthibeault@canski.org