Guay golden, Osborne-Paradis takes bronze in world alpine championship super-G

Erik Guay phoned up the mountain to teammate Manuel Osborne-Paradis after laying down a winning time in the super-G at the world alpine ski championship Wednesday.

His scouting report helped put two Canadian men on the world championship podium for the first time in the 44-year history of the biennial event.

At 35, Guay became the oldest skier to win a world alpine title. Osborne-Paradis collected the first world championship medal of his career with a bronze on his 33rd birthday. 

“The fact that I’m able to share the podium with Manny really does make it that much more special,” Guay told The Canadian Press from St. Moritz, Switzerland. “I knew I had to ski with a lot of intensity on this kind of course. Everything sort of fell into place today. I was good on the jumps, I was aerodynamic and my line was on point.”

The father of three daughters from Mont-Tremblant, Que., edged Olympic champion Kjetil Jansrud of Norway by 0.45 seconds for the victory.

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“Erik today showed us how it’s supposed to be done,” Jansrud said.

Osborne-Paradis of Invermere, B.C., finished 0.51 back of his teammate. He was serenaded by the finish-area crowd and got a hug from his mom.

Late in the start order with bib No. 26, he was minutes from pushing out of the start gate when Guay called with intelligence, telling him the course wasn’t fast and to attack it.

“You have a little bit more time between the gates to really think about it,” Osborne-Paradis said. “It’s not as much reacting as it is powering the ski and going for it.

“I watched Erik’s run. He just got me fired up. He skied so well on the last split. I was cheering and pumped at the start. I got just so much more energy.”

Osborne-Paradis also helped break up Norway’s traditional super-G dominance by edging Aleksander Aamodt Kilde off the podium.

Canada’s only other multi-medal performance in a single world championship race was in 1982 when Gerry Sorensen and Laurie Graham won gold and bronze respectively in women’s downhill.

Super-G, a speed event with more turns than a downhill race, was added to the world championship program in 1987.

Guay was the men’s world downhill champion in 2011. He’s also the most decorated Canadian in World Cup history with 24 career medals.

But he’s been working to regain his form since a pair of knee surgeries wiped out his 2014-15 season.

He’s earned a downhill and super-G bronze since then, but Guay’s victory Wednesday was his first since a World Cup downhill in March 2014. 

“I crossed the finish line and I saw the reaction from the crowd, so I knew I was good. I didn’t know how good,” Guay said. “When I turned and saw I was ahead, the green light and minus 45, I was pretty confident then that I had the win.

“I had tears in my eyes right away. Luckily I had goggles on so I don’t think anybody caught that, but yeah, it was quite emotional.”

Less than two weeks ago, Guay badly bruised his buttock flying out of control off a jump in Garmisch, Germany. He credited the inflatable safety vest he wore for avoiding more serious injuries.

It’s been a quiet couple of seasons for Osborne-Paradis too. His last podium was a World Cup downhill silver in March 2015. His last super-G medal was in 2009.

“My super-G skiing has been coming along really well,” Osborne-Paradis said. “I had a little bit of a brain fart on one gate, which was unfortunate.

“It definitely cost me a second place, but that is racing.”

He and wife Lana had their first child three months ago. Sloane Grace was born on what would have been the day of the Lake Louise World Cup downhill in Alberta had that race not been cancelled due to lack of snow.

Guay and Osborne-Paradis have stood on the podium together once before. They were second and third respectively in a 2007 World Cup downhill in Val-d’Isere, France.

Ottawa’s Dustin Cook, a super-G world silver medallist two years ago, missed a gate. Jan Hudec, who won downhill silver for Canada in 2007 and now skis for the Czech Republic, was 32nd.

The world championships continue Friday with the women’s combined followed by the men’s and women’s downhills Saturday and Sunday respectively.

— With files from The Associated Press.

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Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press