Wednesday, February 13, 2002
Turgeon's downhill a boost for Canadians
By BRUCE GARRIOCH -- Team Sun
SNOWBASIN, Utah -- The weight of a nation off her shoulders, Melanie Turgeon stood at the bottom of the hill yesterday, smiling, laughing and joking.
In this case, eighth was enough.
While the 26-year-old Canadian was hoping to win a medal in yesterday's women's downhill, Turgeon believes a two-hour weather delay dashed any hopes of her stepping on to the podium.
With a time of 1:40:71, Turgeon finished behind gold medallist Carole Montillet of France, who took the title in 1:39:56. Italy's Isolde Kostner took silver (1:40:01) and Renate Goeschl was third (1:40:39).
It didn't help matters that Canadian teammate Anne-Marie Lefrancois crashed midway through her run and Sara-Maude Boucher suffered the same fate in training, which left Turgeon as the last Canadian standing. Lefrancois and Boucher are fine.
"I had a really good run, I felt really strong and I thought it was good," said Turgeon, an Alma, Que., native, who will take part in the women's Super-G on the weekend. "I flew off the jumps like I never thought I could fly.
"With the delay and everything, my starting position at 15 may have not have been the best. I'm happy because I did a lot of work to get back on track the last couple of races and the World Cup. That's my own personal victory."
While Boucher crashed in training and Lefrancois went down midway through her run when she landed the wrong way on a jump, Turgeon looked like she was going to have a medal shot until she neared the finish line.
The course changed throughout the afternoon. By the time Turgeon and American favourite Picabo Street, who finished 17th, took their runs, the course was slower.
"When you have sun, it shades the course and that makes for difficult conditions," said Canadian team leader Joze Sparovec. "I think the delay may have been the difference between us not getting a chance to stand on the podium. I thought (Turgeon) did well and she had a good run. It's tough for her. She's carried the hopes of the country and that's not an easy thing. She wants to do so well. I thought we got our best out of her today."
It seemed the crowd of more than 23,000 all wanted Street to ski off into retirement with one final Olympic medal. It wasn't to be.
"I think I gave it all I had today and what I had wasn't enough for a medal," said Street. "But, it was a wonderful last day of my career.
"I held back a little bit in the pitch and I think the snow might have been slowing me down a little. Still, all in all, it was a great day. I don't feel disappointed. In my eyes and in my heart, qualifying for the Olympics felt like winning gold."
2002 Games Alpine Skiing Coverage
