5.2°C Cloudy 
Robbie Dixon drove into Whistler last week with a big smile on his face. Heading in over the Duffey Lake Road last Saturday (Jan. 23) after a stint of training in Nakiska, the alpine racer took in the beautiful views and the new trappings in his Olympic-hosting hometown.
“Whistler is looking really different,” he marvelled on Friday (Jan. 29), after wrapping up a few days of skiing with teammates on the runs that will welcome the Games ever so soon.
Dixon said he’s lost track of the count of how many times he’s skied down the Creekside slopes, and he and his teammates have benefited from the chances they’ve had to familiarize themselves with the Olympic course over the past few seasons. After the amazing opportunity afforded them by Whistler Blackcomb, Dixon said, he feels any of them has “a legitimate chance” at reaching the podium.
“It really has a lot to offer,” he said of the Olympic track, calling it one of his favourite courses to ski.
The Whistler-raised skier was one of 19 Canadian racers officially named to Alpine Canada’s Olympic roster last Wednesday (Jan. 27). Unsurprisingly, also named to the team were Whistler’s Michael Janyk and Whistler Mountain Ski Club alumnus Manuel Osborne-Paradis, both heading to their second Olympics after a season of strong World Cup results so far, and Whistler’s Britt Janyk making her Olympic debut.
Having won three World Cup medals already this season and abundantly demonstrated his ability to deliver on race day, Osborne-Paradis headlines the Olympic-bound squad. Though the team has been afflicted by injuries to potential medal threats such as world downhill champion John Kucera and World Cup medallists Kelly VanderBeek and François Bourque, Michael Janyk said Canada is still sending a strong side to his hometown Games.
“I think we definitely have some very strong guys, obviously with Manny leading the way on the speed side, (and) Robbie as well skiing really well,” he said.
The men’s technical team has also been having some strong results, he added, especially after a “huge day” in the recent Kitzbühel slalom race that saw them place four racers in the top 15, led by Janyk’s fifth-place finish.
“We knew a day like that was coming,” Janyk said. Though that was a major milestone, he added, “We know there’s more.”
Dixon has been sidelined from World Cup competition since he sustained a minor concussion in mid-January after slipping and falling in an off-hill mishap in Kirchberg, Austria. He was never expected to be out of contention for long, and is now feeling “much better” after the minor setback, though he had to miss races in Wengen and Kitzbühel.
“The head injury is not really in my mind that much,” Dixon said. After coming back to Canada to train in Nakiska, he feels he’s picked up where he left off in his skiing, which was “definitely a direction I wanted to be going.”
His peers and coaches have been speaking highly of his skiing all season, and he finished 12th in the last World Cup downhill before his injury, following sixth- and eighth-place finishes in downhill and super G races in Val Gardena-Groeden, Italy.
With the Games up next, the first-time Olympian is keen to appreciate the “truly amazing” experience of competing in a hometown Games. But, wanting to catch up with his teammates, he’s also still hungry for his first podium.
“I feel like I want one. I’m definitely on the verge,” Dixon said. He’ll be focusing on believing he belongs up there alongside the world’s best, skiing with confidence, and embracing the Games-time pressure to use it in a positive way.
The rest of the Canadian contenders are Fernie’s Emily Brydon; Mont-Tremblant’s Brigitte Acton, Erik Guay, Jeffrey Frisch and Ryan Semple; Julien Cousineau of Lachute, Que.; Louis-Pierre Helie of Berthierville, Que.; Calgary’s Jan Hudec, Brad Spence and Trevor White; Toronto’s Tyler Nella; Marie-Michele Gagnon of Lac-Etchemin, Que.; Anna Goodman of Pointe-Claire, Que., making her return from an ACL tear; Erin Mielzynski of Guelph, Ont.; and Shona Rubens of Canmore, Alta.
On Friday (Jan. 29), Alpine Canada added West Vancouver’s Georgia Simmerling, Marie-Pier Préfontaine of Saint-Sauveur, Que., and Patrick Biggs of Orleans, Ont., to that roster after receiving three more quota spots for the Games.
The men’s technical team closed out its pre-Olympic World Cup racing on Sunday (Jan. 31) in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, with Michael Janyk leading the way in 10th place. Marking a reversal from his recent races, where he has struggled in his first run before posting a brilliant second run to catapult himself into top standings, Janyk posted the fourth-fastest first run before winding up 10th.
“I’m happy with my race, but I’m looking to have two great runs in the same day. I will take today as what it is. January was a great month for me as I was consistent through most of my races,” Janyk said in a statement.
“So far my season is going pretty well, I’m in 10th place (in overall men’s slalom standings) not so far behind from the seventh place. But I just need to have two great runs, then I’ll be satisfied.”
In the final women’s World Cup race before the Olympics, a super G set in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Sunday, Brydon pushed herself to a ninth-place finish while U.S. superstar Lindsey Vonn cemented her hold on the overall women’s super G Crystal Globe with two races remaining in the season.
Vonn suffered her first downhill defeat of the season in Saturday’s St. Moritz race, as Maria Riesch of Germany powered to victory while the American champion sank to fifth. Brydon was again the top Canadian in 21st, while Rubens led the team with a 10th-place finish in Friday’s super combined event.
Britt Janyk didn’t race in St. Moritz last weekend, as she returned to Canada to focus on her Olympic preparations.
