(Spectators can catch the shuttle to the TELUS presents the Whistler World Cup Finish Area at Timing Flats. Please hop on board at the Gondola Transit Exchange or Creekside Base. Enjoy the races!)

BRITT JANYK 0.16s FROM PODIUM IN WHISTLER
Hometown hero Janyk finishes fourth in Ladies TELUS Whistler Downhill

Britt Janyk (Whistler, BC) had the hometown crowd on the edge of their seat, finishing today’s thrilling Ladies TELUS Whistler Downhill just 0.16s from the podium.

Janyk ended up in fourth, equaling the performance of teammate Erik Guay (Mont-Tremblant, QC) a day earlier in the TELUS Whistler Super-G.  American Lindsay Vonn, who was beaten today by Switzerland’s Nadia Styger by a mere 0.01s, clinched the World Cup downhill title with the second place finish.

Janyk, who was living out the childhood dream of racing in a World Cup in her hometown, screamed down Franz’s Downhill to finish in a time of one minute 45.65.

“I really followed my plan of attack the whole way down and was really focused in on the course,” said the 27-year-old World Cup champion. “It’s a technical hill and you need to remember that because every section has something different.”

Styger grabbed the first downhill victory of her career, crossing the finish line in 1:45.30. Vonn’s teammate Julia Mancuso was third, finishing 0.19s behind the winner.

There were three Canadians in the top 17 on the day, including Kelly VanderBeek (Kitchener, ON) who placed ninth.

“I don’t feel more pressure racing at home, I feel a lot more support,” said Vanderbeek about her experience thus far in Whistler.

“Before I even put my poles out, all the volunteers are cheering the whole way and I was so excited. We spend so much time on our own and in isolation on the road either racing or training that it’s nice to have people cheering from top to bottom,” she added.

Emily Brydon (Fernie, BC) finished 17th with Emilie Desforges (Montréal, QC) in 39th and Danielle Poleschuk (Calgary, AB) 46th.

The Men’s TELUS Whistler Giant Slalom takes place tomorrow with the first run scheduled for 10 a.m. PT followed by the second run at 1 p.m. PT. The races can be seen on TSN with coverage beginning at 10 a.m. PT. / 1 p.m. ET.

FEB. 22nd, 2008 – DOWNHILL – WOMEN

For complete results click here...

FLASH QUOTES

Britt Janyk (Whistler, BC) 4th place

On the season:

“We have two and a half weeks over in Europe to finish the season off and we’re going to go over there with energy from this event and also from being home for a couple days.”

On her equipment:

“We started testing the new skis right away last April and May and I felt confident and comfortable on them right away and I’m actually a little bit wider in the foot so I felt at a higher speed I actually had better support.”

On video analysis:

“All the video from the races we keep them and I have them on my external hard drive so I can watch them whenever I want. I’ll take a good look at it and look at the other girls as well.”

Kelly VanderBeek (Kitchener, ON) 9th place

On her performance:

“I put a really solid run down and the times are tight, everybody will have to really spend some time and really learn where we can create the difference before 2010.”

“I tried to cut the line in one spot and I just got pushed quite low. I didn’t panic I got back in and just kept going. You can make a mistake and still be in the mix.”

On the course:

“It’s a course where you have to be smart. You can’t cut the line in spots and then you can in others spots. It’s a really fine line. At the end of the day nothing matters except for good skiing and really attacking and being as relaxed as possible.”

Nadia Styger (SUI) – 1st place

On the race:

“I risked a lot and I was a little bit late on some gates but it was still okay for going fast.”

On the course:

“It turns sometimes a lot but it’s nice I like it. [Training was tough but] after today I like it. It has jumps and difficult turns but it’s nice”

Lindsey Vonn (USA) – 2nd place

On her performance:

“It was pretty flat light and pretty bumpy. On the last jump I went into the turn too straight and lost a significant amount of time. I was disappointed with that but next time I will have to try a little harder.”

On winning the overall Ladies World Cup DH title:

“It’s amazing that I won the trophy, it’s been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. The first time I met Picabo Street I was nine and she actually had that globe with her. Now, years later, I’ve won that same trophy. I feel like my childhood dreams have come true.”

On her career mistakes:

“I didn’t take advice sometimes. You always think that you’re doing the right thing and sometimes growing up I didn’t listen to other people and if I had taken that advice I might be farther along now. But you learn for your mistakes. I think it would have been smarter to listen to what people had to say.”

Julia Mancuso (USA) 3rd place

On the team:

“It’s great having a fast team and it’s really exciting to always be cheering for your teammate. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.”

“We have a good time training together and the whole prep season when we’re training downhill. Lindsey always really fast so it’s good to have someone with a lot of speed to see what they’re doing and to know what you need to do a lot more to win. Lindsey is consistently fast and it’s good to be training with the best downhiller in the world.”

2008 TELUS PRESENTS THE WHISTLER WORLD CUP

BROADCAST SCHEDULE

* The TELUS Whistler Men’s Giant Slalom races on Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 can be seen on TSN at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET.

** Subject to change

ABOUT TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $9.0 billion of annual revenue and 11.0 million customer connections including 5.4 million wireless subscribers, 4.4 million wireline network access lines and 1.2 million Internet subscribers. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video. Committed to being Canada’s premier corporate citizen, we give where we live. Since 2000, TELUS and our team members have contributed more than $91 million to charitable and non-profit organizations and volunteered more than 1.7 million hours of service to local communities. Eight TELUS Community Boards across Canada lead our local philanthropic initiatives. For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com

ABOUT ALPINE CANADA ALPIN
Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) is the governing body for alpine ski racing in Canada with more than 50,000 athletes, coaches, officials and volunteer members and over 200,000 supporting members. ACA manages the high performance programs for the athletes of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team and the Canadian Para-Alpine Ski Team who represent Canada throughout the world. For more information on Alpine Canada Alpin, visit www.canski.org.