SUCCESSFUL OLYMPIC DEBUT FOR SKI CROSS AS SOLD OUT CROWD CHEER ON DEL BOSCO, BARR & HAYER AS ALL THREE PLACE IN THE TOP 10

Cypress Mt., BC (February 21, 2010) - In front of an enthusiastic sold out crowd the sport of Ski Cross made its Olympic debut today at Cypress Mountain, BC. Under brilliant blue skies, Chris Del Bosco (Sudbury, ON), Davey Barr (Brackendale, BC) & Stanley Hayer (Calgary, AB) thrilled the audience in what is sure to be one of the most talked about sports in the Games.

Chris Del Bosco kept the crowd on the edge of its seat as he took control of his first two heats, establishing an early lead and holding it to the finish. In the semifinal round, after missing the hole shot, Del Bosco battled his way to 2nd spot for the heat and a berth in the final.

After a tough start that left Del Bosco in 4th spot Del Bosco waited for his chance to move, Audun Groenvold (NOR) held him to forth for much of the course till his chance came in the bottom third of the course, Del Bosco made and incredible pass to take 3rd spot only to lose it again after attempting another pass to move to the silver medal spot that resulted in a spectacular crash and a 4th place finish for the day.

“I have never filled out a goal sheet and said I wanted to finish 3rd,” said Del Bosco, “I put it all out there. I saw that I was running out of track and attempted a pass on a risky bump.”

Davey Barr had an incredible day as he skied to 6th place after being told only last night that he would be skiing in the Olympics and having just an hour on the course prior to the race. Under IOC rules Barr was unable to train on the course as a potential alternate and after Dave Duncan (London, ON, living in Golden) broke his collar bone on the first day of training and Brady Leman (Calgary, AB) re-injured his leg on the second day of training, Barr was left little time to prepare.

“I was always planning on being in this race, I didn’t plan on the route I took to get here but I hope the best for my teammates Dave Duncan and Brady Leman. So yeah I was really happy to make the team and get a chance to ski here.” Said Barr.

Stanley Hayer’s (Kimberly, BC) day came to an abrupt end when competitor Filip Flisar (SLO), a reletive new comer to the sport of Ski Cross, made an abrupt turn that pinched the line for Hayer forcing him to dump speed before a series of features. Stanley finished the day in 10th place.

“This is the kind of course where you just can’t afford to spill speed and when I got pinched I had to fight had to get back in the race and I just ran out of time” said Hayer.

Tune in on February 23, 2010 at 13:15 PST on CTV to watch the Canadian Women, Ashleigh McIvor, Kelsey Serwa, Julia Murray and Danielle Poleschuk as they debut the Women’s Ski Cross event.

RESULTS

1          SCHMID Michael SUI

2          MATT Andreas AUT

3          GROENVOLD Audun NOR

4          DELBOSCO Christopher CAN

5          GAVAGGIO Enak FRA

6          BARR Davey CAN

7          KNELLER Scott AUS

8          FLISAR Filip SLO

9          KERR Errol JAM

10         HAYER Stanley CAN

 

For More Information:

Andrew Squires

Canada Ski Cross Team
Director of Marketing, Communications and Supplier Services
Ph- (403) 397 9943
Email – asquires@ski-cross.ca
Web – www.ski-cross.ca