ALEISHA CLINE STANDS ON THE PODIUM FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON & CHRIS DEL BOSCO SHOWS LITTLE SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN AFTER A NASTY CRASH IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES

BRANAS, SWE (March 6, 2010) – On a course described by Head Coach, Eric Archer as “a drag race”, Aleisha Cline (Squamish, BC) made a trip to the podium today placing 2nd after the World Cup schedule took a brief hiatus for the Olympic Winter Games. This marks the first time Cline has been on the podium this season.
 
“Luckily, I’m a good glider so this course was definitely a good course for me. I was good out of the start so just being able to stay within striking distance through the turns and into the gliding I was able to excel. At one point during the race I was behind Hedda Berntsen NOR and I thought,’ hey she was a silver medalist in the Olympics! That’s kind of cool!’ then I passed her at the line” said Cline.
 
Cline’s return to the podium comes on the 23-month anniversary of her daughter’s birth. The former X-Games Ski Cross Champion has reached the podium twice since making her return to Ski Cross last season after the birth of her second child. Narrowly missing a birth in the Olympic games, Cline had a successful stint in the booth as a commentator for CTV during the women’s races.
 
Battling post Olympic illness, Chris Del Bosco (Sudbury, ON) also made a trip to the podium after he too took 2nd place for his 3 World Cup podium this season. Del Bosco finished less than a ski length behind Olympic Gold medalist Michael Schmid of Switzerland and today’s podium secures him in 2nd spot in this season’s Overall title behind series leader Michael Schmid.
 
“I felt surprisingly good out of the start today, I had strong starts all day until I put a pole between my legs out of the start in the final heat. I was 4th out of the gate and managed to pass up to 2nd spot and just ran out of time at the line” said Del Bosco about the race.
 
When asked about his chances at the overall, “it’s going to take some miricles I think, I don’t know, he’s pretty far out in front and [Schmid] skied really well this year and he got some more points on me today, I moved into 2nd but I may have to settle for second again.”
 
Del Bosco gained notoriety during the Olympic games after taking a gamble in the final heat in which he sacrificed a bronze medal for the opportunity to score silver or ultimately gold. The gamble resulted in a spectacular crash and a 4th place finish but has become on of the most talked about moments of the Games.
 
When asked about this result and if it helped heal the wounds of the Olympics, Del Bosco said, “I built a bridge and got over it and now it’s time to ski race again. I was certainly looking for a little bit of redemption here but we’ll have to wait a few years for the real redemption”.
 
Kelsey Serwa (Kelowna, BC) placed 6th, Danielle Poleschuk (Calgary, AB) placed 11th and Ashleigh McIvor (Whistler, BC) finished the day in 13th spot.
 
On the Men’s side, Nik Zoricic (Toronto, ON) had his best finish ever on the World Cup Circuit with an 8th place finish today. Stanley Hayer (Kimberly, BC) finished in 10th spot, Brian Bennett (Quesnel, BC) 26th and Davey Barr (Brackendale, BC) in 33rd.
 
The next event will take place on March 11, 2010 from Grindelwald, Switzerland.

CBC will be broadcasting the World Cup Finals live from Sierra Nevada, Spain on March 20th on the following stations at the following times:

CBC Main Network Broadcast Schedule:

Sat. Mar. 20 @ 15:30-16:30 ET 
2010 FIS SKI-CROSS WORLD CUP FINALS ON CBC
 
cbcsports.ca Broadcast Schedule:

Sat. Mar. 20 @ 06:50-08:30 ET Live 
2010 FIS SKI-CROSS WORLD CUP FINALS ON CBC

Sat. Mar. 20 @ 15:30-16:30 ET 
2010 FIS SKI-CROSS WORLD CUP FINALS ON CBC
 
Bold Broadcast Schedule:

Sat. Mar. 20 @ 06:50-08:30 ET Live 
2010 FIS SKI-CROSS WORLD CUP FINALS ON CBC

RESULTS

Women

1 DAVID Ophelie  FRA
2 CLINE Aleisha  CAN
3 SMITH Fanny  SUI
4 HUTTARY Karin  AUT
5 HOEIE GJEFSEN Marte  NOR
6 SERWA Kelsey  CAN
7 HOLMLUND Anna  SWE
8 BRENDENGEN JENSEN Julie  NOR
 
11 POLESCHUK Danielle  CAN
13 MCIVOR Ashleigh   CAN
 
Men

1 SCHMID Michael  SUI
2 DELBOSCO Christopher  CAN
3 MATT Andreas  AUT
4 NETZER Conradign  SUI
5 KUHN Xavier  FRA
6 GROENVOLD Audun  NOR
7 LEWEN Lars  SWE
8 ZORICIC Nick  CAN
 
 
10 HAYER Stanley  CAN
26 BENNETT Brian  CAN
33 BARR Davey  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