VAL D’ISÈRE, France — Canada’s goal to win the most medals at the Vancouver Olympics in one year got a big boost Saturday when John Kucera became the first Canadian man to win the downhill at a world championships.
Kucera skied flawlessly and then watched one top skier after another fail to match him, either because of the fog or because he was too fast.
“It was the race of my life,” Kucera said.
He finished in 2 minutes, 7.01 seconds. Didier Cuche of Switzerland, who won the super-G on Wednesday, was 0.04 behind, and Carlo Janka of Switzerland was third, 0.17 back.
American Bode Miller, winless this season in World Cup competition, was slowed by fog and finished eighth.
“It’s always a little tough when the weather plays a deciding factor, but it’s also ski racing,” Miller said. “It’s not the first time it has happened, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. You do need some luck.”
Kucera set himself apart from Canadian men on the Bellevarde course. Teammate Jan Hudec took the silver in the downhill at the last worlds in Are, Sweden, two years ago. Steve Podborski finished third in the downhill at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, which doubled as worlds.
Along with Ken Read, Dave Irwin and Dave Murray, Podborski was a member of the Crazy Canucks, the generation that put Canada on the skiing map in the 1970s and 1980s.
When Read won in Val d’Isère in 1975, he became the first non-European man to win a World Cup downhill.
“The Crazy Canucks were the first guys to put Canada in the spotlight,” Kucera said. “Hopefully, we can raise the bar for the new generation.”
Kucera, whose parents emigrated from the Czech Republic, was born and raised in Calgary. He grew up skiing on the slopes used for the 1988 Olympics.
Ski Club Vail product Lindsey Vonn, who won the super-G on Tuesday for her first gold medal at any worlds, is favored in today’s women’s downhill.
