August 30, 2002, (Kaprun, Austria) – Crowds estimated at over 25,000
watched France take both the men’s and women’s Downhill World Championship
titles earlier today. Anne-Caroline Chausson and Nicolas Vouilloz were
crowned as champions, each for the seventh time. Vouilloz won his first
world championship title in 1995 and every year following that except for
2000. Chausson has the same track record except once she started winning
she hasn’t lost. Chausson won her first crown in 1996 and has continued to
do so every year leading up to today’s race.

In the men’s race Steve Peat (World cup 2002 DH series leader) was less
than a second behind Vouilloz in the finals for second place on the 3.2km
course. Australia’s Chris Kovarik finished in third. Canada’s Dustin Adams
was the top Canadian finisher in 17th place. Adams reportedly got stuck a
few times on the course but managed to finish less than seventeen seconds
behind Vouilloz. Adams, who finished fourth at the last World Cup in
Telluride, was Canada’s best hope for the top ten in the men’s downhill.
Canada’s Mathieu Laurin was 52nd, while Trevor Porter, Mike Jones, and
Brant Lyon finished in 63rd, 74th, and 79th. Geoff Pendrel was listed as
disqualified but it is unknown at this time what happened.

In the women’s race only Great Britain’s Fionn Griffiths could come close
to Chausson, Six seconds behind, she finished second. Missy Giove (USA),
who qualified second in the seeding runs, won the bronze medal. Top
Canadian finisher was Michelle Dumaresq in 24th. Sylvie Allen came down
the hill in 28th place. Claire Buchar, Sheila Morris and Cassidy Johnson
finished in 31st, 33rd, and 36th.

In the junior women’s race France took both the gold and silver when
Emmeline Ragot came down with the fastest time. Her teammate Claire
Bauchet was second. Diana Marggraff (ECU) was third. Canada’s two entries,
Brook Baker and Darcy Turenne, finished in sixth and eighth place. There
were surprisingly less women in this year’s race then in 2001; nine women
showed up to contest the title.

Australia won two more medals medal this week when Sam Hill won the junior
men’s downhill title and teammate Justin Havukainen was third. Silver went
to Great Britain’s George Atherton. The top Canadian junior was Thomas
Vanderham from British Columbia. Kwanah Sioui-Moar and Mathieu LaGrange
finished in 38th and 52nd respectively.

The bug that was reportedly plaguing many members of the Canadian team
might not be a bug after all. Most who had the symptoms only had them for
24 hours or less. Yuri Kashirin, National MTB Coach, is saying it could be
anyone’s guess, but he assumes the culprit could be a combination of
weather conditions, travel, and altitude adjustments.

Kashirin commented that this is one of the best World Championship events
he has attended so far. The location is easily accessible, and the
organizers marketed the event successfully. There are speakers all over the
course and a screen for spectators to keep track of what’s happening around
the course. Helicopters are flying around to get live coverage of most of
the races which the organizers are providing to approximately 25
countries.

As other countries competed in the four cross later today, Canada’s next
event is the cross country race tomorrow. The weather has been fairly good
all week with a little bit of rain. The forecast for tomorrow’s race looks
good and mostly sunny. If it does rain hard overnight the cross country
course will be changed and the laps might be shorter than expected.
Organizers have planned to eliminate some technical sections of the course
if there is a lot of rain tomorrow.

Results:
Senior Men:
1. Nicolas Vouilloz (FRA) 5:08.53
2. Steve Peat (GBR) 5:09:07
3. Chris Kovarik (AUS) 5:13:88
Canadians:
17. Dustin Adams 5:25:32
52. Mathieu Laurin 5:44.96
63. Trevor Porter 5:52:22
74. Mike Jones 6:00:50
79. Brant Lyon 6:04:86
Geoff Pendrel DSQ

Senior Women
1. Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA) 5:45:58
2. Fionn Griffiths (GBR) 5:52:18
3. Missy Giove (USA) 5:56:14
Canadians:
24. Michelle Dumaresq 6:40:28
28. Sylvie Allen 6:54:35
31. Claire Buchar 7:09:35
33. Sheila Morris 7:23:79
36. Cassidy Johnson 7:40:49

Junior Women:
1. Emmeline Ragot (FRA) 6:27:40
2. Claire Bauchet (FRA) 6:34:90
3. Diana Marggraff (ECU) 6:38:30
Canadians:
6. Brook Baker 7:13:50
8. Darcy Turenne 7:35:20

Junior Men:
1. Sam Hill (AUS) 5:22:01
2. George Atherton (GBR) 5:23:62
3. Justin Havukainen (AUS) 5:24:62
Canadians:
30. Thomas Vanderham 5:54:06
38. Kwanah Sioui-Moar 6:00.73
52. Mathieu Lagrange 6:14:94