Canada's Guay continues hard-luck streak

Last Updated: Saturday, February 20, 2010 | 5:26 AM ET

CBC Sports

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal won the Olympic super-giant slalom on Friday for his second medal in as many races at the Vancouver Games, with Canadian Erik Guay yet again left agonizingly close to a podium finish.

Montreal's Guay missed the podium by 3-100ths of a second on Whistler Mountain, finishing fifth for the second race in a row.

Canadian Erik Guay ponders his run at the end of the course Friday in the super-G. (Clive Mason/Getty Images)

"It's tough to swallow, finishing just a couple of a hundredths of a second off the podium," Guay said. "There is not much to say.

"It was totally in my hands. I just blew it on the third gate there and was playing catchup after that. I just didn't pull through on those gates."

Guay also had a fourth-place finish at the Torino Games in the super-G, a 10th of a second off the podium, and an even closer finish at the 2007 world championships in the downhill.

Svindal, coming off a runner-up finish in the downhill opener on Monday, finished with a 0.28-second advantage over Bode Miller, who picked up silver for his second medal of these Olympics.

With a silver and a bronze in Vancouver, the American has rebounded nicely from a disastrous showing in Turin, where he hoped to win five medals but was shut out.

Canadians come up short again

Andrew Weibrecht was the surprise bronze Friday, giving the U.S. alpine team six medals in four Olympic races in Vancouver, with Julia Mancuso and Lindsey Vonn earning medals on the women's side.

Weibrecht, who turned 24 last week, has never made the podium in a World Cup race. He finished 31-100ths of a second behind Svindal.

"I definitely let it go as much as I could today," said Weibrecht. "Going into the bottom, I really hammered because I knew my mistakes would hold me back a little bit."

Along with Guay, Werner Heel of Italy was within a breath of the podium to finish fourth.

North Vancouver's Manny Osborne-Paradis and Robbie Dixon both failed to finish, while Jan Hudec of Calgary tied for 23rd.

Aksel Lund Svindal reacts to his time after crossing the finish line. (Michael Kappeler/AFP/Getty Images)

Osborne-Paradis's run started badly and got worse. He took a wide turn early on the bumpy course, nearly lost his balance coming through a gate later, looked for a moment like he might recover, then went down for good and slid harmlessly to a stop.

"Right from the start gate I was having problems on my right ski," said Osborne-Paradis. "I don't know what was going on. It just seems all my right-ski turns until I fell were not as crisp as I would have liked them to be.

"That's ski racing. It's not the first week I've had a terrible week. It probably won't be my last, either. It's just too bad it happened here at the Olympics."

So far, Americans have won one gold, three silvers and two bronze on the slopes of Whistler.

Canada has none.

"It's disappointing for us and Canada," said Guay. "We're here to deliver medals and we wanted to deliver medals."

"It just didn't happen."

Svindal thinks the pressure of skiing at home got to the Canadians.

"A little," he said. "I really wish they had gotten a medal.'

Svindal, 27, made it four gold in seven men's super-G races for Norway since the event was introduced in 1988. Kjetil Andre Aamodt won three times between 1992 and 2006.

Swedish skier Patrik Jaerbyn, 40, crashed near the end of the course and landed on his back. Jaerbyn — who reached the World Cup podium three times earlier in his career — was airlifted to hospital.

A Swedish team doctor later said that Jaerbyn was bloodied in the face and suffered a concussion, with no breaks or signs of internal bleeding.

Dixon, who also crashed during the downhill, could only hang his head.

"I'm frustrated, very bummed," said the Whistler native. "Everything was given to us to succeed. We didn't pull through."

Teammate Hudec agreed.

"I'm sure everyone in Canada, everyone that's been watching on TV, already has their own opinions," said Hudec, who has battled back after six knee surgeries. "Whether that is right or wrong, I don't really care.

"I'm just proud I came to the Olympics and laid down a gutsy run."

Own the Podium targeted skiers

Own the Podium, the $117-million program designed to help Canada win more medals than any other country at the Games, poured $10 million into the ski program. That's more than any other sport.

There was money for training camps and coaches. A secret GPS unit was developed to help the team train.

Guay said he didn't stumble under the weight of expectations or drown in the sea of hype.

"I've said it a million times," he said. "You can harness that energy, harness that vibe.

"I think that's what I did. I was excited at the start. I was looking forward to it. I couldn't wait to ski."

Head coach Paul Kristofic thinks the expectations did affect some of the skiers.

"For a younger guy like Robbie, who hasn't had a ton of experience with that kind of pressure at big events, he didn't handle it very well," he said.

Injuries also reduced the chances for medals.

John Kucera, who won the downhill at last winter's world championship, and Francois Bourque, who was fourth in the giant slalom at the 2006 Games in Italy, are among the five Canadians missing the Olympics due to injury.