After the crash, bash, and pressure of Whistler it was nice to come back to Calgary and glide down a track I am very familiar with. The energy in the start house was noticeably different and much more relaxed – a nice change! The weather in Calgary was also very nice and it was not only t-shirts for warm-up but shorts too! Not the best for track conditions, but I’m not going to complain after the Spring of cold and rain we had in Calgary. I was lucky enough to not hit any of the concrete patches in the track so my runners survived relatively unscathed – Keith Loach was not as fortunate. Each slider was allowed 12 runs and with the track sliding easier than it has in years I knew it was going to be a close race with that many training runs for such good sliders such as my team mates. And I wasn’t wrong. The track crew did a great job with the ice and we broke into the 56’s (we have only achieved a few 57’s during training). Paul and I were separated by only 1/100th of a second after the first run with Jon close behind about 2/10ths back. That meant it was essentially a one run race. I went before Paul as he ‘had the lead’ so I knew I had to lay down a great run. Half way down I thought I had lost it – a tiny bit late to curve 8 and a small skid out of Kreissel, I thought that was going to be the difference. I tucked in and tried to maximize my bottom portion of the track and squeeze out every 1/100th I could. It was just enough – I beat Paul by 5/100ths of a second on the run and won by a blink of an eye. Jon had a great 2nd run and Paul, Jon, and I were within a few hundredths of each other, but Jon’s first run cost him and he ended up 3rd.
So, with 2 first place finishes in the first 2 selection races I am mathematically on the World Cup team (I cannot finish worse than 3rd in the selection series even if I come last in the Lake Placid race). I struggled up the hill all last year, but I think I am cresting the hill and the Pain train is gathering steam – it’s nice to be back!