LAKE LOUISE, Alta. -- Canada's hopes for a medal at the Bombardier Lake Louise World Cup rest on the shoulders of Britt Janyk.
The event opens Friday with the first of two downhills and concludes with Sunday's super-G at the ski resort west of Calgary.
A year ago, Canada had multiple medal threats at Lake Louise. Emily Brydon of Fernie, B.C., won a silver and a bronze in the downhills. Janyk, from Whistler, B.C., was fourth and 10th, and also 13th in the super-G. Kelly VanderBeek of Kitchener, Ont., finished in the top 15 in all three disciplines. Larisa Yurkiw of Wiarton, Ont., was showing promise with a top-20 finish in the downhill.
Now, the cupboard is much more bare at Lake Louise. VanderBeek and Yurkiw are rehabilitating major knee injuries suffered last season and Brydon has retired. Behind Janyk, the other women on the speed team are 21 years old or younger and lack World Cup experience.
Janyk is capable of a podium finish. The 30-year-old was third in the downhill at Lake Louise four years ago and finished sixth in the Olympic downhill in February. Janyk is the face of the women's speed team now.
"It's a bit odd. It definitely is a different feeling," Janyk said Wednesday after her training run. "I miss having Emily and Kelly around, but I have my races to focus on.
"It's nice to be able to lead some of the young girls and when it comes down to it, I just need to go out there and do my job and do what I love doing."
Julia Mancuso of the U.S. was fastest in the second of three scheduled training runs Wednesday. Tina Maze of Slovenia was second followed by Anna Fenninger of Austria in third.
American Lindsey Vonn, winner of both downhills here a year ago, stood up and relaxed well before the finish line to finish 19th. Vonn is the undisputed Queen of Louise with seven downhill victories over the last six years.
Kelly McBroom of Canmore, Alta., was the top Canadian in 43rd. The 21-year-old hasn't raced since dislocating her right knee cap and tearing ligaments in that leg during a Nor-Am race Feb. 1, 2009.
Georgia Simmerling of North Vancouver, B.C., was 48th. Janyk was a distant 49th after finishing 20th the previous day.
"We're all a little speechless, actually, that she's so far behind," said Alpine Canada's athletic director Patrick Riml. "You don't have to win the training runs, but you should be somewhere in the ball park.
"We have to check out of the video and look at the sections and see why she lost so much time."
Calgary's Stephanie Irwin was 56th and Victoria Stevens of Mont-Tremblant, Que., was 57th.
VanderBeek began skiing again Sunday. Riml says the team is in "wait and see" mode with Yurkiw's rehab.
In the meantime, Janyk is the leader of the team, but she doubts she'll be racing at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
"We're in a rebuilding phase obviously," Riml said.
Alpine Canada received $1.6 million from Own The Podium for the 2010-11 World Cup season, but that funding went to the men's speed team and the men's and women's slalom and giant slalom teams, who were deemed to have more medal potential for 2014.
The women's speed team will receive no funding from OTP. Riml says the team won't suffer major cuts because their costs are less without Brydon, VanderBeek and Yurkiw competing. Janyk says she hasn't noticed any major gaps in how the team is run this year.
"I really haven't noticed anything from our federation, from Alpine Canada," she said. "It's been absolutely fantastic the program they've put together."
Simmerling is the product of the 2010 Acceleration Team established two years out from the 2010 Winter Games to create more depth on the women's ski teams. That program cost $1 million per year and was paid for by both Alpine Canada and OTP funding.
The women's technical team has benefited from that project more than the speed team, according to Riml. It will take time for the women's downhill team to build that kind of depth the men currently have.
Meanwhile, they'll look for every one-hundredth of a second their home hill gives them this weekend at Lake Louise.
"The nice thing with Lake Louise is it's a hill that I know," Janyk said. "It's at home and, yeah, that brings more pressure, but I can also relax because I know this hill. It's a great way to kind of kick the season off."
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