Canada name mix of youth and experience for alpine team

We have our sights set firmly on Sochi. Everything we do this season, every decision we make, is geared towards Sochi.”

Nine athletes and two guides have been named to the 2013-14 Canadian alpine ski team, which has its sights set on delivering medal performances on the World Cup circuit and at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.

Nine men and two women have been selected to build on the team’s 14-medal performance during last season’s world championships in La Molina, Spain, and carry the momentum into the start of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cup season, which starts in August in New Zealand.

“This year’s team is a mix of seasoned veterans and young, up-and-coming racers. We’re looking for our veterans to continue to perform at a high level, but we’ll also be looking for strong performances from the less experienced members of the team, who are a very capable group of athletes,” said Brianne Law, the team’s athletic director. “And of course, we have our sights set firmly on Sochi. Everything we do this season, every decision we make, is geared towards Sochi.”

The 2013-14 team will be led by Chris Williamson, Josh Dueck, Kimberly Joines and Matt Hallat – four veteran skiers with more than 30 years of team experience.

Fourty-one-year-old visually impaired skier Williamson, from Toronto – who has more than 100 IPC World Cup podiums and won super combined gold at last year’s world championships – will return for his 16th season with the team and what he says will be his final Paralympic Games. Williamson will again be guided by Robin Fémy of Mont-Tremblant, who has been with him since 2010. Kimberley, Sit-skier Josh Dueck of Kimberley, who won silver in slalom at the Vancouver Paralympic Winter Games in 2010 and bronze at last season’s test event in Sochi, is aiming for a return to the podium at the Winter Games.

Dueck gained worldwide notoriety when he became the first person to complete a backflip in a sit-ski – a feat that landed him on The Ellen Degeneres Show – and with The Freedom Chair, an award-winning film about his life.

Joines, from Rossland, is working on a comeback as a technical specialist, after injuring her shoulders in a fall in her sit-ski during downhill training at the end of last season. Coquitlam-based standing skier Hallat, who was unable to race last season after tearing the meniscus in his knee, will return to racing and is gunning for his first IPC World Cup podium.

Young guns Mac Marcoux and Alexandra Starker will be looking to build on their shining breakthrough performances from last season. Marcoux, of Sault-Ste Marie, who is visually impaired and is guided by his older brother, Billy Joe Marcoux, stunned the para-alpine community last season by winning three IPC World Cup podiums and a silver medal at world championships at the age of 15. This will be the Marcoux brothers’ first season as full members of team, making Mac the youngest national team athlete on the IPC World Cup circuit.

Calgary’s Starker, who competes in the standing category, made her debut on the IPC World Cup season last year, and finished the season as the top-ranked Canadian ladies’ para-alpine skier. She was also crowned national slalom champion and is expected to be a medal threat this season.

Rounding out the team are standing skiers Braydon Luscombe, from Duncan, Kirk Schornstein, of Spruce Grove, and Terrace-based sit-skier Caleb Brousseau. Luscombe, who is the reigning national giant slalom champion, was a consistent top-10 performer last season in the highly competitive men’s standing category. Schornstein, who is the national slalom champion, is returning to racing after a hiatus last year due to knee surgery. Brousseau finished in the top-10 at the Sochi test event last season, and is considered one of the team’s top potential performers.

Viviane Forest, one of the most decorated female para-alpine athletes in the world, retired last season.

“I think the strength of our team continues to be the strength of our veterans, but also the products of our thriving development program,” Law said. “I think having so many strong young racers laying down great performances shows how much we have invested in our development program, and how it’s starting to pay off.”

Part of the team’s strategy for this season has been to move to Whistler for the summer in order to train at the Whistler Athletes’ Centre for three months. This type of concentrated group training is a first for the team, and is part of a process coaches hope will result in stronger on-snow performances.

At a time when most Canadians will be sunbathing on the beach, the team will kick off its World Cup race season on 22-23 August in New Zealand. The first World Cup of the winter will be held on home turf in Panorama in January.

The Paralympic team that will represent Canada next March in Sochi will be nominated in February. In order to qualify for nomination, in general athletes need to earn two finishes in either the top six or top 12, depending on which category they compete in. The top six or top-12 results must be within a certain percentage of the winning time, and one of those finishes must be achieved in the 2013-14 season.

2013-14 Canadian alpine ski team

Caleb Brousseau - Men’s sitting

Josh Dueck - Men’s sitting

Robin Fémy - Guide: men’s visually impaired

Matt Hallat - Men’s standing

Kimberly Joines - Ladies’ sitting

Braydon Luscombe - Men’s standing

Billy Joe Marcoux - Guide: men’s visually impaired

Mac Marcoux - Men’s visually impaired

Kirk Schornstein - Men’s standing

Alexandra Starker - Ladies’ standing

Chris Williamson - Men’s visually impaired