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The fastest path down the mountain - 2010/01/18 16:34
The fastest path down the mountain is the key to winning any alpine ski race.
Finding the proper line, making the tightest turn, executing the proper jumps and knowing when to tuck can mean the slim margin between standing on the podium and walking out of the finish area carrying your skis on your shoulder.
Over the years Britt Janyk has learned some of those precious hundredths of a second can be shaved off a run even before she slides into the start gate. Sometimes it's the preparation that makes the difference in the result.
"It's the little things,'' Janyk said in a recent interview. "It's taking the time to go over video, taking the time to go to physio and taking the time to talk to my ski tech and know what skis I'm on.
"It's just paying attention to the details. That's what I've developed over the years. I know what to focus on each day and to take that focus on the hill.''
She's hoping that focus will help lead her to the Olympic podium in her hometown in February.
Despite a recent run of injuries to some of the team's top skiers, Alpine Canada is sticking to its goal of winning three medals at the Olympics. With Kelly VanderBeek of Kitchener, Ont., one of the athletes lost to injury, Janyk and teammate Emily Brydon will be Canada's best hopes on the women's side.
Janyk is a threat in both the downhill and super-giant slalom.
Since joining the national team in 1996, Janyk has won a World Cup downhill race and placed in the top 10 in super-G and giant slalom.
Patrick Riml, the director of the women's team, said Janyk is in a league of her own when it comes to race preparation.
"Britt is probably one of the most professional athletes out there,'' said Riml, a native of Austria who coached American Lindsey Vonn to the World Cup downhill and overall titles in 2008. "Her life is built around ski racing. You can see that on a daily basis. The way she works out, how she communicates with her staff.
"She is so professional. She wants to make sure she has taken care of every single piece of the puzzle. There are so many things we can't control. Britt wants to make 100 per cent sure she has taken care of the things she can control.''
Janyk admits this dedication took time to learn.
"It's something I would say I do more now than I did before,'' said the 29-year-old who was born in West Vancouver. "It's a very important piece.
"If you look at the big picture, we really don't have that many training runs compared to how much time you spend getting ready. Each run is an opportunity to improve. That's what I try to do, make each training run and each race count.''
The 2010 Olympics will truly be a hometown Games for Janyk. Her family moved to Whistler, which will host the ski events, in 1995. The family home is a few hundred metres from the finish line of the women's downhill course.
Janyk knows she will have to deal with the distraction of family and friends during the Games.
"I like to have my own space,'' she said. "You could make it a negative (but) I'm going into it knowing it's going to be a little bit crazy.
"There will be no other experience like that ever again in my life. I want to enjoy every moment of it. It will be about embracing that and making it part of the experience.''
The slightly built Janyk has an easy laugh and warm smile. On the outside she might look like a cheerleader but inside she has the toughness to be captain of the football team. She bounces back from adversity like a rubber ball.
Janyk didn't qualify for the ski team at the 2006 Turin Games. Prior to the 2006-07 season, after several years of indifferent results, Alpine Canada gave her an ultimatum. To stay on the team she'd have to pay $25,000 out of her own pocket to cover training and travel costs.
She put up the cash, then answered her doubters by placing fourth in two World Cup super-G races. She also qualified for the world championships in Are, Sweden, where she was fourth in the super-G and 12th in the downhill
"I am very happy I stuck with it,'' Janyk said. "I can look back at the process, and where I've come from, and that gives me confidence going into this year.''
Janyk shone in the 2007-08 season, earning her first career podium in a downhill at Lake Louise, Alta., then winning a race at Aspen, Colo., a week later. She ended the campaign with 12 top-10 finishes.
Janyk also showed she could be a medal threat by finishing fourth in the Olympic test event downhill at Whistler.
"I didn't feel any pressure that weekend,'' she said. "I put it on the line. That's what I want to do at the Games.''
Like the rest of the women's team Janyk had high hopes for last year, but instead experienced a lot of frustration. She managed just one top-10 finish and placed 20th or worse five times.
"I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform, coming out of the previous season,'' Janyk said. "I tried too hard and it doesn't work.
"It started to come back at the end of the season. I just stepped back and started to ski for myself again.''
Janyk's private life underwent a change last spring when she separated from her husband.
"It's not easy,'' she said of the breakup. "I'm not too keen to talk about it. It's separate from my skiing.''
She hesitated when asked if personal issues had any impact on her skiing last year.
"I don't know,'' she said. "I don't want to go there.''
Riml said what happened over the summer hasn't affected Janyk's preparation for the season.
"Britt seems very happy,'' he said. "She is very focused. Whatever decisions she made in her personal life it didn't affect her professionalism.''
This February's Winter Olympics will be a family affair for the Janyks. Britt's younger brother Michael is also considered a medal contender after winning a bronze in the slalom at last winter's world championships.
The siblings are close, exchanging telephone calls and text messages while apart during the season.
"I can't imagine not having him there,'' said Britt. "He's always been there and we've always had each other.''
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