Cory's Last Race of the Year

Progress

In the spring of 2007, Cory started working on his plan that could hopefully get him to the Special Olympics World Games in 2013.

That plan included better coaching, better equipment, more racing experience, and improved fitness.

Based on these two photos - the first taken at his second race ever in February 2007 and the other taken in his last race on April 17, 2010 - he certainly has made a lot of progress.

From tentative and awkward...

to graceful and confident:

A Day At The Races

The final race of the 2010 Blue Streaks season - the annual Rotary GS at Whistler Mountain - took place on Saturday, April 17, and Cory earned himself a silver medal. But it was far from easy.

We combined race day with two days of gate training at Whistler with our good friends at Whistler Adaptive Sports Programs.

Here's what greeted us when we disembarked from the Whistler Gondola, and while Cory's favourite run - The Saddle: straight + steep = racer speed! - beckoned to him under gorgeous blue skies, he was here to train, so off we go to the training course.

Under the direction eye of Phil Chew, Provincial Coach for the Disabled Skiers' Association of BC, and Paul Hothersall, Whistler Adaptive Sports Programs coach, Cory put in a number of runs in training course set up on the Jolly Green Giant run...here's one of his first runs...

And a bit later in the day when the sun warms things up very nicely:

But a good training day just has to include some free-skiing too. So it's off to The Saddle and then down a run at Whistler called the T Bar Run, which oddly enough is located right next to a T-Bar. Paul, Cory, and WASP athlete Avery:

Then it's an evening at the condo (rented, not owned) for relaxation, chat, and a 9pm (there was lots of chat) dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce (thanks to Cory's mum, who unfortunately couldn't join us this time but made sure we were still well fed).


The next day, most of the remaining VASS Blue Streaks joined us for training under yet another day of bright blue skies. Cory, second from left, with Blue Streaks Alex, Tamika, and Christie (photo courtesy of Edward Tai):







Again thanks to Edward Tai for this sequence:







And then it's Race Day. The Rotary GS is an annual race open to members of the Disabled Skiers Association of British Columbia. In this group are members of the BC Paralympic Team who hope to one day make it to the Canadian Paralympic Team. The racers are divided into category and Cory's Cognitive Disability category has 8 other competitors, including rivals Mark and Jesse, who also competes against Cory in Special Olympics.

Cory won this race last year when it was also the BC Provincial Championships, but this year the Championships were held in January at Sun Peaks near Kamloops.



The night before the race Cory was assigned bib #4, and it was pretty cool to be wearing the actual bibs worn at Whistler by the athletes at the Paralympics Games just a few weeks earlier. This bib had been worn by Sabine Gasteiger of Austria, a gold medalist in slalom for visually impaired: (and by coincidence, we met the bronze medalist in that event, Jessica Gallagher of
Australia, in the gondola during our previous visit to Whistler)







Race registration at the base of Whistler Gondola with Coach Roy:




Then the Blue Streaks line up for a little bit of pre-race fun:









Then some last minute equipment checks at the top of the Gondola....







And a bit of stretchin'...







First look at the race course with the morning sun gone and a definite threat of snow or rain:








Course inspection with Coach Roy and the rest of the Blue Streaks:








And then it's race time...here's a brief video of part of Cory's first run, in some light snowfall. This race consisted of 2 runs through 25 gates, with a vertical drop of 150 metres, with the times combined to determine the winner:













Another sequence courtesy of Edward Tai:








Cory's time for the first run was 43.21 seconds, just over 4 seconds slower than Mark, but just under one second faster than Jesse. But, but there's surprise - a racer from Vernon, BC beats Cory's time by 14 hundredths of a second, which puts Cory into 3rd place, with one run still to go.


Cory and I talked over the results on the chair back up to the race course. He understood that he would have to really attack the course if he wished to stay ahead of Jesse and even have a chance to move up into 2nd place.


And he did just that...

...and completed his second run in 41.08, over 2 seconds faster than his first run. The Vernon racer posts a 42.75 and Cory took over second place by 1.4 seconds with a combined time of 84.29.

I told Cory after the race that I considered that his best race ever...that competitive fire within him - in 2007 I called it the Heart of a Champion - burned a way for him to find an extra gear to put him into 2nd place. He even moved to within 2 seconds of Mark's time in the second run.

So a hard-earned and very satisfactory silver medal.

Here's a link to a video of Cory's second run, courtesy of Edward Tai:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=106558776053206

Then it's off to the dinner and awards ceremony where Canadian Paralympic Skier Morgan Perrin presents Cory with his medal.

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So that's just about it for the ski season for this Olympic year - in spite of some real challenges for snow conditions, overall another really good year for Cory's skill development as he continues his pursuit of his dreams to represent Canada at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in 2013.

Cory now wants to shift his focus big time onto his bowling to prepare as best as he can for Special Olympics' National Games in London, Ontario in July. He's been bowling 2 or 3 times a week all winter and now he plans to increase that to 5 times a week.

Stay tuned....and please, leave a comment. Cory and I always enjoy and appreciate your support.

Successful First Step To 2013!

The first step to the World Winter Games for Special Olympics in 2013 took place on March 13, 2010 at Silver Star Mountain Resort, near Vernon, BC. This was the Regional Qualifying races where racers compete to see who will advance to the 2011 Provincial Winter Games.

In spite of an error on Cory's part (and a lesson learned) - and no photos or video due to a lost camera! - it was a successful race day for Cory and he will qualify for Step Two - the British Columbia Provincial Games next February.


Two races were held - a Super Giant Slalom and a Giant Slalom. Under beautiful sunshine skies, 65 athletes raced down the Big Dipper run at Silver Star. In the first race of the day, the Super G, Cory was the third last skier to race. That meant a two-hour wait while the other 62 athletes completed their runs.


In the start area of a ski race, there is a spring-loaded "wand" that is pushed by the racers legs as he/she starts down the race course. This activates the electronic timing device that determines each racer's time.


Here's Cory in a start, showing the wand in front of his shins:






Well, it looks like the 2 hour wait made Cory eager to get going. As I watched him prepare to start his race, I noticed he nudged the start wand a bit, then moved again and pushed it open by about two inches. A few seconds later, he started his race, but by then the clock had already started. So he finished with a time of 53.32 seconds, which turned out to be about 7 seconds behind his main rival Jesse. Cory and Jesse usually have similar race times, so it does seem that he started the race clock when he nudged the wand, well before he ready to go.


As a result, he was bumped from the 1st division in Advanced to the 2nd division, though he did finish in first place in that division.


In the Giant Slalom race later in the day, Cory had the best time of all 65 racers, 29.62 seconds, just under 2 seconds faster than Jesse. I was pleased that Cory put the disappointment of the Super G race out of his mind quickly, and focused on having a great race in the GS. We'll never know if he could have had the best overall time in the Super G as well, but the main thing is he was good enough to qualify for the Provincial Games next year.


There's still some racing to be done this year - a Giant Slalom at Whistler on April 17 where he will again compete against Jesse - so there is still some training to be done.


We'll be back with an update soon, but if you've visited, we'd love to know you where here. Leave a comment, OK? It's easy, just click below, you don't need a google account, or any account for that matter.

Cory Enjoys the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games

Cory took a break from his race training to enjoy the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. We attended two skiing events, hung around downtown to enjoy the incredible atmosphere, and we even were lucky enough to attend the gold medal presentation to Alexander Bilodeau, Canada's first athlete to earn a gold medal on Canadian soil.

Arriving in downtown Vancouver on February 15, we discovered a great place to watch some big screen action - the German Fan Fest building - not to mention a delicious bratwurst and tasty German beer. Here's how everyone reacted to the highs and lows of snowboard cross as Mike Robertson of Canada is edged out of a Gold Medal so close to the finish line:

Then onto BC Place stadium for the Alexandre Bilodeau medal ceremony:

"Ticket please"

Inside the stadium, time for a photo or two before the ceremonies begin:

Gotta wear red!

And then, Alex is introduced to the roar of the crowd:

That historic gold medal goes around his neck:






The Maple Leaf rises as the crowd sings Oh Canada:

After the ceremony, a walk to the waterfront to see the Olympic torch:

A couple of days later and we're off to Whistler to see the Ladies's Super Combined - one downhill run + one slalom run.

A 5:30am bus to Whistler meant a 3:30am rise - but after all, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend Olympic Games in your home town!

Weird feeling...on a chairlift with no skis!

It's Official - Cory's first ever Olympic event!

And the finish line with the ladies Downhill course above to the right and the mens' Downhill course on the left. Cory has skied them both and they are a blast!

And we'll be sitting right there....so if you watched it on TV, you saw us!!

See, there we are...no we're not Games volunteers, they just happened to pick the same blue as our Blue Streak jackets:

Cory's 15 seconds of Olympic fame!






The sun rises on a gorgeous Whistler day:







Having met Canadian Olympian Nancy Greene at Sun Peaks just a couple of weeks ago, now it's Canadian Gold Medal winning ski racer Kerrin Lee Gartner (she won the downhill at Albertville in 1992):






Race time - with the crowd enjoying Canadian Emily Brydon's run:





But this day belongs to Germany, with Maria Riesch on top of the podium:








A few days later, and it's the Ladies' Giant Slalom, also at Whistler. But the weather isn't quite as good...





Time to mingle with some visitors...first Italy




then Germany







And a chance to get up close to some Olympic athletes after they've completed their course inspections. Don't know who you are but thanks for the smile!








Now, waiting for the second run, in a weather delay...having a look around...Austrian fans in grey & yellow...a flagged Finnish fan....and our Italian friends now bundled up in black jackets:





Well, the fog sticks around and eventually the 2nd run is postponed till the next day. So up again before dawn to board our bus, but first a greeting from a host of Games volunteers...that's Cory in the middle:

At Whistler, we discover this odd choice of location for a long line of porta-potties:

Cory congratulates Chirine Njein, an Olympic skier from Lebanon:

And the world's best ski racing fans, the Swiss... they carry these huge cowbells to races all over the world and they love to ring them. For the entire run of each Swiss racer, plus they'd ring them for Canadian racers too. But complete silence for the Austrian racers (their nemesis) and the same for the Germans and Italians. And when a Swiss racer has the lead, they'll ring those bells every time another racer finishes behind the Swiss racer. If your volume is up, you may wish to turn it down before you play this video:

We also spent a lot of time in downtown Vancouver, enjoying all the Oh Canada's, the colourful uniforms of so many different countries, the tremendous pride that was so obvious everywhere, and just an incredible experience. Once-in-a-lifetime for us for the Winter Olympics. Could there be a Special Olympics World Games experience for Cory in 2013? Well, for that to have any chance of happening, he must get back to work. Training at Whistler and Grouse this week, some weight training in there too. Then next week, the Special Olympics Regional Qualifying race at Silver Star near Vernon. This race determines who will compete at the Provincial Games in 2011, which in turn could lead to the National Games in Alberta in 2012 and then of course the World Winter Games in 2013. Next week, it's that first step at Silver Star, so we'll update this blog then.

Thanks for dropping by...leave us a comment so we'll know you were here.

Going Looking for Snow

We've just been through the warmest ever January in Vancouver so we've had to go looking for snow. Cory's first big race of the season was just this last weekend when he participated in the Western Canadian Para-Alpine Championships at Sun Peaks near Kamloops, BC. Before that, he had been training mostly at Whistler with Coach Mark Anderson (a former Canadian Ski Team member), participating in some Kokanee Races, and a bit of training with his VASS Blue Streak teammates at Grouse.

The Kokanee Race Series is open to anyone and Cory entered one race a couple of years ago and finished last in his age group. Many of those participating have been racing for many years and some of them are ski coaches. As part of Cory's plan to improve, he needs more race experience and Kokanee certainly provides that. And on much more difficult race than he would normally race on in Special Olympics or even with VASS. Cory understands that it doesn't matter that he may finish last, just the experience and the enjoyment of race day is what's important. That, and the free Kokanee beer at the end of the day, that is!

His first Kokanee race of the year was a Giant Slalom on January 7 on Ptarmigan at Whistler.

Checking-in at race registration:





Then some course inspection work with Coach Mark and Blue Streak teammate Mark:








And a look at the finish area:






This course had a very steep start, probably the steepest race course Cory's ever been on. He had a late starting number and by the time it was his turn, there were quite a few ruts near the 3rd gate down from the start. Of the 5 racers before Cory, 3 of them all fell at that gate. So when Cory set off, I was very concerned that he would crash at that gate as well, and you can hear me voicing that concern. But he made that gate and all the rest of them. Skiing cautiously for sure, but he got through the entire course.

Now on his second run, taken further down the race course:

And the official race results, with the 3 racers who crashed showing a disqualification:

MEN 19-29
1 ANTON SODERBERG (108) 1.04.93 1.04.86 2.09.79 100.00
2 IAN STIRK (98) 1.08.03 1.09.20 2.17.23 80.00
3 TOM FRANCIS (205) 1.09.37 1.09.01 2.18.38 60.00
4 DAVID EASTWOOD (100) 1.10.98 1.11.46 2.22.44 55.00
5 ROGER ZOGG (105) 1.11.87 1.11.50 2.23.37 51.00
6 KOKI OZAWA (102) 1.11.71 1.12.71 2.24.42 47.00
7 TOM BROTHERTON (107) 1.12.49 1.12.84 2.25.33 43.00
8 SOZO MUNEMASA (99) 1.20.98 1.24.03 2.45.01 40.00
9 CORY DUHAIME (104) 1.31.35 1.34.33 3.05.68 37.00
MAARTEN TURNER (106) DNF 1.28.17 DSQ
YUMA MAEOKA (103) DNF 1.33.76 DSQ
CHRIS BROWN (101) DNF 1.17.86 DSQ

After a Kokanee race, the racers gather at a local Whistler pub for video review, prizes, and of course a Kokanee. Here's Cory's first run taken from the large screen in the pub:






And on this day, the Olympic torch made an appearance and Cory proudly held the Torch for a photo:

His next Kokanee race was another Giant Slalom on January 14, this time on Gandy Dancer on Blackcomb. Whistler-Blackcomb has had record-setting snowfall this winter, and sure enough it was snowing on race day too (over 31 feet of snow as of February 1/2010!).

Here's a clip of one of his two runs. Unfortunately, Cory did miss a gate on his other run and was disqualified:

From the pub:

And the official results

MEN 19-29
1 ROGER ZOGG 92 1.21.04 1.22.31 2.43.35 100.00
2 IAN STIRK 86 1.22.26 1.22.24 2.44.50 80.00
3 KOKI OZAWA 95 1.25.58 1.22.61 2.48.19 60.00
4 TOM FRANCIS 218 1.25.05 1.23.19 2.48.24 55.00
5 TOM BROTHERTON 89 1.23.78 1.27.18 2.50.96 51.00
6 JIM HUGHES 93 1.28.96 1.29.55 2.58.51 47.00
7 CHRIS BROWN 85 1.35.74 1.36.82 3.12.56 43.00
8 YUMA MAEOKA 87 1.40.00 1.36.82 3.16.82 40.00
9 JAMES HUTCHINSON 90 1.40.77 1.41.72 3.22.49 37.00
10 RICHARD LOGAN 96 1.49.98 1.42.30 3.32.28 34.00
11 JUN OKANO 88 1.36.72 DSQ DSQ 31.00
CORY DUHAIME 91 DSQ 1.38.71 DSQ
DAVID EASTWOOD 84 DNF 1.24.88 DSQ

Then on January 21, Cory's first chance to race a Super G. 28 gates in a long course that winds its way down Raven & Ptarmigan on Whistler. A beautiful day, as we prepare at the start:

The usual race day "hurry up and wait" routine:

About half way down, the course takes a long turn to the right down over a ridge. Cory loses track of the course and unfortunately makes a wrong turn - not disqualified, but it added about 30 seconds to his time. Once again, dad here has a reaction to what he sees:

For this Super G, the racers were allowed two runs (usually only one run for a Super G) and the best time of the two would be used. So this time, Cory does not finish last, as he does his second run in 1:20:81 and beats one racer's best time of 1:21:43.

MEN 19-29
1 FEDERICO MALANOTTI 94 1.03.94 1.05.17 1.03.94 100.00
2 TOM FRANCIS 84 1.06.08 1.05.27 1.05.27 80.00
3 IAN STIRK 218 1.06.72 1.05.76 1.05.76 60.00
4 TOM BROTHERTON 90 1.06.70 1.07.83 1.06.70 55.00
5 DAVID EASTWOOD 87 1.07.71 1.07.23 1.07.23 51.00
6 KOKI OZAWA 89 1.08.67 1.07.81 1.07.81 47.00
7 MARC NYELAND 91 1.10.09 1.08.85 1.08.85 43.00
8 JIM HUGHES 92 1.12.02 1.11.92 1.11.92 40.00
9 CHRIS BROWN 85 1.14.66 1.13.77 1.13.77 37.00
10 EVAN KOSIC 88 1.17.83 1.17.63 1.17.63 34.00
11 CORY DUHAIME 86 1.48.20 1.20.81 1.20.81 31.00
12 RICHARD LOGAN 93 1.21.43 DNF 1.21.43 28.00

His second run:

When viewing the video from the other racers' runs, we saw that Cory wasn't the only one who had difficulty with this course. Several other racers made a wrong turn too, some on their second run through the course.

The pub video:

So back on Grouse Mountain for some training now, a nice day with some good snow up on the Peak run:

And now the big race weekend at Sun Peaks - the Western Canadian Para-Alpine Championships. One day of training and two days of racing, all on a run called OSV, which is the run used by the Austrian Ski Team as their North American training centre. Hey, only what's good enough for the world's best racers is good enough for Cory!

Great snow at the top - with Blue Streak teammate Mark:

Sun Peaks Resort below, with Mount Morissey in the background:

And a training run for Cory on a "stubby" course, which I also had the opportunity to race through a few times with the resultant and rather expected crash or two (but no video of that!):

Then early the next morning, it's time to get ready to race, with BC Provincial Coach Phil in the foreground. Giant Slalom will be the race for today - two runs, combined time:

Blue Streaks at the front of the chairlift line, snow starting to fall:

With the remaining racers behind:

And a very special pre-race visit from Nancy Greene-Raine, Olympic Gold Medalist in 1968 in Grenoble:

And Cory's first run:

And a silver medal presented by Nancy Greene Raine later that night:

The next day, a slalom race, under much brighter conditions. Cory has had little experience in slalom and this course is long and with a number of challenging elements such as hairpins and flushes. But he learned about these at Mount Hood in 2007, so after a good course inspection and some discussion with me at the starting gate, he attacks the course with confidence and earns another silver medal:






And it's a Blue Streak podium sweep with teammates Mark & Jesse. Surprisingly, Cory beat Jesse by over 4 seconds in each run, so it's encouraging news as Cory's opportunity to compete nationally will very much depend on his continuing success against Jesse.

So, in spite of difficult snow conditions so far this year, Cory continues to have the opportunity to learn, improve his skills, and put them to the test in competition. Getting to Whistler a few times and a weekend in Sun Peaks means he's been on snow about a dozen times, not much less than in previous years at the end of January.

Now though, the Winter Olympic Games come to town and access to race courses is very limited. So we'll enjoy the Games - hoping for Canadian podiums in Alpine Skiing of course - including attending the Ladies Super Combined at Whistler on Valentine's Day. And Cory's next big race will be the Special Olympics Regional Qualifier at Silver Star near Vernon in mid-March.

Look for an Olympic update in February. And leave us a messagge, we do love to hear from you.