WHISTLER, B.C. — Catherine Dufresne of Montreal won the bronze medal in the women's giant slalom under warm and sticky snow conditions at the Whistler Cup alpine skiing competition on Saturday.
Nikola Bubakova of the Czech Republic won the women's GS with a two-run combined time of one minute 53.47 seconds. Elvedina Muzaferija of Bosnia followed in 1:54.60 while Dufresne, fourth after the first run, reached the podium clocking 1:55.67.
''It went a lot better than expected,'' said the 15-year-old Dufresne. ''I wasn't focused as much on performance as on how I skied. The conditions were difficult and I managed it well.''
In the men's slalom, Mikkel Solbakken and Markus Fossland, both of Norway, finished one-two. Solbakken clocked a two-run combined time of 1:20.32 and Fossland finished in 1:22.57. Hiroto Hasebe of Japan was third in 1:22.70.
Asher Jordan of Whistler finished fourth. Gavin Donald of Vernon, B.C., and Adrien Grabinski of Calgary tied for fifth.
''I was very happy with my performance,'' said Jordan. ''The conditions were challenging with the wet sticky snow and I was happy to finish both my runs.''
Over 400 athletes from 25 countries are entered at the international youth ski race. The Canadian team is comprised of nine men and nine women from Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. Canada took the Nations Cup crown in 2013.
