Canadian Emily Brydon finished second in the women's World Cup downhill season opener Friday at Lake Louise, Alta.
American Lindsey Vonn, the two-time defending World Cup downhill and overall champion, won with a time of one minute 26.13 seconds under a steady snowfall.
It's the sixth straight year Vonn has won a downhill at Lake Louise.
Brydon finished 0.52 seconds back and Germany's Maria Riesch was 0.80 behind to claim third spot.
Britt Janyk of Whistler, B.C., finished fourth, 1.09 seconds back of Vonn.
"I know the course really well, I know exactly what I have to do, and that gives me a lot of confidence when I'm standing in the starting gate," Vonn told CBC Sports.
Brydon's result was the best of her career in the downhill. The Fernie, B.C., native's only World Cup victory came in a super-G in February 2008. She also had a second-place finish in that same discipline in December 2007.
"I gave it all I had," Brydon said. "My goal today was having no regrets."
Canada has two podium finishes in this young alpine season. Manuel Osborne-Paradis won last weekend's men's super-G opener at Lake Louise.
Kelly VanderBeek of Kitchener, Ont., finished tied for 13th on Friday, Larisa Yurkiw of Owen Sound, Ont., was 24th, Shona Rubens of Canmore, Alta., was 45th, and developmental team member Georgia Simmerling was 51st.
Lake Louise hosts a second women's downhill on Saturday (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 2:30 p.m. ET), and the women's super-G opener on Sunday (Bold, CBCSports.ca, 1 p.m. ET).
The men are at Beaver Creek, Colo., for a super-combined on Friday, a downhill Saturday (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 1 p.m. ET) and a giant slalom Sunday.
Source: CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/alpineskiing/story/2009/12/04/sp-lake-louise-downhill.html
