Smith takes silver in men’s DH

It was another surprise result for Canada Sunday afternoon as 20-year-old Steve Smith became the first cyclist from this country to ever win a medal in a men’s downhill World Championship. Smith finished second in Sunday’s final between Australian Sam Hill in first and South Africa’s Greg Minaar in second. It was the second medal of the day for the Canadians after Lauren Rosser won gold in junior women’s downhill. Tracy Moseley was the elite women’s champion, taking the gold medal after finishing second last year.
See a video highlight from Smith’s run below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–bn2Y51rf4

For Smith, the second place was a huge accomplishment. “It was definitely unexpected. I prepared a lot and was hoping for a good finish, but it’s exciting and I’m pretty stoked,” he said. After racing on the World Cup circuit for the past few years with a best finish of fifth earlier this year, Smith said his expectations have suddenly changed.

“It’s definitely a confidence boost. Even four years ago my goal was to maybe be in the Top 20. This makes me want to come into the World Cup next year and maybe not just to be on one podium, but to be on a few. And this gives me the confidence to do that,” he said.

Smith had posted some of the fastest early-course split times earlier this week in training and he matched that again in the race. But a slight bobble near the bottom of the course cost him a bit of time.

“Right out of the gate it’s fun the whole way down. There’s just so much variety. The most challenging thing is putting the full run together. It’s a long track,” he said.

After Smith’s run, there were still 10 more riders to come down the course, so he had to sit there waiting to see if the time would stick. “When you run, you didn’t feel like you were going that fast. So it wasn’t until the very end that I thought. ‘Wow, I can actually get onto the podium.”

Smith also had to overcome a separated shoulder he suffered during his training run Thursday. “I had my trainer helping me a lot,” he said. There was a bit of pain in the race, but I just tried to ignore it. And once the adrenaline was going you couldn’t feel it.”

Canadian Downhill Results:
ELITE MEN: Steve Smith (2); Thomas Vanderham (34); Rob Fraser (39); Andrew Mitchell (44); Ryan Vanderham (46); Hans Lambert (54); Dean Tennant (56).
ELITE WOMEN: Clair Buchar (9); Anne Laplante (19); Micayla Gatto (21); Rebecca McQueen (22), Miranda Miller (23).
JUNIOR MEN: Tyler Allison (16); Nick Geddes (19); Chayse Marshall (20); Remi Gauvin (27); Riley Suhan (33); Nick Grimm (38); Kyle Sangers (DNF).
JUNIOR WOMEN: Lauren Rosser (1); Kelsey Begg (7).