The past couple of days have been as up and down as the jumps and rolls of the ski cross course at Cypress that Canadian Davey Barr cruised down yesterday on way to a sixth place finish in the sport’s Olympic debut.
“It’s been a little busy,” said Barr, who was named to Canada’s ski cross team around 1 p.m. Saturday, after his teammate Brady Leman re-injured his leg while training at Cypress.
Leman himself had only been added to the team on Friday after another teammate, David Duncan, broke his collarbone during the training.
“I was actually testing some skis for the rest of the team and watching across the valley at them training, just dying to get on the course,” said Leman.
Canada, which swept the ski-cross podium at the 2010 X Games, was blanked at Cypress. Swiss skier Michael Schmid captured the gold, while Austrian Andreas Matt took silver and Norway’s Audun Groenvold the bronze.
Canadian Christopher Delbosco, who was one of the favourites, came fourth after a spectacular crash in the final.
He looked good for bronze, but lost control as he launched off a jump and landed hard on his back about 50 metres from the finish.
Barr, 32, of Brackendale, was an alternate to the team and had expected that he would be one of the forerunners, the skiers who shoot down the course prior to competition to make sure the kinks are ironed out and that the timing and cameras are working properly.
Barr’s progress
Davey Barr was 25th in qualifying and slugged through the round of 16 and the quarter-finals. He finished third in his semifinal heat and was second in the small final, good for sixth overall.
