Larisa Yurkiw reaches World Cup alpine podium for 1st time
Owen Sound, Ont., native was 4th last month at Lake Louise
Canadian alpine skier Larisa Yurkiw reached the World Cup podium for the first time in her career on Friday, finishing second in Italy.
The Owen, Sound, Ont., native finished the downhill at Cortina d'Ampezzo in a time of one minute, 9.68 seconds.
Local favourite Elena Fanchini won the race, crossing in 1:09.53, with Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany third.
Yurkiw, 26, surpassed her previous best of fourth place, accomplished in December at Lake Louise, Alta.
She came off her remarkable 2013-14 season needing knee surgery in the summer.
Yurkiw, due to previous injury woes, didn't receive funding in the season leading into the Sochi Olympics.
She raised tens of thousands of dollars indepedently, and qualified for the Games with a pair of top 10 finishes. She finished 20th in Sochi, happy to compete at the Olympics after suffering a devastating injury one month before the Vancouver Games.
Yurkiw regained her place on the national team as the lone downhiller for this season, but turned down financial support from Alpine Canada.
"It's expensive," Yurkiw said. "But it's working."
Sweet Second for <a href="https://twitter.com/larisaYurkiw">@larisaYurkiw</a> ! <a href="https://twitter.com/cortinaclassic">@Cortinaclassic</a>! <a href="http://t.co/fosTeaxDpG">pic.twitter.com/fosTeaxDpG</a>
—@michellercomeauFanchini's second career downhill win on Friday comes over eight years after her first, which was at Lake Louise. It was her fourth career World Cup podium, all in the downhill.
Rebensburg, who won medals at both the Vancouver and Sochi Olympics in the giant slalom, now has two podium finishes in the downhill this season. For her career, Friday's result was her 22nd World Cup podium.
Lindsey Vonn, who leads the World Cup downhill season standings with 258 points, was 10th on Friday. She needs one more win to match the all-time record for victories.
"I was surprised at how foggy it was," Vonn said.
"I have no regrets. I skied the best that I could and I just wasn't quite fast enough today," she said. "But the pressure will be there until I can break the record. I just have to stay focused on the skiing and that's what's going to win me races."
World Cup overall leader Tina Maze of Slovenia was 13th.
There's another downhill race at Cortina on Saturday. You can watch it live on CBCSports.ca starting at 5:05 a.m. ET.
With files from The Associated Press