Posted 12. March 2005 by Editor

THOMAS GRANDI BATTLES FLU VIRUS AND STILL CONCLUDES THE SEASON AS THE
WORLD'S 3RD BEST GIANT SLALOM SKIER

LENZERHEIDE (SUI), March 12, 2005 - The World Cup finals held in Lenzerheide
today crowned two more overall discipline champions. While Austria's
Benjamin Raich outperformed Canada's Thomas Grandi in the men's giant
slalom, Finland's Tanja Poutiainen skied away with the women's slalom golden
globe.

TOUGH BATTLE FOR THE MEN'S GIANT SLALOM WORLD TITLE .

Austria's Stephan Goergl was the fastest man on the slopes today, completing
both legs with a time of 2:10.51 and beating America's Bode Miller by more
than half of a second. Austria's Benjamin Raich, who was battling the giant
slalom title with Canada's Thomas Grandi from Canmore (AB) entering into
today's race, skied to 3rd place, 0.12 seconds behind Miller.

Canada's Thomas Grandi, who caught a bad flu virus early last week, finished
11th with a combined time of 2:13.37, opening the door to Raich and Miller
who moved up in the giant slalom standings.

Grandi, 13th after the first leg with over a second to make up in the second
run to secure the World Cup giant slalom title, was prepared to give it all
in the afternoon run. But the 32-year-old team veteran not only faced tough
competition but also persisting flu symptoms which prevented him from
becoming the first Canadian male racer since Steve Podborski (1982 in
downhill) to win an overall title.

"This was my worst day in GS all year," admitted Grandi after the race
today. "I have been sick since Sunday and it got worse. I wasn't sure I'd
be able to race. Luckily it got better, but I didn't have any energy and it
was really difficult. I thought when I saw the hill it would be my type of
hill, but I was just hanging on, trying to survive and it was really
difficult for me. I'm good on difficult hills, but it wasn't my day."

While Raich's third place was enough to earn the Austrian victory in the
giant slalom World Cup , Miller's second-place finish in today's competition
was sufficient to secure his World cup overall title with still one race to
go.

Max Gartner, Chief Athletic Officer from Alpine Canada Alpin, who was on
site to cheer on Grandi as he battled for the overall title, was thrilled
with the overall outcome of the season for both Grandi and the team.

? It was always our goal to have an athlete in the top 3 in a discipline
ranking. But to actually accomplish this is particularly gratifying, ? said
Gartner. ? Of course, after being so close to the win, we would have been
thrilled to have seen Thomas on top of the overall standings but 3rd is
still quite excellent! ?

? Thomas gave his best effort, especially considering that he was very ill
with a flu virus just three days ago, ? added Gartner. ? Last Wednesday, we
didn't even know if he would be able to race. Fortunately, he slowly gained
back some strength, just in time for today's event. ?

? In addition to feeling weak, it was also Thomas' first time skiing this
slope, unlike some of the guys who raced in the downhill and super G events.
Nevertheless, he fought from the start to the finish. ?

? The important thing to remember is that Thomas still stepped on the podium
today as the 3rd best giant slalom skier in the world, ? precised Gartner.


Reflecting on his overall season, Grandi said: "I'm walking away with third
place in the GS standings and I can walk away with my head held high. I'm
happy with my season. This is a very good result for me."

Thomas Grandi has already made the history books this season after becoming
the first Canadian male skier to win in a technical event, winning
consecutive giant slalom races in Alta Badia and Flachau in December.

"The great memory of my two wins in Alta Badia and Flachau have been etched
on my brain forever. It was great and it wasn't just a fluke," added Grandi,
speaking of his record breaking World Cup slaloms victories before
Christmas. "Technically I've always known I was one of the best but you
can't just be technically one of the best. You also need to be mentally the
best. You need to be able to put two together," explained Grandi.

"I proved I was the real thing. If it's just one win, people might say it
was just on that hill, or just that day. Of course, I didn't need to prove
it to anyone but myself that I'm one of the best in the world."

Dusan Grasic, men's head coach for the technical team, corroborated Grandi's
and Gartner's comments.

? Thomas gave it all today, ? said Grasic. ? We were hoping to win the
overall title but I think at the beginning of the season, we would have been
pretty excited about a 3rd place! ?

Today, Miller became the first American man in 22 years to win the overall
World Cup title and Grandi became the first Canadian man in 17 years to step
on the overall podium in a discipline. The last Canadian to finish in the
top 3 in an overall standing in a discipline was Rob Boyd in 1988 in
downhill when he finished 3rd.

No Canadian women qualified for the slalom race.

Tomorrow marks the final World Cup racing day of the 2004-2005 season. While
Thomas Grandi and Michael Janyk will be competing in the men's slalom,
Genevi?ve Simard, Allison Forsyth and Gail Kelly will go head-to-head
against the world's best female giant slalom skiers.

MEN'S RESULTS
1 GOERGL Stephan 1978 AUT 1:05.35 1:05.16 2:10.51
2 MILLER Bode 1977 USA 1:05.60 1:05.59 2:11.19
3 RAICH Benjamin 1978 AUT 1:06.15 1:05.16 2:11.31
4 MAIER Hermann 1972 AUT 1:05.96 1:05.39 2:11.35
5 NYBERG Fredrik 1969 SWE 1:05.93 1:05.89 2:11.82
6 RAHLVES Daron 1973 USA 1:05.86 1:06.10 2:11.96
7 PALANDER Kalle 1977 FIN 1:05.72 1:06.39 2:12.11
8 MOELGG Manfred 1982 ITA 1:06.41 1:05.83 2:12.24
9 BLARDONE Massimiliano 1979 ITA 1:05.58 1:07.22 2:12.80
10 GORZA Ales 1980 SLO 1:07.62 1:05.73 2:13.35
11 GRANDI Thomas 1972 CAN 1:07.21 1:06.16 2:13.37
12 GRUBER Christoph 1976 AUT 1:07.22 1:06.20 2:13.42
13 CHENAL Joel 1973 FRA 1:07.41 1:06.12 2:13.53
14 SCHLOPY Erik 1972 USA 1:06.73 1:07.03 2:13.76
15 WALCHHOFER Michael 1975 AUT 1:07.89 1:06.05 2:13.94

2004-2005 WORLD CUP MEN'S GIANT SLALOM STANDINGS
1 RAICH Benjamin AUT 423
2 MILLER Bode USA 420
3 GRANDI Thomas CAN 366