After a hard day of qualifying at Fort William, the majority of Canada’s junior downhill team is through to Friday’s big final event. Some are poised for a big result but racing in Fort Bill is never an easy day and there were a couple of casualties along the way.
New junior national champion Joy Attalla (Fernie) leads Canada’s junior women. She qualified 15th behind Friday’s fastest junir woman, Erice van Leuven of New Zealand. Kayley Sherlock was the next Canuck across the line in 17th and Sophi Lawrence followed in 19th. Sophia Ervington was the final Canadian in 27th. All advance to Friday’s championship racing.
On the men’s side, Bodhi Kuhn and Tegan Cruz are the top-ranked Canadians after Thursday’s qualifying. The two finished seventh and eighth behind the U.S.A.’s Ryan Pinkerton. The two had opposing runs, with Kuhn starting slow and building speed down the course while Cruz had the second fastest time in the first split before easing off the pace slightly.
Those two will be joined by Dane Jewett, who sits 13th after qualifying, and Jon Mozell and Max Halchuck, who put in the 34th and 35th fastest times.
Brock Hawes, the newly crowned junior men’s national champion, will miss out on his chance at rainbows after crashing during qualifying. Wyatt Harrington did not start Thursday’s qualifying and will also sit out racing in Fort William on Friday.
Qualifying at downhill world championships determines start order for Friday’s finals, but times do not carry over in any way. That means all Canadians will have a clean slate in the Fort William start hut for their final run.
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