Ryan Kuehn helped Team Canada finish out the 2024 Whistler North American Cup (NAC) on a good note with silver around his neck, earned after two clean runs and a total time of one minute and 48.58 seconds.
That left him just under 1.3 seconds behind Florian Auer, who again proved to be the class of the men's skeleton field (1:47.29). Nicholas Timmings rounded out the podium with bronze (+1.89).
Friday's ladies podium was identical to the day before, with Kendall Wesenberg golden (1:50.42), Laura Vargas entrenched in runner-up position (+1.83) and Katie Tannenbaum finishing third (+1.85).
Canadian Mackenzie Adams was relegated to ninth once more (+6.66).
Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) technical coach Kevin Boyer is proud of his athletes' efforts and looks forward to more.
"Very pleased with Ryan's performance," he said. "I thought he put down two really solid runs and he was training consistently all week. Anytime an athlete can pull together a consistent performance on race day…we're thrilled, especially since [he sat out] Thursday's race.
"And Mackenzie's a fighter. I think we had some hard moments in training for her, but over the last two days she battled and left it all out there. Credit to Kendall and Florian for having fantastic runs and well-deserved wins. That puts into perspective where we're at and what we need to be doing to move forward, but everybody answered the bell."
'We're just starting to get our season rolling'
Kuehn has recently spent three weeks training in Asia, where he slid down very different tracks from those in Europe and North America. The extra experience paid off, as did a last-minute gear decision.
Relatively sunny weather last Thursday softened the Whistler Sliding Centre's blazing-fast ice, lending itself well to a given sled setup. Cloudier, snowier conditions the day after added frost to the track, giving athletes something to ponder.
Making a judgment call, Kuehn rejigged his sled in a way he thought would prove fruitful—even though the weather was difficult to predict.
"The Austrian was a very tough competitor. I needed something to give me an edge so I had to gamble a bit, but it still paid off," said Kuehn. "I'm really happy with how I did today. It was an important race for me, and as always it's such an honour to be able to raise a Canadian flag for your country."
Look beyond the podium and you'll find some ingredients for future success on Canada's skeleton roster, especially on the men's side.
Josip Brusic, Thursday's bronze medallist, was in contention after one run but fell back into sixth after a few key (but preventable) errors in his second attempt. Whistlerite Jacob Coleman finished seventh, but consistently made up time in the latter half of his runs. Then there's ex-University of Manitoba sprinter Sébastien Régnier, the only man to achieve two push times faster than 4.65 seconds (4.61 and 4.56).
"We're just starting to get our season rolling here, so as a team we'll be back [in Whistler] multiple times for more training opportunities this year," explained Boyer, who placed 17th at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. "With newer athletes that we're bringing down to Park City [in December], it's really about fundamentals and basics, making sure they're enjoying the sport, getting down safely and enjoying the experience of putting on the Maple Leaf.
"Having current World Champion Hallie Clarke as well as Jane Channell on our team, we've got really solid vets who are pushing to compete at [the next Olympics]. The quicker we can get our recruits and younger athletes in that same environment, [the more we can] hopefully inspire them to continue. I think they're naturally driven, which makes our jobs easy."
Kuehn won't be joining his teammates in Park City, but he's got the Junior Skeleton World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland highlighted on his calendar. The Calgarian raced in that venue for the 2018 Youth Olympics and expects to meet many of the same opponents there in January.
"I am extremely hopeful to put down a podium finish in St. Moritz," Kuehn revealed. "That's the race to really prove myself and prove all the experience and potential that I have, I believe."
Full skeleton results from the Whistler NAC can be viewed at https://www.ibsf.org/en/races-and-results.
