Osborne Paradis wins in Lake Louise; Kucera crashes

MANNY Osborne Paradis secured his Olympic qualification with a first-ever World Cup super giant slalom victory at Lake Louise.

HOME HOPE: Canadian Manny Osborne Paradis won his second World Cup race on home snow in Lake Louise

Osborne Paradis, who learned to ski at the Whistler resort that will stage next year's Games, held off the challenge of nearest rival, Austria's Benjamin Raich, to win by just over two tenths of a second.

He was one of three Canadian skiers - Erik Guay and Robbie Dixon were fourth and fifth behind third placed Michael Walchhofer - in the top five.

But the news was not all good for next year's Olympics hosts in the first of six super giant slaloms to be staged this season.

Lake Louise is not known as the most demanding of stops on the World Cup circuit but once again the piste claimed a high-profile name.

American TJ Lanning dislocated his left knee and sustained a non-displaced fracture of a vertebrae in his neck during Saturday's downhill.

And downhill world champion and local favourite John Kucera took a nasty tumble, on an icy section known as the waterfall, during the super giant slalom.

Kucera's fall delayed proceedings by more than 20 minutes and sent a stunned silence around an expectant home crowd in the Banff National Park.

A former winner at Lake Louise, Kucera is one of the poster boys of next year's Games in Vancouver and is viewed as the most likely to end a 16-year wait for a Canadian alpine Olympic medal.

But there were anxious moments as a helicopter was called to airlift him off the piste.

There was no immediate news on the seriousness of his injuries, although he was taken to the finish line medical centre as opposed to the nearest hospital.

World Cup leader Didier Cuche, on his 300th World Cup start, finished a distant ninth while American Bode Miller was well outside the top 20.

Great Britain’s Dougie Crawford – who has spent the summer raising cash for this World Cup and Olympic season – finished 47th, nearly three seconds behind the winner.