Its arguably the first marquee event of every Winter Olympics, and the mens downhill in recent Olympics has provided surprising storylines. Tony Gonzalez Jersey . “The one thing about the Olympics especially in the speed disciplines, it so very rarely goes to the favourite, the favourite has so much pressure, and the variables are greater in downhill,” says CBC alpine analyst Kerrin Lee-Gartner, a 1992 downhill winner. “ Its not to say its a flukey thing, its just that everything has to align right, its harder for the favourite to make it align right in downhill.” In the last 20 years there have been four Olympic downhill winners who had fewer than three World Cup victories before making history: Tommy Moe of the U.S., Frenchmen Jean-Luc Cretier and Antoine Deneriaz, and 2010 winner Didier Defago of Switzerland. The Canadian Cowboys - Erik Guay, Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Jan Hudec - wouldnt qualify as surprise winners from an individual standpoint, but breaking a 20-year Olympic medal drought for the country in alpine skiing certainly would make fans take notice. No Canadian man has ever won a gold or silver medal in alpine. Steve Podborski (1980) and Ed Podivinsky (1994) each won bronze in the downhill. Guay is the likeliest contender to break through. Hes achieved two of his three career goals after winning a Crystal Globe season title in the super-G in 2010 and winning a world championship in downhill a year later. The Mont-Tremblant, Que., native is only missing an Olympic medal, preferably gold, after three separate top five finishes at the Winter Games. Guay has battled back this season from a knee injury to break Podborskis World Cup podium record for Canadian men. He finished seventh in the opening training session on Thursday. Hudec, he of the seven knee surgeries and more recent back injury, has also reached the podium this season. The Calgary native took silver in the super-G in Val Gardena, Italy in December. Osborne-Paradis is waiting to take that next step. Since coming back in late 2012 from a knee injury, the North Vancouver native has had top 10 finishes, but has been unable to reach the podium. Ben Thomsen of Invermere, B.C., finished second on a slightly different Sochi course two years ago, but hes struggled mightily this season.There are two strong international contenders to buck the recent trend of surprise Olympic downhill champs. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who won a medal of every colour in Vancouver, has run his total of World Cup downhill wins to eight this season with a pair of victories. Bode Miller of the United States has wowed ski fans again this season, coming back at the age of 36 after more than a year off to reach the World Cup podium once each in downhill, super-G and giant slalom. Millers yet to win since his comeback, but coming up golden for a sixth career Olympic medal would be just his style. The following men would also not be surprise winners: Dominik Paris and Christof Innerhofer of Italy, Adrian Theaux of France and Patrick Kueng of Switzerland. Even 36-year-old Didier Defago put his name into consideration again after his first victory in over two years last month, a super-G at Kitzbuehel. The lengthy course has received mostly positive feedback from the skiers, with many remarking on the "big air" jumps. 2010 Olympic downhill: Didier Defago, Switzerland (G), Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway (S), Bode Miller, USA (B) Olympic alpine skiing schedule: Sunday, Feb. 9: Mens downhill Monday, Feb. 10: Womens super-combined Wednesday, Feb. 12: Womens downhill Friday, Feb. 14: Mens super-combined Saturday, Feb. 15: Womens super-G Sunday, Feb. 16: Mens super-G Tuesday, Feb. 18: Womens giant slalom Wednesday, Feb. 19: Mens giant slalom Friday, Feb. 21: Womens slalom Saturday, Feb. 22: Mens slalom Joplo Bartu Jersey .C. - The New Orleans Saints will have to wait another week for a chance to clinch a playoff spot. Jonathan Massaquoi Jersey .Com Tour. The former Canadian Amateur champion, who made his rookie year as a professional a memorable one, has had a long wait to get back on the course and after last season, hes anxious to play.SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Nam Nguyen of Toronto is in first place in mens competition after Thursdays short program at the ISU world junior figure skating championships. Nguyen, 15, earned 72.87 points with Jin Boyang of China second at 71.51 and Uno Shoma of Japan third at 70.67. "The short program felt awesome," said Nguyen, who is coached by former Canadian skating star Brian Orser. "I was feeling very relaxed throughout the whole program. I took one element at a time and that really paid off." The highlight was landing the triple Axel. "The triple Axel felt really big," he said. "I think it was one of the best ones Ive ever done, especially in competition. So it was really good that I was able to deliver itt out here. Jacquizz Rodgers Jersey. " Nguyen wont change a thing for the free skate. "Im looking forward to delivering the same performance and to just keep doing what I do in practice," he said. Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., had a personal best short program and sits 14th. In pairs, Xiaoyu Yu and Yang Jin of China won the gold medal. Mary Orr of Brantford, Ont., and Phelan Simpson of Lunenburg, Sask., were sixth and Tara Hancherow Tisdale, Sask., and Wesley Killing of Woodstock, Ont., seventh. In Wednesdays short dance, Madeline Edwards of Port Moody, B.C., and Zhao Kai Pang of Burnaby, B.C., are fifth, less than a point from third. Mackenzie Bent of Uxbridge, Ont., and Garrett MacKeen of Oshawa, Ont., are ninth. cheap jerseys from china ' ' '
