Britt JANYK
Aug 31, 2018·Alpine Skiing
Britt Janyk was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on May 21, 1980 and from an early age took full advantage of the nearby Whistler mountains, first setting off on skis at two years old under the guidance of her parents. On entering her teenage years, Britt decided that she wished to pursue a career on the slopes and started to train seriously.
By focusing the energy she had previously used on a range of sports from gymnastics to football, she qualified for the Canadian national ski team in 1997 at 17 and started off on her pursuit of success around the world's slopes. At her first Junior World Ski Championships the same year she set her benchmark finishing sixth in the super-G.
Two years later, she participated in her first World Championships, held on the slopes of Colorado at Vail and Beaver Creek in the giant slalom and slalom, coming in a respectable 31st in the former, and then debuted in the World Cup on October 31 at Tignes.
However, the French slope played a Halloween trick on the effervescent Canadian when she failed to qualify for the second run. One month later she did complete her first World Cup races, in Lake Louise, where she claimed 47th in the downhill, cemented a day later at the same Alberta resort with 52nd in the super-G. For the next few years, although Britt excelled on both the European and No-Am Cup circuits, she struggled to break into the upper echelons of female skiing, eventually claiming her first top 10 placing in 2000 at Sestriere, finishing 8th in the giant slalom.
She took part in the World Championships for the second time in St.Anton and showed her progress over the two years with a 23rd place finish in the giant slalom. Britt regards the Austrian resort as her favourite due to the heritage of Alpine skiing in the that country and the pretty surroundings in which St.Anton is located.
The 2007 World Championships in Are were to prove her most successful, just missing out on a medal in the super-G with the exact same time as Nicole Hosp, 6/100ths of a second behind third placed Renate Goetschl.
After two fourth places throughout her World Cup career, Britt eventually raced herself to a well-earned podium place, once again at Lake Louise on December 1, 2007 completing the downhill in third place.
Her start to the 2008 season improved beyond her wildest dreams when at the next meet at Aspen, Britt took advantage of the difficult Colorado conditions to snatch her first and only career win on the World Cup circuit. Thirteen top ten 10 finishes in the season boosted the 10 times national champion to 12th place in the overall standings and an impressive third in the downhill. Unfortunately she followed that up with only one top ten finish in the 2009 season at St. Moritz.
