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GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany - Canada's alpine ski team hopes to end a heartbreaking Olympic season with a podium performance at the World Cup finals this week.
Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., who skied to victory in a World Cup super-G on Sunday, was seventh in the men's downhill training run Tuesday, while Emily Brydon of Fernie, B.C., was seventh in women's training as the World Cup season wraps up with races in four events.
The downhill races are scheduled for Wednesday.
The Canadians failed to win a medal on their home hill at the Vancouver Olympics last month.
Guay came the closest with two fifth-place finishes, and missed the podium by just 0.003 of a second in the super-G. He goes into Thursday's super-G race third in the World Cup standings, behind leader Michael Walchhofer of Austria and Olympic champion Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway.
Britt Janyk, 14th in Tuesday's training, had the best women's Olympic result with a sixth in the downhill.
Manuel Osborne-Paradis of Invermere, B.C., who won two World Cup races this year and was second in another, was a disappointing 17th in the Olympic downhill and fell in the super-G. He was 14th in training Tuesday.
American Lindsey Vonn will head into the final downhill race of the season with a chance to claim the overall World Cup title for the third straight season.
After winning six of seven World Cup downhills this season and earning the Olympic gold medal, the American skier is the overwhelming favourite.
"I feel good coming into this week. I am fresher than I thought I'd be, at least mentally," Vonn said Tuesday after finishing fourth in a practice run down the Kandahar course. "Physically, I definitely need a break, but mentally I feel fresh. I am skiing pretty relaxed now and I have a lot of confidence."
Vonn is coming off a successful weekend in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, where she won a downhill and was runner-up in the super-G in tough conditions. She already has secured season titles in those two events. Vonn won the Olympic bronze in the super-G.
"Last weekend was a really fun weekend, it definitely helped me despite weather conditions," she said. "I had a good time skiing, I think that's really important."
Vonn is still nursing a sore right shin and a broken little finger on her right hand. She bruised the shin before the Olympics and broke the finger in a spill in the Olympic giant slalom.
"My shin is not going to be better until I take a good chunk of time off but it's very manageable pain right now," Vonn said.
As for the finger, "its just broken, not a problem at all," said Vonn, who wears a special brace and tapes the finger to the glove when she competes.
Vonn has a 245-point lead over her best friend and rival Maria Riesch in the race for the overall title. If Vonn has a lead of more than 300 points after the downhill, she will have clinched the overall title.
"It's a good lead and if I ski well tomorrow it could be over," Vonn said.
Fabienne Suter of Switzerland led Tuesday's practice, ahead of Olympic silver medallist Julia Mancuso of the U.S. and Elisabeth Goergl of Austria. Riesch was 12th.
After the downhill, the skiers race the super-G, the giant slalom and the slalom, and a win is worth 100 points.
Austrians Hans Grugger and Mario Scheiber led the men's practice run, followed by Andrej Sporn of Slovenia. The Austrians will be hoping to end the season with a victory and prevent a shutout for the first time since 1991-92.
Their women also have not won a downhill this season, with Riesch the only one to snap Vonn's streak.
The men's overall title is still up for grabs, with Benjamin Raich of Austria leading Carlo Janka of Switzerland by 46 points.
-With files from The Associated Press
