It's been a while since a Crazy Canuck was the story in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
Normally the name Kitzbuhel brings up memories of the Hahnenkamm and the ultimate downhill ski event in the white circus circuit where Canadians won four consecutive years and where Todd Brooker crashed in one of the most horrific moments in sport this columnist has ever witnessed live and in person on the property.
It was cool to be Pat Kelly, the Canadian coach, a former downhill skier, to be there Sunday to watch Edmonton's Paula Findlay return to Europe following her stunning win on the London Hyde Park Olympic course to become the first woman to win back-to-back World Championship Triathlon Series events this season.
"It was pretty exciting," said Kelly.
"When I was a kid, I was a downhiller. I watched Ken Read and the Crazy Canucks on TV from Kitzbuhel. Our residence here is right below the gondola. There's lots of tradition here and it's great that Paula just gave this a connection."
Red-headed wonder
The red-headed wonder has managed to break through to win the first two events she entered in the seven-stop World Championship Series this year and go from being a virtual unknown to become a star in her sport in a span of three weeks.
Keep those City of Champions signs up. Edmonton has another one.
"This is pretty special not just because she validated her accomplishment in London and because all the World Championship events this year have had different winners until now. But like the ski event, this is a tough course. It has a lot of hills in it and cobblestones riding through Kitzbuhel on the bike. And she had to fight off all the big names," said Kelly.
Findlay is only 21 but knows the ski history, too.
"I know Canadian skiers were huge here," she said when Kelly passed her his cellphone to continue the interview.
"On the gondolas they have the names of the Canadian winners."
Top competitors
She ran down two of the top competitors in the world, Andra Hewitt of New Zealand and Lisa Norden of Sweden to win it. Findlay put Hewitt away with 400 metres to go and then dealt with the challenge of Norden's strong push to the tape at the end to win it in a time of 2:03:03.
"I'm shocked again," said the former competitive swimmer who was looking for a top 15 in London and wasn't expecting to win this one, either.
"This is all just crazy!
"I wasn't feeling that well all week. It was the jet lag, I think. I really wasn't confident I could win again. I was surprised. I was just hoping for a top 10. This definitely wasn't part of the plan. I keep surprising myself.
"That win was so much harder than London running with those two superstar runners. In London I felt so good the race almost felt easy but today that bike course was just so challenging I feel exhausted.
"It was a lot more challenging. To my knowledge there's nowhere else you have to ride on cobblestones and through tunnels. It's the first race I've ever done on cobblestones. At least it wasn't raining."
Findlay can't win the World Championship Series title because she hasn't collected enough points by only competing in the two events.
"That's a little bit frustrating," she said. "But that really gives me inspiration for next year."
She will go to Budapest in September to try to make it a golden hat trick.
"I have no idea if I can win again in Budapest but I'm just excited to have another opportunity to race again against these top girls," she said.
"I feel like I'm just learning and I totally respect all of those girls as being faster than me. I will never think anything different. I know everyone will be ready to go for the Budapest race. It's the really big one," she said of the Grand Finale.
You don't think those top girls she respects so much won't be keeping an eye out for where the little redhead from Canada is in that race after what happened in the last two?
terry.jones@sunmedia.ca
