WENGEN, Switzerland - Call it a moral victory for Canadian skier Jan Hudec.
Hudec, of Calgary, finished eighth in a men's World Cup downhill on the classic Lauberhorn on Saturday. It's the same course that Hudec crashed on last year during a training run and suffered a serious knee injury.
But Hudec was able to tame the legendary course, finishing 1.25 seconds behind race winner Didier Defago of Switzerland.
"It's an amazing start for me," Hudec said. "I'm really thrilled. It's a tough place to come back.
"It was definitely awesome race to come back at. Obviously, it's where I last raced but I also had a chance to race in Europa Cups here last week and that really helped me get familiar with it again and get out those cob webs."
Hudec admitted he had butterflies before making his run.
"I was definitely nervous," he said. "It's been a year since I skied this place and here is where I was injured so that was definitely on my mind.
"I took it easy in training and concentrated on getting familiar with the course."
Manuel Osborne-Paradis, of Invermere, B.C., was the top Canadian, placing fifth in a time of two minutes 32.63 seconds. John Kucera of Calgary was 14th in 2:33.86.
Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., crashed during his run but was unhurt. Louis-Pierre Helie of Berthierville, Que, was 33rd in his first career European World Cup downhill while Toronto's Tyler Nella finished 51st in his first-ever World Cup competition.
Osborne-Paradis was pleased with his result but felt he could've skied better.
"I ski well here," he said. "I don't know why necessarily, it's long and it's a hard course but I've been able to get results here.
"It's a good step but I wasn't that good today, making some crucial errors. I just made it down. I don't think anyone was really thrilled. I think Defago was the best of a pretty mediocre bunch."
Defago finished in 2:31.98 on the 4.5-kilometre course, the ski circuit's longest and most demanding. American Bode Miller was second, 0.20 seconds behind. Compatriot Marco Sullivan was third.
Defago won his second career World Cup and first in downhill. His previous win came in a super-G in 2002, and he had never been on the podium in a downhill.
Austria's Michael Walchhofer retained the lead in the downhill standings despite finishing 26th, while Miller climbed from sixth to second.
Benjamin Raich of Austria, who did not race Saturday, retains the lead in the overall standings.
The Lauberhorn was bumpy and hard in most places, although bright sunshine softened the snow in the opening sections.
"Over the days, it got a little bit uneven," said Marco Buechel, who was sixth. "The bumpier it is, the more tired you get.
"But Wengen is always a challenge no matter how the snow is."
