Competing in FIS-World Cup events hosted in the Italian resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo Larisa Yurkiw finished second place in the first Ladies’ Downhill race.

LONDON, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, January 23, 2015 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On Friday the 16th of January Team Larisa Racing took a large step forward as the Canadian Olympic skier took her first World Cup podium position with a time that was only 0.15 seconds off the race winner. Owing to poor visibility due to fog in the top section of the course the jury and organisers were forced to lower the start which resulted in 11 gates less to negotiate, that resulted with a run that was around 30 seconds shorter. However, the adverse racing conditions did not deter Larisa as she pulled off the best result of her career and improved from her previous-best of fourth place position achieved in Lake Louise last December. Following a great start to the 2014/15 winter season Larisa has now recorded her fifth top ten win at the World Cup level since 2007.

As the only Canadian female downhiller, Larisa has had her own self-funded team since 2013. “It’s a big step for Canadian speed skiing and for myself and my career,” she explained. That’s because Alpine Canada dropped its money-draining women’s downhill team two years ago, prompting Larisa to strike out on her own, hire a full-time coach and gather sponsors to support travel and training. While Yurkiw still races in the Canadian team’s yellow and red uniform, that’s practically her only connection to the federation these days. Once she reaches the finish area, she dons her aqua-green Team Larisa jacket covered with patches from her sponsors. Those sponsors, led by helmet sponsor and foreign exchange company Cresco FX, got plenty of visibility Friday as Larisa took advantage of an early start number on a shortened course in thick fog and low visibility to finish second.

Leaving the Italian Dolomites following the super-G slalom event which was postponed by a day from the original Sunday schedule, Larisa will head to Switzerland to the popular ski resort of St. Moritz. This is the last Alpine FIS-Ski World Cup downhill and super-G event for January before the circuit returns to North America in the start of next month. Following up from this weekend’s achievements with a silver medal at Cortina, Larisa is well positioned to build upon her current 8th position in the Downhill Leader board with CrescoCap backing her all the way.

Mike Rasmussen
Cresco Capital Management (UK) Ltd
+44 (0)20 7952 6820
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