Osborne-Paradis says Erik Guay’s absence ‘discombobulating’ for Canadian ski team

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The absence of injured Canadian skier Erik Guay at the Winter Olympics hasn't just been felt on the results sheet.

His presence has been missed by his teammates as well.

"I can't say it's just for myself," said Manuel Osborne-Paradis. "I think it's been discombobulating for the whole team. We're trying to find ourselves."

For the third straight alpine event, the Canadians were not close to the podium at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre.

Dustin Cook was the top Canadian in ninth in Friday's super-G.

Osborne-Paradis, from Invermere, B.C., was 22nd and Broderick Thompson of Whistler, B.C., was 23rd. Toronto's Jack Crawford, the top Canuck in Tuesday's combined slalom in 20th, didn't finish.

Austria's Matthias Mayer won gold on a glorious winter morning. Switzerland's Beat Feuz took silver and Norway's Kjetil Jansrud won bronze.

Guay, the 2017 world super-G champion, was originally tabbed to compete in Pyeongchang but pulled out shortly after being named to the team due to back problems.

Osborne-Paradis, who has worked closely with Guay for the last 12-13 years, has felt the void this trip. They often collaborate to help each other with skiing and training.

"We do everything probably the complete opposite," Osborne-Paradis said. "His way of achieving something is the opposite of my way. But somehow it really works when we sit down and hash out how things ski and how we're going to prepare for something or whatever. Everything aligns."

With the No. 26 bib on the 62-athlete start list, Osborne-Paradis got a course report Friday after starting from the second position in the downhill a day earlier.

He phoned Cook for a chat, but noted he doesn't work with him as much as Guay. Cook, from Lac-Sainte-Marie, Que., offered thoughts on the surface and advised the track got quicker after the first jump.

Osborne-Paradis, who won world super-G bronze last year, wasn't aggressive enough on his angles into the turns and it proved costly.

"I wasn't expecting a miracle here," said Osborne-Paradis, who made his Olympic debut in 2006 at Turin. "A top-10 or a top-15 would have been a good result for me."

Instead that result went to Cook, who specializes in super-G. He turned in a solid run after warming up on the course in the downhill a day earlier.

"I'm happy to put down my best skiing of the year at the Olympics," Cook said. "Obviously would have liked to be a little bit faster and would have (liked to) change a couple things. But all in all, a good two days for me and I'll definitely leave this as a positive experience."

This is shaping up to be a transition Games for the men's alpine team. The slalom, giant slalom and new team events are still to come.

"We've been a team that had had two or three guys that were always going to be in the top-15 and then top 10s," Osborne-Paradis said. "If somebody didn't have a good race, there was always somebody to fill that void. It has just not been the case right now and I haven't been able to fill it.

"I think it's been very hard on everybody."

Thompson and Crawford are getting some Olympic reps in Pyeongchang and their continued development will be key once the focus turns to the next quadrennial.

Osborne-Paradis stressed that Guay's absence was not an excuse, adding he's confident the team will "find its mojo" and bounce back.

"We'll figure it out," he said. "I've had way worse seasons than this before, I've had better seasons. That's the trials and tribulations of sport. Trying to be the best in the world is not an easy feat.

"We will put our heads down and we will work as hard as we can. All of the guys will."