This blog post is from John Dakin, VP Communications at the Vail Valley Foundation and media contact for the 2011 Teva Mountain Games.
So just how improbable is it that two of the world’s best kayakers would end up in a dead heat tie…right down to the hundredth of a second…after two runs down a raging creek?
Such is the case with the Bud Light Lime Steep Creek Championship, presented by Thule that officially kicked off competition for the 10th Anniversary Teva Mountain Games June 2, as Honza Lasko from the Czech Republic and New Zealand’s Michael Dawson both recorded combined two-run times of 3:343.62.
Ironically, I was fortunate enough to be here in the Vail Valley for the last historic tie in international competition…the 1999 World Alpine Championships Super-G race in Beaver Creek. In that one, Austria’s Hermann Maier and Norway’s LasseKjus shared the gold medal, also tying to the hundredth of a second. However, Super-G is a one-run event.
After witnessing Lasko and Dawson, a ski racing tie seems much more logical. The gates are in the same location and the course conditions are fairly consistent for all racers. Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that snow is firm…it doesn’t move with you down the course.
Aside from the fact that Lasko and Dawson tied after two runs, their course was constantly moving and changing with each passing second. Rocks were covered and then uncovered. The water was rising and falling and chances are no section was ever the same for any competitor.
All of this adds up to an incredibly special…and logic defying day at the Teva Mountain Games. Congratulations to Michael and Honza and thanks for an “amazing” performance.
-John
So just how improbable is it that two of the world’s best kayakers would end up in a dead heat tie…right down to the hundredth of a second…after two runs down a raging creek? Such is the case with the Bud Light Lime Steep Creek Championship, presented by Thule that officially kicked off competition for the 10th Anniversary Teva Mountain Games June 2, as Honza Lasko from the Czech Republic and New Zealand’s Michael Dawson both recorded combined two-run times of 3:343.62.
Ironically, I was fortunate enough to be here in the Vail Valley for the last historic tie in international competition…the 1999 World Alpine Championships Super-G race in Beaver Creek. In that one, Austria’s Hermann Maier and Norway’s LasseKjus shared the gold medal, also tying to the hundredth of a second. However, Super-G is a one-run event.
After witnessing Lasko and Dawson, a ski racing tie seems much more logical. The gates are in the same location and the course conditions are fairly consistent for all racers. Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that snow is firm…it doesn’t move with you down the course.
Aside from the fact that Lasko and Dawson tied after two runs, their course was constantly moving and changing with each passing second. Rocks were covered and then uncovered. The water was rising and falling and chances are no section was ever the same for any competitor.
All of this adds up to an incredibly special…and logic defying day at the Teva Mountain Games. Congratulations to Michael and Honza and thanks for an “amazing” performance.
-John
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