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From construction sites to World Cup, Thomsen’s career takes a turn

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Two years ago Ben Thomsen was nearly broke, working odd jobs in construction and landscaping, sleeping on his dad’s couch and trying to ignore all the people who were telling him that a ski career probably wasn’t in the cards.

Well, that was then. On Wednesday the 24-year-old Invermere racer — wearing bib No. 1 — was the first guy out of the starting gate on the first day of downhill training for Saturday’s World Cup downhill on the new Rosa Khutor course that will host the 2014 Olympic alpine races.

And Thomsen kicked it. He posted the day’s third fastest time, a two minute, 13.60 second clocking that left him behind only Austria’s Hannes Reichelt (2:12.91) and Swiss great Didier Cuche (2:13.16).

“I was thinking about that when I was walking back to my hotel today,” Thomsen said of his rather remarkable journey to the top of the ski world.

“Two summers ago I was completely bankrupt. I didn’t have any support. I didn’t know if I could survive even a week on the World Cup circuit, let alone a whole year. Now here I am on the Olympic test track, starting first and finishing third.

“It was a really good experience,” Thomsen said of his run.

“A lot of guys were kind of making fun of me and saying they’d be really nervous if they had the No. 1 bib on the track like that. I was really excited. I was happy to have it.”

Thomsen has come from somewhere around the last outpost of nowhere over the last two seasons. After finally getting a spot on the Canadian Alpine Ski Team (CAST) due to a rash of injuries last season and cracking the top-30 four times on the World Cup circuit and twice at 2011 world championships , he re-gained his spot on CAST this year.

Last week at Chamonix, France, he had his coming out party. He finished a career best 11th in Friday’s downhill and then finished fifth on Saturday.

Calgary’s Jan Hudec won Saturday’s race. Erik Guay of Mont Tremblant was third.

But on a day that was among the best in Canadian alpine skiing history, it was Thomsen, wearing the No. 50 bib, who might have had the most impressive run.

“Benni came down out of 50th in bad light and just absolutely hammered that thing,” an impressed Hudec said afterwards.

“For Ben to do a fifth place from the 50th start position, that’s amazing,” said CAST men’s head coach Paul Kristofic.

“It speaks volumes to what that kid is capable of doing.”

Thomsen didn’t have full national team status and had to pay $15,000 out of his own pocket to ski the 2010-11 season. He’s paying another $15,000 this season.

“That’s the price you pay to play,” Thomsen said.

Thomsen said there were times when he thought about quitting.

“It’s difficult when a lot of people that you admire and trust tell you you’re not going to make it and that you should give up and think about other options,” he said. “I’m just happy I stuck with my instincts and kept going.

“I didn’t enjoy going to construction jobs every day in the cold. It was an extreme struggle but I’m actually pretty grateful for it because it has made me a lot stronger. I have a lot more love for the sport and I really appreciate being here and enjoy being on the World Cup.”

And Thomsen’s corner hasn’t been entirely empty.

Kristofic and men’s speed coach John McBride had both seen his talent.

“He has natural ability and he’s a good skier technically,” Kristofic said. “He has a very good feel for the snow and terrain. The most striking thing about him that I saw was that he was able to take risks at the right spots. He had very little fear in difficult, challenging situations. That’s a rare commodity for sure.”

And CAST teammate Manuel Osborne-Paradis, who also hangs his hat in Invermere, liked Thomsen enough both as a skier and a man to offer financial help.

When Thomsen couldn’t afford to attend a vital training camp in France before the start of the 2010-11 season, Osborne-Paradis paid the $4,000 bill.

“Manny was a huge part of keeping me on this team,” Thomsen said.

A 5-foot-7, 176-pound sapling in the land of giants on the World Cup ski tour, Thomsen is like men you find in most sports.

A bit too small to impress the coaches but a bit too talented to be completely ignored, they’ll develop a strong sense of self confidence. They’ll hang in there, they’ll lurk in the shadows and then some day they’ll get that break, that ‘get-it-done-right-now-or-get-lost’ moment when they get a shot at the big time.

“I wouldn’t say they (coaches) said I had no future because of it,” Thomsen said when asked his stature. Many courses are designed for bigger men who have a natural advantage as gliders.

“But it is tough when you’re small. You come up against a lot of guys who are six feet and weigh a tonne. I told myself that it doesn’t matter how big you are, you can always win and you can always do better.

“I like it when people doubt me and say that I can’t do it. I just say to myself, ‘I’m going to go out there and I’m going to show you. I’m not only going to do it, I’m going to do it better.’

“I’ve been working very hard this year. It was getting frustrating seeing guys that I knew I could beat getting good results. When that 11th place came it was a weight off my shoulders but, at the same time, anybody can do it once. I was really proud of myself that I did it on back-to-back days. I went 11th and then I went fifth. It wasn’t just a one time thing. It proved that I could do this on a daily basis and that I’m here to stay and I’m here to compete against the top guys.”

And Wednesday he led the way.

(follow me on twitter @tbellprovince)

 



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