Tiana Gairns’ 2021 season continues to ignite passion and results for the young athlete.
The Prince George product recorded a new personal best this past weekend in her second career appearance in a FIS Ski Cross World Cup event, while making history at the same time among her Canadian national team members.
She made her first-ever Big Final on the circuit, claiming fourth place alongside Cultus Lake, B.C.’s Reece Howden in an inaugural mixed-team event on Sunday (Feb. 28).
Gairns was competing in Bakuriani, Georgia, located about 180 km west of the country’s capital of Tbilisi and more than 1,000 km southwest of Sochi, Russia, the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The 22-year-old anchored her mixed-team relay with Howden.
When the first racer crosses the finish line, the second athlete’s gate drops based on the time difference behind first place and must try to make up the difference on the way down.
“It’s a fun event but as the second racer you feel like you have a bit more pressure but this guy set me up well each round,” she said in a statement about the unique race, which Alpine Canada adds may make a return to future world championships and even the Olympics.
Gairns and Howden placed second in both the quarter- and semi-final stints to earn the chance to compete for a World Cup medal.
Her fourth-place spot is one step above her previous international record more than a month ago when she won her small final on Sweden’s slopes for fifth place overall.
On Friday (Feb. 26), she reached another women’s individual small final once more, but did not finish the race and was given eighth place. Gairns started the weekend in fifth with a qualifying time of 1:21.23.
After finishing first in the quarter-final race, she fell to third in the semi-final which resulted in her relegation to the small final.
Gairns was the third-highest among her Canadian teammates to finish in the individual category, second with Howden in the mixed-team relay.
According to FIS, the next event is scheduled for March 6 and 7 at Reiteralm in Austria for the 2021 European Championships.
Prince George’s Evan Bichon, Colby Graham and 2018 Olympian Meryeta O’Dine may also put their skills to the test in Georgia this week as the same Bakuriani track is set to host the Snowboard World Cup March 3 to 5.
