Skier Mike Janyk was pleased with his finish in the top 15 after recovering from a foot injury.
Mike Janyk came back after three weeks of rehab work on an ankle sprain and produced a gutsy performance to a tie for 14th Thursday in a World Cup slalom in Zagreb, Croatia.
Janyk, 29, of Whistler, B.C., completed his runs in rough conditions to gain his best World Cup result so far this season.
Janyk, tied for 16th after the first run, looked strong at the top of the course. His two-run combined time of one minute, 54.84 seconds – about 2 ½ seconds off the podium -- put him in a tie for 14th with Ted Ligety of the United States. Brad Spence, of Calgary, Alta., was 24th with a time of 1:55.45.
"I'm super happy. My goal was to break the top 15," said Janyk, who rolled over on his his ankle during dryland training in Italy in December. "I had to be realistic because I had over two weeks off skiing and I couldn't expect to come back and be in the same form. There are a lot of good things to take away from this
"I've been in rehab for three weeks and the timing is there. The skiing is good, but the fitness isn't there."
Janyk spent the holiday season in Canada and had limited on-snow training prior to Thursday's race.
"It's been getting better every day," Janyk said of his ankle. "Three days ago it was so painful putting my boots on. The next day was better, then today, it was ... uncomfortable. But I didn't think about it when I was doing the run."
Paul Kristofic, head coach of Canada's men's alpine team was happy with Janyk's performance.
He had pretty impressive section," Kristofic said. "He brought really good intensity – we just have to get his ski legs back. It's a sign of good things to come."
Austria's Marcel Hirscher took the win – and with it the lead in the overall World Cup standings – with a two-run combined time of 1:51.84. Germany's Felix Neureuther was 0.29 seconds back in second (1:52.13), followed by local hero Ivica Kostelic, of Croatia (1:52.32), in third.
For Spence, it was his third top-30 slalom result of the World Cup season.
Paul Stutz, of Banff, Alta., was 35th after the first run, missing out on qualifying for the second run by just more than 0.4 seconds. Trevor White, of Calgary, Alta., was 46th while Ottawa, Ont., skier Patrick Biggs, – making his first World Cup start of the season following a spell out due to injury – was 52nd in the first run. Calgary's Erik Read made the third World Cup start of his career but fell and did not finish his first run. Julien Cousineau, of Lachute, Que., fell just before the finish line on hist first run and was disqualified.
"I wasn't satisfied with the intensity [of Canadian skiers after Janyk]" Kristofic said. "They need to tighten their game and show good speed – especially with the way the conditions broke down with soft snow and a lot of ruts."
The next World Cup stop is scheduled for Sunday in Adelboden, Switzerland.