Alpine Canada Alpin names Patrick Riml to lead Ladies team into Olympics
Patrick Riml, who coached U.S. Ski Team athletes to Olympic and World Cup titles, was named manager of Canada’s top performing Ladies team today as Alpine Canada Alpin sharpened its focus on winning medals at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver / Whistler.
Riml, an Austrian native whose wife is from Lethbridge AB, has spent the last seven seasons with the U.S. Ski Team, including guiding the women’s World Cup team for the last five.
His coaching accomplishments include coaching Julia Mancuso to Olympic giant slalom gold in 2006 and Lindsey Vonn to the overall and downhill World Cup titles last season.
“This is a really exciting opportunity for me with a program that is clearly on the rise and focused on the goal of being the best as we head into the 2010 Olympics,” said Riml, who will also become director of special projects with the Canadian Alpine Ski Team.
“We need to build on the success of our Ladies speed team while continuing to improve our younger skiers. I also intend to help some veteran skiers on the technical side return from injuries to the form they have shown in the past,” Riml added.
With 22 months before the Olympics, ACA Chief Athletics Officer Max Gartner said adding Riml brings sharpened focus to Canada’s Ladies team, who are coming off their best performance since 1986 with seven World Cup podiums including downhill victories by Britt Janyk (Whistler, BC) and Emily Brydon (Fernie, BC).
“Patrick has a proven track record of success in his coaching career,” said Gartner, noting that ACA is continuously striving to add the human, technical and financial resources required to win. “He has the knowledge and experience required to develop champions at the highest level, which is critical as we enter an important phase in the pursuit of our goal to be the best in the world by 2010.”
Gartner, who will work closely with Riml, said the full coaching staff for next season will be announced at a later date.
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Alpine Canada Alpin names Patrick Riml to lead Ladies team into Olympics
