Australia’s nine alpine skiers who competed in the biennial FIS Alpine world Ski from February 2 to 15 will leave the Vail-Beaver Creek resort in the United States with pride and more experience.
A look back on the achievements by our squad of seven men and two women since over the past week:
Greta Small provided one of the notable results of the Championships when she finished 18th in the Combined event, backing up her 15th at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, last year.
In the Downhill leg of the event, Small put in a strong run, despite the unforgiving firm conditions.
Small looked for more speed on the top section but made up for the lost time in the 30 seconds before the finish line, stopping the clock just 3.78 seconds off the pace set by the eventual winner, Tina Maze from Slovenia.
Small was 23rd in the Downhill component of the Combined, which was an improvement on her 33rd position in the Women’s Downhill on February 6.
In the Downhill event she was 6.08seconds behind Maze so her Downhill time in the Combined event was a quantum leap for the 19-year-old.
The teenager, who pushed herself to the limit by competing in five events in the Championships, was disappointed by her time in the Slalom section of the Combined but pleased with an overall 18th in the event.
Three days later, Small, along with Lavinia Chrystal, competing at her first event at these Championships, lined up in the Giant Slalom.
Small went into the event nursing a head cold and a lack of energy but despite this, she skied strongly in the first run.
Her second run showed obvious signs of physical fatigue resulting in a final placing of 36th.
“The second run I was not satisfied with,” Small said.
“I did not have the same energy and heat as on the first run. Overall it was a solid effort and one of my better results in Giant Slalom at such a high level event.”
Chrystal finished in 45th, after losing time going into the long middle flat section.
The mistake seemed to inspire Chrystal to be more aggressive for the remainder of the run, however, she was unable to pull back enough time to make a big improvement with her overall result.
The men took to the GS course on the same day for their qualification session.
Australia’s Dominic Demschar automatically qualified for the final while Ross Peraudo, Luc-Henri Chevalier and Luke Laidlaw advanced to the final with solid performances in the qualification session.
In the final, Demschar erred in the top section, which resulted in him skiing out of the course in the first 20 seconds of the run.
Peraudo skied a solid run top to bottom but in his words he was a little too much in “cruise control”.
Chevalier skied tactically, especially through Golden Eagle, but just before the Red Tail jump made a costly mistake.
He lost significant time, however, made it to the finish and qualified for the second run.
Laidlaw risked everything in his run and was behind the line for most of the time but he kept the skis running and maintained his speed.
He made it through each of the tough sections on the Birds of Prey track, but had his eyes on the finish line too early, causing him to fall five gates from the finish.
Unfortunately Chevalier dislocated his shoulder on the fourth gate in the second run and was unable to continue.
Peraudo’s second run came to an end when he made a tactical and technical error.
Despite a worsening cold, Small joined Chrystal in the Slalom on February 14. To add to her woes, Small bumped her head on a table just before the first run and there was doubt on whether she would even start the event.
Combining the physical demands of competing in five events, the bump and the head cold, Small was noticeably down on power and elected not to continue after a slow first run.
Chrystal admitted after the event that she felt underprepared for the event with demands with her master’s degree meaning she was unable to train sufficiently in November followed by a lack of snow in Europe in January.
She finished in 45th place.
Mike Rishworth, competing in his only event in the Championships, and Peraudo made it through the qualification round to the final.
Daniel Demschar looked a likely starter in the final until he crashed in the qualification round.
Laidlaw also encountered difficulties in qualifying and did not finish.
Unfortunately Rishworth and Peraudo were part of a lengthy DNF list with a large number of athletes unable to master the challenging and irregular snow conditions and course.
It was an unfitting way for the 27-year-old Rishworth to bow out of international competition.
Rishworth has been a long time member of the Australian National Team and has decided to devote his time to study audio engineering.
The Australian National Alpine Team will now focus on the remainder of the Northern Winter before heading home to prepare for the busy Domestic Competition season.
Photo: Greta Small races during the Ladies' Alpine Combined Downhill run © Al Bello/Getty Images North America
A look back on the achievements by our squad of seven men and two women since over the past week:
Greta Small provided one of the notable results of the Championships when she finished 18th in the Combined event, backing up her 15th at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, last year.
In the Downhill leg of the event, Small put in a strong run, despite the unforgiving firm conditions.
Small looked for more speed on the top section but made up for the lost time in the 30 seconds before the finish line, stopping the clock just 3.78 seconds off the pace set by the eventual winner, Tina Maze from Slovenia.
Small was 23rd in the Downhill component of the Combined, which was an improvement on her 33rd position in the Women’s Downhill on February 6.
In the Downhill event she was 6.08seconds behind Maze so her Downhill time in the Combined event was a quantum leap for the 19-year-old.
The teenager, who pushed herself to the limit by competing in five events in the Championships, was disappointed by her time in the Slalom section of the Combined but pleased with an overall 18th in the event.
Three days later, Small, along with Lavinia Chrystal, competing at her first event at these Championships, lined up in the Giant Slalom.
Small went into the event nursing a head cold and a lack of energy but despite this, she skied strongly in the first run.
Her second run showed obvious signs of physical fatigue resulting in a final placing of 36th.
“The second run I was not satisfied with,” Small said.
“I did not have the same energy and heat as on the first run. Overall it was a solid effort and one of my better results in Giant Slalom at such a high level event.”
Chrystal finished in 45th, after losing time going into the long middle flat section.
The mistake seemed to inspire Chrystal to be more aggressive for the remainder of the run, however, she was unable to pull back enough time to make a big improvement with her overall result.
The men took to the GS course on the same day for their qualification session.
Australia’s Dominic Demschar automatically qualified for the final while Ross Peraudo, Luc-Henri Chevalier and Luke Laidlaw advanced to the final with solid performances in the qualification session.
In the final, Demschar erred in the top section, which resulted in him skiing out of the course in the first 20 seconds of the run.
Peraudo skied a solid run top to bottom but in his words he was a little too much in “cruise control”.
Chevalier skied tactically, especially through Golden Eagle, but just before the Red Tail jump made a costly mistake.
He lost significant time, however, made it to the finish and qualified for the second run.
Laidlaw risked everything in his run and was behind the line for most of the time but he kept the skis running and maintained his speed.
He made it through each of the tough sections on the Birds of Prey track, but had his eyes on the finish line too early, causing him to fall five gates from the finish.
Unfortunately Chevalier dislocated his shoulder on the fourth gate in the second run and was unable to continue.
Peraudo’s second run came to an end when he made a tactical and technical error.
Despite a worsening cold, Small joined Chrystal in the Slalom on February 14. To add to her woes, Small bumped her head on a table just before the first run and there was doubt on whether she would even start the event.
Combining the physical demands of competing in five events, the bump and the head cold, Small was noticeably down on power and elected not to continue after a slow first run.
Chrystal admitted after the event that she felt underprepared for the event with demands with her master’s degree meaning she was unable to train sufficiently in November followed by a lack of snow in Europe in January.
She finished in 45th place.
Mike Rishworth, competing in his only event in the Championships, and Peraudo made it through the qualification round to the final.
Daniel Demschar looked a likely starter in the final until he crashed in the qualification round.
Laidlaw also encountered difficulties in qualifying and did not finish.
Unfortunately Rishworth and Peraudo were part of a lengthy DNF list with a large number of athletes unable to master the challenging and irregular snow conditions and course.
It was an unfitting way for the 27-year-old Rishworth to bow out of international competition.
Rishworth has been a long time member of the Australian National Team and has decided to devote his time to study audio engineering.
The Australian National Alpine Team will now focus on the remainder of the Northern Winter before heading home to prepare for the busy Domestic Competition season.
Photo: Greta Small races during the Ladies' Alpine Combined Downhill run © Al Bello/Getty Images North America
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