Mogul Olympic gold and silver medalist Dale Begg-Smith has made a solid start to this year's World Cup with a performance highlighted by well executed turns and jumps in Ruka, Finland, last night.
The four-time World Cup champion recorded a sixth place in the season opener, with American Patrick Deneen, Canadian Mikael Kingsbury and Frenchman Guilbaut Colas finishing in the first three positions respectively.
Skiing in -12 degrees Celsius, the Australian was 1.66 seconds slower down the 215-metre course compared with Deneen, which appeared to be the difference between Begg-Smith and the first three places
While AIS Head Coach Steve Desovich conceded that Begg-Smith needs to find additional speed for the next round in Meribel, France next Wednesday, he and Begg-Smith were reasonably happy with the season opening performance.
"He had really well executed turns and solid jumps, but he's not yet up to full speed this early in the season," Desovich said.
"The lack of speed was perhaps more of a course specific thing. There were a few issues down the course where it was a problem to go very fast.
"As the year progresses we'll be on courses where he will feel more comfortable and speed will improve."
It is not unusual for AIS scholarship holder to have a slower start to the season. The opening rounds of the last three seasons have seen him finish fourth, tenth and sixth.
However, slow starts have not been an impediment, shown by his series winning performances in recent years.
The four-time World Cup champion recorded a sixth place in the season opener, with American Patrick Deneen, Canadian Mikael Kingsbury and Frenchman Guilbaut Colas finishing in the first three positions respectively.
Skiing in -12 degrees Celsius, the Australian was 1.66 seconds slower down the 215-metre course compared with Deneen, which appeared to be the difference between Begg-Smith and the first three places
While AIS Head Coach Steve Desovich conceded that Begg-Smith needs to find additional speed for the next round in Meribel, France next Wednesday, he and Begg-Smith were reasonably happy with the season opening performance.
"He had really well executed turns and solid jumps, but he's not yet up to full speed this early in the season," Desovich said.
"The lack of speed was perhaps more of a course specific thing. There were a few issues down the course where it was a problem to go very fast.
"As the year progresses we'll be on courses where he will feel more comfortable and speed will improve."
It is not unusual for AIS scholarship holder to have a slower start to the season. The opening rounds of the last three seasons have seen him finish fourth, tenth and sixth.
However, slow starts have not been an impediment, shown by his series winning performances in recent years.
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