Australian Institute of Sport / NSW Institute of Sport athlete Sam Hall took another step towards fulfilling his Olympic dream when he finished with a personal best sixth place in the World Freestyle Ski Championships dual moguls event in Voss, Norway.
The 24-year-old Hall won his first dual against Sweden’s Ludvig Fjallstroim, after qualifying in eighth, and advanced to the quarter finals.
Unfortunately for the Australian, he was then drawn against the eventual winner Alex Bilodeau, who brought Hall’s day to an end.
Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, was second and American Patrick Deneen took third place.
However, as the best finishing Australian, coupled with strong performances in the last two weeks, Hall can be highly pleased with the result.
Given that Hall missed last season with a knee injury, he has made significant progress towards living up to the promise he showed several years ago.
It was only a little more than 10 days ago that Hall achieved a then World Cup personal best, an eighth place in Japan, which has now been improved in a field boasting every current top class moguls skier in the world.
Hall was one of four Australian squad members who progressed to the finals.
NSWIS skier Brodie Summers extended his “purple patch” by making the finals with a very strong fourth place, but unlike Hall, he was unable to win his quarter final dual against Fin Jimi Salonen and ended the day in a very impressive ninth place.
In the women’s draw, teenager Britt Cox and fellow AIS / NSWIS scholarship holder Nicole Parks both made the finals to finish in eighth and 16th. Cox won her first dual but went down to the eventual silver medallist Miki Ito in a quarter final.
The women’s event was won by Canadian Chloe Dufour-Lapointe, with American Hannah Kearney in third.
The only member of the Australian squad not to make finals was Matt Graham.
Following an outstanding fourth place in the first of the two moguls events in Voss, Graham made an uncharacteristic mistake going into a jump during the qualification session for finals. The error ended his chances of recording another top finish.
AIS moguls skiing program head coach Steve Desovich labeled the day as “a very solid result and we’d always take a day like today.”
“Sam has worked very hard to get back from injury but I would also like to acknowledge the great work by OWIA/NSWIS sport scientist John Marsden and Coach Peter Topalovic from NSWIS who have worked closely with Sam and have played a huge part in his return.”
With Hall and Summers continuing their northern hemisphere campaign in Sweden and Spain after the World Championships while the other squad members return to Australia to begin their year of preparation for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Russia, Desovich is able to reflect very positively on the season.
“This season can be described as very good,” Desovich said.
“The highlights were Britt Cox’s third place in Lake Placid and her fourth in Kreischberg, Austria, along with her 10th place here in the World Championships, and if you combine all of those, that’s a solid performance.
“Also Matt Graham’s seventh place in Sochi and the fourth place here, they’re simply fantastic results as very often the youngest finalist in the men’s competition.”
The 24-year-old Hall won his first dual against Sweden’s Ludvig Fjallstroim, after qualifying in eighth, and advanced to the quarter finals.
Unfortunately for the Australian, he was then drawn against the eventual winner Alex Bilodeau, who brought Hall’s day to an end.
Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, was second and American Patrick Deneen took third place.
However, as the best finishing Australian, coupled with strong performances in the last two weeks, Hall can be highly pleased with the result.
Given that Hall missed last season with a knee injury, he has made significant progress towards living up to the promise he showed several years ago.
It was only a little more than 10 days ago that Hall achieved a then World Cup personal best, an eighth place in Japan, which has now been improved in a field boasting every current top class moguls skier in the world.
Hall was one of four Australian squad members who progressed to the finals.
NSWIS skier Brodie Summers extended his “purple patch” by making the finals with a very strong fourth place, but unlike Hall, he was unable to win his quarter final dual against Fin Jimi Salonen and ended the day in a very impressive ninth place.
In the women’s draw, teenager Britt Cox and fellow AIS / NSWIS scholarship holder Nicole Parks both made the finals to finish in eighth and 16th. Cox won her first dual but went down to the eventual silver medallist Miki Ito in a quarter final.
The women’s event was won by Canadian Chloe Dufour-Lapointe, with American Hannah Kearney in third.
The only member of the Australian squad not to make finals was Matt Graham.
Following an outstanding fourth place in the first of the two moguls events in Voss, Graham made an uncharacteristic mistake going into a jump during the qualification session for finals. The error ended his chances of recording another top finish.
AIS moguls skiing program head coach Steve Desovich labeled the day as “a very solid result and we’d always take a day like today.”
“Sam has worked very hard to get back from injury but I would also like to acknowledge the great work by OWIA/NSWIS sport scientist John Marsden and Coach Peter Topalovic from NSWIS who have worked closely with Sam and have played a huge part in his return.”
With Hall and Summers continuing their northern hemisphere campaign in Sweden and Spain after the World Championships while the other squad members return to Australia to begin their year of preparation for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Russia, Desovich is able to reflect very positively on the season.
“This season can be described as very good,” Desovich said.
“The highlights were Britt Cox’s third place in Lake Placid and her fourth in Kreischberg, Austria, along with her 10th place here in the World Championships, and if you combine all of those, that’s a solid performance.
“Also Matt Graham’s seventh place in Sochi and the fourth place here, they’re simply fantastic results as very often the youngest finalist in the men’s competition.”
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