VIS snowboarder Millie Bongiorno has recorded a personal best World Cup result of 19th in the parallel slalom event in Bansko, Bulgaria.

In a double event at the Bulgarian resort, Bongiorno finished in 24th place on day one, and improved to finish in 19th on day two, just missing out on the top-16 head-to-head- finals racing.

After the event Bongiorno reported:

"I am so excited to have achieved my best World Cup result so far with a 19th place!"

"This race here in Bansko, Bulgaria, was one of the most challenging I have ever faced. We experienced heavy rain and snow in the days leading up to the race and on race day, and it was an incredibly technical slope and course set."

"I had a lot of mistakes on day 1, crashing on the first run, and finishing in 24th place. I was angry about the crash but rather than getting stuck in my head about it I channeled all that energy into the second day of racing. I was so fired up in the start gate, just bursting with energy, but also laser focused on what my goal was and what I had to do. My first run was a little messy but my second run alone was the 16th fastest time!"

"From missing all of preseason from sickness - to coming straight back into a World Cup, with limited time on snow, and being so close to the finals has got me so fired up about the next races. With some more time on snow under my belt I know I’m capable of even stronger results, and I cannot wait to get stuck into it."

Bongiorno will now continue her preparation ahead of the FIS Snowboard & Freestyle World Championships which will take place in Bakuriani, Georgia, where she will compete in the parallel giant slalom on  February 19 and the parallel slalom on February 21.

Bree Walker will head into next weekends World Championships with confidence, after taking home her first monobob World Cup podium of the season in Altenberg, Germany.The QAS athlete had two consistent runs, finishing the first run in third place with a time of 1:00.92 seconds.

On run number two, Walker had a time of 1:00.97, the fourth fastest run of the round, which gave her a two-run time of 2:01.89 in third overall, 1.28 seconds behind event winner Kaillie Humphries of the USA, with German Laura Nolte in second.
Walker was delighted with the medal performance after her second run, and her best ever result on the Altenberg track, which had caused her trouble in previous years.

"This one is special", said the 2022 Olympian.

"It’s been one hell of a journey to get to a podium at an Altenberg World Cup and I’m grateful for it."

Walker will compete in St Moritz, Switzerland, in the World Championship monobob event on January 28-29, and will join brakewoman Sarah Blizzard in the two-woman the following week on February 3-4.

Australian alpine skiers Greta Small and Louis Muhlen-Schulte have competed in World Cup events over the weekend with Small in action in Cortina d' Amprezzo, Italy, and Muhlen-Schulte at the iconic Kitzbuhel event in Austria.

NSWIS skier Small took part in three speed events in Cortina, finishing in 46th place in the first downhill event, a seasons best 37th in the second downhill, and 46th in the super-g.

In front of a huge crowd in Kitzbuhel, Muhlen-Schulte finished in 43rd place in the first run of the slalom.

Muhlen-Schulte will now compete in Schladming, Austria, in the World Cup slalom event on January 24.

Bree Walker has achieved her third straight top-5 performance to open her World Cup season in Altenberg, Germany.

Competing in the monobob event, Walker was consistent with the fifth fastest first run and sixth fastest second run, giving her a combined two-run time of 1:59.25 which put her in fifth place overall.

Taking the win was American Kaillie Humphries with a two run time of 1:57.92, with Laura Nolte of Germany 0.55 seconds behind in second place, with Canadian Cynthia Appiah in third 0.94 seconds behind the winner.

The result is her best ever finish on the Altenberg track in a World Cup or World Championship start.

"This track has sure challenged me in the past, so I’m happy to take the small wins I have here this season", said the 2022 QAS Olympian.

"More to come with another opportunity next week to learn and grow as we stay in Altenberg for another World Cup."

The second monobob World Cup in Altenberg will take place on January 21, with Walker back with brakewoman Sarah Blizzard in the two-woman event on January 22.

Sarah Blizzard has recorded Australia's best ever result at an International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation Junior World Championships with a fourth place finish in the monobob in Winterberg, Germany.

Blizzard made a great start, with the second fastest time in run one with a time of 1:00.15 seconds. In her second run she finished in a time of 1:01.17 seconds, giving her a two-run combined time of 2:01.32 in fourth place, just missing the podium by 0.11 seconds, and 1.48 seconds behind event winner Maureen Zimmer of Germany.

To come away with Australia’s best ever result in this event in only my first year of driving is definitely something I’m proud of," said Blizzard.

"Thank you to all those who made this happen, you know who you are."

Blizzard will now rejoin Bree Walker in the two-woman bobsleigh World Cup in Altenberg next weekend.

Three-time Olympian Alex Ferlazzo has taken part in the second week of World Cup competition in Sigulda, Latvia, with a 13th place finish.

The result is an improvement from the previous week on the same course, where he placed 26th after crashing on his first run.

Ferlazzo made a great start in this event, recording an impressive eighth fastest first run with a time of 49.021 seconds.
His second run was ranked 18th for the round in a time of 49.331, giving him a two run combined time of 1:38.352, 0.764 seconds behind event winner Max Langenhan of Germany.

Just prior to the World Cup event, Ferlazzo also created history as the first Australian to win a luge Nation's Cup event, which was also the second Nation's Cup podium of his career.

Ferlazzo has now taken the lead in the overall ranking of the Nations Cup after five of nine races.

Jackie Narracott has taken part in her first event of 2023, with a 13th place finish in Altenberg, Austria.

The result is a PB finish for Naracott on the difficult Altenberg track, improving on her previous best of 15th in 2021 and 2019.

After recording the 18th fastest time in run one completing the track in 59.88 seconds, the three-time QAS Olympian improved in un two to record the 11th fastest time of the round in 59.24 seconds.

Narracott's two run combined time of 1:59.12 put her in 13th place, 2.89 seconds behind event winner Tina Hermann of Germany.

The skeleton athletes will be back in action next weekend for an extra event in Altenberg on January 20.

Competing in her first World Cup events of the season, Bree Walker has made an impressive start with top-five finishes in both the monobob and two-woman events in Winterberg, Germany.

Whilst the World Cup tour commenced in North America, Walker had elected to base herself in Europe to start her Northern Winter campaign, competing on the European Cup circuit, winning gold in her three event starts.

Joining Walker in the two-woman was brakewoman Sarah Blizzard, who has also been focusing on monobob racing to start the northern winter, with the pair having limited time in the sled together ahead of this week's World Cup competition.

The pair made a great start with the fifth fastest time on the Winterberg track, just 0.63 seconds behind first place.

In the second run they had the ninth fastest time, just .02 seconds off their first run time, with a time run time of 1:55.04, 1.30 seconds behind first place in fifth overall, two places better than Walker's previous best result of seventh with brakewoman Kiara Reddingius on the same track in November 2021.

German sleds took out all of the places on the podium on their home track, with Nolte/Schuten in first place, Buckwitz/Lipperheide in second and Kalicki/Fiebig in third.

"We are over the moon with the fifth place" said Walker the 2022 Olympian.

"It was our first runs in two-man together this week, so we really didn’t know what to expect. To achieve Australia’s best two-man result today is just a great feeling."

"This result has been a long time coming for Sarah and I, we have been sliding together for many years now and finally it all came together today. Very happy and proud to get this result with her."

"We have been through thick and thin together, so it’s the best feeling to start this two-man season on a high. More to come for sure."

Earlier in Winterberg, Walker narrowly missed the podium by just 0.07 seconds in the monobob.

In such close racing, a small mistake in the middle section in the first run was to keep her off the podium, with the QAS athlete finishing in fifth, 0.26 seconds behind event winner Laura Nolte of Germany.

"Would of loved to be back on the podium in the monobob, but it wasn’t meant to be this weekend.

"We will build on this fifth place over the next few weeks, my new coach and I have been trying out a few new things so it’s just a matter of piecing the puzzle together."

Walker and Blizzard will now head to Altenberg, for the next round of the World Cup tour, with 2022 Olympic Silver Medallist Jackie Narracott competing in the skeleton.

2022 Olympians Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have competed in the MadTown DoubleDown mixed teams curling competition in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, with 24 teams from four nations in attendance.

Gill (QAS) and Hewitt (VIS) finished with a record of two wins and three losses for the event, making a strong start comfortably winning their first two matches, but unfortunately lost their next three games in close results, and were not advanced to the final round.

The event was won by Japanese Team of Matsumura/Tanida, who defeated Canadians Walker/Muyres in the gold medal match with a score of 7-2.

Tahli Gill will now head to Lake Placid, USA, for the World University Games, which will run from January 13-21.

After the event, Dean Hewitt commented:

"It was our first time competing at the Madtown Doubledown in Madison, Wisconsin."

"What an incredible event it was with a stacked field, yet one of the most social events on the calendar. The atmosphere was one of the best we’ve ever played at."

"We started off strong with two wins and had three very tight battles against athletes from the 2018 Men’s Olympic Gold Medal Team, all coming down to the last shot."

"Despite falling just short of the playoffs, there are a lot of positives going forward and we’re looking forward to our longest uninterrupted block of training we’ve ever had coming up in Canada.

"I’m looking forward to watching Tahli and her team compete at the upcoming World University Games in Lake Placid."

IMAGES: Joel Underwood & David Surber

Harry Laidlaw and Louis Muhlen-Schulte have returned to competition, taking part in the first FIS Alpine World Cup events of 2023.

Muhlen-Schulte was the first to compete, racing in a slalom event on January 4 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, finishing in 51st place, missing out on the top-30 to compete in the final run.

At the World Cup event over the weekend in n Adelboden, Switzerland, Laidlaw was first up in the giant slalom, with the 2018 Olympian finishing in 41st.

In the slalom in Adelboden, Muhlen-Schulte recorded a did not finish on the first run.

Thee time Olympian Greta Small will compete in her first World Cup events of 2023 in St Anton, Austria, with a downhill and super-g to take place next weekend.

Alex Ferlazzo has headed to Latvia for the first Luge World Cup event of 2023, finishing in 26th place.

Competing on the Sigulda track, the three-time Olympian was heading for a good first run and was ranked 12th halfway down, but unfortunately had a crash shortly after, putting him in 26th place.

Ferlazzo recovered well in his second run, with the 16th fastest time of the round, but was unable to improve his overall ranking.

The luge athletes will remain in Latvia for another week, with a second World Cup event to take place in Sigulda on January 14-15.

Harry Laidlaw produced a pair of extremely impressive European Cup giant slalom results last week in Zinal, Austria.

The 2018 Olympian narrowly missed the podium on both days, finishing in fifth place on day one, and improved one spot higher to finish fourth on day two, just 0.5 second behind third place, giving Laidlaw his third top-10 European Cup performance for the month.

Laidlaw is currently at the World Cup in Alta Badia, Italy, for a double giant slalom event. In the first event overnight, he did not finish his first run, and will be looking to improve in the second event which will take place tonight.

Louis Muhlen-Schulte also competed in the Zinal giant slalom races, with his best result being a 25th place finish on day two. The 2022 Olympian also competed in the Italian National Championships Slalom event overnight, finishing in eighth. Muhlen-Schulte will compete in the World Cup slalom event in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, on December 22.

Greta Small was in action in Switzerland competing in the women's speed events at St Moritz. The three-time Olympian had her best performance in the second downhill, finishing in 45th place.

2022 Olympians Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have booked their place for the World Championships, with a victory at the Australian National Curling Championships held in New Zealand.

The pair went through undefeated, to record their third National Championship title together, winning the final with a sore of 9 to 3 against Team Westhagen/Panoussi.

The 2023 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships will take place in Gangneung, Korea, from April 22 to 29.

Results
1 - Gill/Hewitt
2 - Westhagen/Panoussi
3 - Boersen/Francey

Alex Ferlazzo has continued his great start to the season, with a strong week of competition in Park City, USA.

The three-time Olympian matched his previous best World Cup luge result of 11th from the week before, finishing 0.64 seconds behind winner Dominik Fischnaller of Italy.

Times from the event used for to rank the American-Pacific Championships, with Ferlazzo finishing in third place.

A sprint World Cup luge event also took place the following day, with Ferlazzo recording yet another personal best performance, with an impressive sixth place finish.
The luge World Cup tour is now set for a three week break, resuming at Sigulda in Latvia on January 7.

Brendan Corey has recorded his second World Cup top-10 of the season, with a ninth place finish in the 1500 metres in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

With Almaty hosting two weekends of World Cup competition, the 2022 Olympian continued his form from the previous week where he made the A-Final and finished in eighth place.

Corey had to progress through the repechage rounds to reach the semi-final, where he finished in fourth, advancing him to the B-Final.

In the B-Final, Corey had a strong race to finish second, giving him a final ranking of ninth.

Corey also competed in the 500m, but received a penalty in the quarterfinals exiting from the competition in 20th place.

The next Short Track Speed Skating World Cup will take place in Dresden, Germany, on February 3-5.

Brendan Corey leading the way
IMAGE: Australian Ice Racing

2022 Olympic silver medallist Jackie Narracott has recorded her best result of the season, narrowly missing the World Cup podium with a fourth place finish in Lake Placid, USA.

In a strong return to form competing in heavy snowfall on the Lake Placid track, on both runs Narracott had the third fastest times of the round, giving her a total time of 1:51.43 seconds.

Narracott was just 0.06 seconds off the podium, and 0.37 behind event winner Tina Hermann of Germany.

The IBSF Skeleton and Bobsleigh World Cup tour will resume in Europe in the new year, with Narracott competing in a World Cup event on January 13 in Altenberg, Germany, before the World Championships in St Moritz, Switzerland on January 26-27. 

Jackie Narracott flying out of the start in Lake Placid
IMAGE - Viesturs Lacis

Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore have continued their strong junior performances, claiming victory at the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix final in Torino, Italy.

The pair are now the second Australians to win gold at the Junior Grand Prix Final, joining Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor who won the prestigious event in 2017.

The end of year ISU Grand Prix Final brings together the six best juniors and six best senior skaters in each discipline to determine the best of the best.

The short program saw the pair ranked second, 3.13 points behind first place after scoring 60.19 points.

In the final free program skate, the pair put in a dominant showing with the highest score of the round with 121.18 points, moving into the gold medal position with a combined total score of 181.37.

Rounding out the podium was Sophia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev of the USA with a total score of 176.78 and fellow Americans Cayla Smith and Andy Deng in third with 150.51.

2022 Olympian Brendan Corey has impressed again with a World Cup PB in the 1500m, finishing in eighth place in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Corey progressed through the quarter final round in third place gaining direct passage to the semi-finals avoid the repechage rounds. In the semi-final, Corey qualified for the A-Final in first place his first time in the 1500m distance on World Cup.

In the A-Final, Corey was out in front for most of the race, but unfortunately crashed with four laps to go to finish in eight place.

The Short Track Speed Skating tour will remain in Almaty for another World Cup event at the same location next weekend.

The World Cup Alpine tour returned to Europe over the weekend, with Louis Muhlen-Schulte and Harry Laidlaw in action for Australia.

Muhlen-Schulte made his first World Cup start of the season finishing in 48th place in the slalom.

In the giant slalom, Laidlaw was unable to finish the first run, recording a DNF.

The next men's technical events on the World Cup tour are a double giant slalom event in Alta Badia, Italy, on December 18-19, with a slalom event at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, on December 22.

QAS Bobsleigh pilot Bree Walker has won her third straight Europe Cup monobob event to start the season, this time in Innsbruck, Austria.

Unfortunately in the second race Walker injured her hamstring in the push on the first heat, and withdrew from heat number two.

Despite picking up the injury, Walker still won the first heat, with her time a new track record.

Sarah Blizzard also continued to improve in her first season competing in monobob, finishing eighth on day one and just missing the podium in fourth on day two.

Alex Ferlazzo has commenced his World Cup season in style, recording a personal best 11th place finish at the World Cup event in Whistler, Canada.

The three-time Olympian warmed up for the event with a third place finish in the Nations Cup event on the same course a few days prior, and carried that form over to the World Cup.

In the first run competing at the venue from the Vancouver 2010 Games, Ferlazzo had the ninth fastest run with a time of 50.159 seconds. In the second and final run, Ferlazzo recorded a time of 50.345 which moved him back into 11th place overall with a two run time of 1:40.504, recording a new personal best performance.

Ferlazzo will now head to Park City, USA, for the next round of World Cup competition scheduled to take place on December 16-17.

Last weekend saw the return to action for Australia’s top alpine skiers who were competing in World Cup and Europa Cup events in Canada and Europe, respectively.

In cold and icy conditions, Lake Louise (CAN) hosted three women's speed events, with three time Olympian Greta Small competing in two downhill and one super-g.

The weekend was dominated by downhill queen Sofia Goggia of Italy, who scored back-to-back downhill wins, and Suisse skier Corinne Suter, winner of the super-g and twice on the podium in the downhills. Small finished twice in top-40, finishing 40th and 42nd in the two downhill events, and 39th in the super-g.

In Gurgl, Austria, Harry Laidlaw and Louis Muhlen-Schulte were in the starting gate of two Europa Cup giant slalom races, as they continue their preparation ahead of the World Cup events in Val d'Isere, France, later in the month.

Laidlaw finished in the top-ten in the first of the two giant slaloms, just 0.27 from a podium position, scoring 26 Cup points, while Muhlen finished in 33rd position. The second giant slalom event was unlucky for the two Aussies skiers, with both registering DNF results in the first run.

Laidlaw and Muhlen-Schulte will travel to Val d'Isere next, where two technical races are scheduled for the 10-11 December. Laidlaw will compete in the giant slalom, while Muhlen will focus on the slalom.

Article courtesy: Snow Australia

Australian figure skaters Holly Harris and Jason Chan have claimed victory at the Santa Claus Cup in Budapest, Hungary.

In a field of 14, the ice dance couple had the highest routines in both the rhythm dance and free dance programs to score 178.16 points in total

2022 Olympians Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have competed in the Super Series curling event in Winnipeg, Canada, finishing with a 2-2 record in the group stage.

Gill (QAS) & Hewitt (VIS) opened the event up against Matsumura & Tanida of Japan, with the Japanese taking the win with a score of 7 to 11 points.

In their second match, Gill & Hewitt recorded their first victory at the event, with a 7-4 win over Just & Grindheim of Canada.

They backed up their second round win with another strong performance in the third match, finishing ahead of Canadian team Thevenot & Kalthoff with a score of 7-3.

In a high scoring final round robin match, Gill & Hewitt unfortunately lost to Norwegians Moen & Nedregotten 9-7.

2022 Olympic Silver medallist and QAS athlete Jackie Narracott has returned to World Cup competition in the North American season opening events.

The first stop of the season was on the 2010 Olympic track in Whistler, Canada, where Narracott finished in 13th place.
Last week the World Cup tour moved to the site of the 2002 Olympic Games in Park City, USA, with Narracott finishing in 18th.

The final event before the Christmas break for Narracott will be in Lake Placid, USA, with a World Cup scheduled for December 16.