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January 30th, 2012

29/1/2012

Australian ski cross athlete Jenny Owens recorded one of the best performances of her career by finishing on the X Games podium for the first time in Aspen, USA, today.

Owens, who has four World Cup podium finishes to her name, grabbed third place behind Norwegian duo Marte Gjefsen and Hedda Berntsen in the invitation-only event for some of the world’s best winter sports athletes.

However, Owens' memorable day almost did not eventuate. Until just a few days ago, Owens was in two minds as to whether she would compete at the X Games.

Australian Institute of Sport ski cross program head coach Matt Lyons said that the AIS / NSWIS scholarship holder arrived at Aspen with mixed feelings about whether the X Games track would be suitable for her to race on, given that she had surgery less than 12 months ago.

She was prepared to pull out of the X Games if she had any doubts about the risks of the course and its possible effect on the ankle that underwent surgery.

“After looking carefully at the track and watching other athletes on the course, she came to the conclusion that the designers had toned things down and were focusing more on racing this year,” Lyons said.

“Up until then, she was not sure that she would compete but it all worked out in the end and Jenny is very excited by the result.

“With the X Games being such an important event, I’m sure Jenny’s confidence level will benefit a great deal from finishing third. This will only help her for the rest of the World Cup season and beyond.”

Owens’ teammate, Katya Crema finished 11th overall, after finishing the X Games consolation final in fifth place.

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PB for Katya in Les Contamines

16/1/2012

Australian ski cross athlete Katya Crema now has two reasons to hold fond memories of the French resort of Les Contamines.

The 23-year-old Australian Institute of Sport / NSW Institute of Sport athlete yesterday recorded a career best World Cup finish at Les Contamines, the same mountain that launched her World Cup career in January 2008.

Crema finished in seventh place in the fifth ski cross event on the World Cup calendar, her best result in 33 World Cup starts.

The event was won by Switzerland’s Sanna Luedi, with the French duo of Alizee Baron and Ophelie David in second and third in the overall final.

After qualifying 15th, finishing second in a quarter final and fourth in a semi-final, Crema then endured some aggressive racing with Norwegian Marte Hoeie Gjefsen in the opening stage of the consolation final.

However, despite the contact, Crema held her nerve and race speed but crossed the line in third place and seventh overall, behind Hoeie Gjefsen and her teammate Hedda Berntsen, who won the consolation final.

AIS ski cross program head coach Matt Lyons has been expecting Crema to make the finals this season but added that she’d had her share of bad luck so far, preventing the Australian from enjoying the results she is capable of achieving.

“Katya has trained very well all season and just needed some luck to go her way,” Lyons said.

“She was due to make a final and it’s a great result that it has happened.”

Australia’s most successful female World Cup ski cross athlete, Jenny Owens, delivered a strong qualifying run, stopping the clock as the 6th fastest, however, the unpredictability of ski cross took its toll in the quarter final, forcing the experienced Australian to miss the semis.

In other result from Les Contamines, Sami Kennedy-Sim finished 29th and Anton Grimus was 48th in the men’s competition, which was won by Switzerland’s Alex Fiva, Norway’s Didrik Bastian Juell in second and Canada’s Nick Zoricic in third.

The team now heads to Lenk, Switzerland, where they will train with the Swedish and Russian teams before heading to a Europa Cup event in Switzerland, where Kennedy-Sim finished third last year.

Sami's PB

12/1/2012

Australian ski cross athlete Sami Kennedy-Sim achieved a career best result today when she finished sixth in the World Cup event in Alpe d’Huez, France.

The 23-year-old Australian Institute of Sport / NSW Institute of Sport scholarship holder could not wipe the beaming smile from her face as she crossed the line in second place of the consolation final, giving her sixth overall in the third ski cross event of this season’s World Cup.

Her performance equaled the best result of any Australian ski cross athlete this season and saw Kennedy-Sim’s ranking jump from 23rd in the standings to 17th, joining team member Jenny Owens, currently ranked 14th, in the World’s top 20.

Today’s event was won by Switzerland’s Sanna Luedi, ahead of Canadian Marielle Thompson and Austrian Andrea Limbacher in third.

Kennedy-Sim’s elation of surpassing her previous best World Cup result, eighth at Canada’s Blue Mountain resort in February last year, overshadowed a race incident that put an immediate end to her hopes of winning the consolation final and finishing higher in the overall results.

After a solid start to the consolation final, Kennedy-Sim was tightly bunched with France’s Ophelie David and Norwegians Marte Hoeie Gjefsen and Julie Brendengen Jensen going into the first jump.

Jensen caught a ski edge on the rise of the jump, losing control and colliding mid-air with her compatriot and Kennedy-Sim, causing the three skiers to crash.

The Australian regained her composure quickly but had no chance of catching David who was the only athlete among the four unaffected by the incident, allowing the French woman to win the consolation final with ease.

However, Kennedy-Sim has already put the race mishap out her mind and has set her sights on another strong performance when the World Cup circuit moves to the French resort of Les Contamines on January 15.

AIS ski cross program head coach Matt Lyons was also thrilled by Kennedy-Sims success and believes the impressive result is due to the athlete’s hard work and attention to detail with basic technique.

“This is a huge improvement compared to the previous two events this year,” Lyons said.

“She has worked extremely hard to get today’s result, although this is what we expect of her.

“The team has had to deal with a less than ideal preparation to the season because snow conditions have meant that we have not been able to train for long on hard snow.”

Twenty-one-year-old Anton Grimus delivered a season-best performance when he qualified for the finals and finished 23rd.

The men’s final was won by Slovenian Filip Flisar, with Canada’s reigning World Champion Christopher Delbosco in second and Sweden’s Lars Lewen picking up the bronze medal.

In other results for Australian ski cross athletes, Owens, who captured sixth place in round two at St Johann in Austria on January 8, was unfortunately unable to qualify for the quarter finals finishing in 17th, missing the cut by just one place and 1/100th of a second.

Ski wax selection appeared to prevent Owens from continuing her good form from Austria.

Meanwhile, Katya Crema was on track to advance to the quarter finals at the half way stage of her qualifying run but an athlete skiing ahead of her crashed, which forced officials to close the course mid-way through the Australian’s run.

Crema was unable to achieve similar speed during her restarted qualifying run, finishing the day in 22nd place.

Owens back on track

8/1/2012

Australian ski cross athlete Jenny Owens has made a strong start to 2012, finishing sixth at the ski cross World Cup in St Johann, Austria.

Bouncing back from 12th place in San Candido, Italy, on December 20, the Australian Institute of Sport / NSW Institute of Sport scholarship holder skied with great purpose, progressing through to the final eight, and while missing the race-off for the top four, she finished second in the consolation final to take sixth place.

The main final was won by France’s Ophelie David, who recorded her 24th victory in World Cup competition, with Germany’s Anna Woerner in second and Frenchwoman Alizee Baron in third.

While Owens went to St Johann with a desire to finish on the podium, she leaves Austria in a positive frame of mind, knowing that after 35 World Cup career starts that she still has the potential of competing at the highest level once again.

Much of the Australian’s success and renewed confidence was paved by her strong performance in yesterday’s qualifying, which saw Owens record the weekend’s seventh fastest time among the field of 35 skiers.

However, as Owens skied toward the finish line in the small final, a split second decision may have cost her victory in the consolation event.

Going over the last set of rollers before the finish line, Owens was leading France’s Marielle Berger Sabbatel by a slender margin.

In an attempt to provide a small advantage, Owens sat back on her skies, but instead of creating the small amount of acceleration that she was hoping for, the opposite occurred and the Frenchwoman cross the line first, relegating Owens to second in a photo finish.

Race judges took several minutes of studying the photo to separate Owens and Berger Sabbatel.

AIS ski cross head coach Matt Lyons was full of praise of Owens, saying that she, and the rest of Australia’s ski cross team, had done considerable soul searching after their disappointing opening to their World Cup season.

Lyons said that all team members showed significant improvement in Austria compared with the first event.

“After San Candido everybody took a deep breath and reassessed everything,” Lyons said.

“They dug deep, did some soul searching and a lot more training than was originally planned. Today was a big improvement.”

For the full story and details of other Australians in action at St Johann, go to the OWIA website: www.wintersports.com.au
Results of other Australian team members were also encouraging.

Katya Crema was the unluckiest athlete of the weekend, missing the finals by 0.19 second, largely brought about by a sudden snow storm during her qualifying run, which was not a factor when the first 16 athletes skied.

Sami Kennedy-Sim finished qualifying in 28th place while young gun Anton Grimus missed the cut for the finals by just 0.2 seconds and showed glimpses of his potential.

The encouraging results have offset some of the disappointment resulting from a training accident that saw Australia’s number one male ski cross athlete Scott Kneller fracture three fingers in his left hand.

Kneller is undergoing rehabilitation in Australia and it is hoped that he will rejoin the team in February to compete in the last two events of the season.

January 30th, 2012

PB for Katya in Les Contamines

Sami's PB

Owens back on track

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