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Owens’ strong finale

24/1/2014

 
PictureOlympic skier Jenny Owens on the slopes of New Zealand. © Jenny Owens
Australian Institute of Sport/NSW Institute of Sport skier Jenny Owens ended her World Cup career today after 101 starts and 14 years on the tour with her best result since December 2012.

The former alpine skier turned ski cross athlete, who will represent Australia for the third time at next month’s Sochi Olympic Winter Games, closed her World Cup career with a 15th place in Kreischberg, Austria.

The event, which is the last ski cross World Cup before the Sochi Games, was won by Frenchwoman Ophelie David, with Swiss skier Fanny Smith second and Canadian Marielle Thompson third.

The men’s event was won Switzerland’s Alex Fiva, ahead of Austrian Johannes Rohrweck in the silver medal position and Michael Schmid from Switzerland picking up bronze.

Today marked the 52nd time Owens has lined up in a World Cup ski cross event since debuting in January 2006, the second phase of her long World Cup career, which started in St Moritz, Switzerland in December 1999.

In other results for AIS/NSWIS athletes competing in Kreischberg, Anton Grimus was 14th, Katya Crema 16th and Sami Kennedy-Sim 24th.

With just 12 days before the start of the Sochi Games AIS ski cross program head coach Matt Lyons described his squad’s results as “encouraging.”

“The results today were not too bad, definitely an improvement, and yes I would say it was encouraging,” Lyons said.

Lyons added that he was particularly pleased the performance of Grimus, Owens and Crema in the first knock out final, with the two women crossing the line in second place and Grimus first, earning the trio a spot in the quarter finals.

Kennedy-Sim was unable to repeat the form that saw her finish in 4th place last weekend in Val Thorens, France, and did not progress past the first final.

Grimus, Kennedy-Sim and Crema will continue their Olympic Winter Games preparation by competing in a Europa Cup event before a final training camp leading into Sochi.

Sochi teammate and NSWIS athlete, Cameron Bolton, finished fifth in the snowboard cross final at the prestigious X Games in Aspen, USA, yesterday (Australian time).

Bolton was just 0.826 seconds behind event winner Nate Holland from America in a field that boasted some of the best snowboard cross riders in the world.


Kennedy-Sim's career best

17/1/2014

 
PictureThe AIS Ski Cross Team in Val Thorens
Australian ski cross athlete Sami Kennedy-Sim fought her way from 30th in qualifying to narrowly miss a podium finish in today’s last World Cup before the cut-off date for next month’s Sochi Olympic Winter Games.

Competing in Val Thorens, France, the Australian Institute of Sport/NSW Institute of Sport scholarship holder ended the day with the best World Cup result of her career and her first appearance in a World Cup final, behind the winning Canadian Marielle Thompson, Switzerland’s Katrin Mueller in second and Frenchwoman Ophelie David in third.

Kennedy-Sim finished fourth overall to record a confidence boosting result, with just 20 days to go to the opening of the Sochi Games in Russia and two days before the Sochi qualification cut-off date.

Although Kennedy-Sim was 3.8 seconds slower than the fastest qualifier, which put her in the last few places to make the 32-woman finals draw, Kennedy-Sim displayed determination and impressive speed throughout day two of the double header in France.

She skied strategically in the first knock-out round and again in the quarter finals before turning on an even more impressive performance in the semi-finals, finishing second to Thompson and earning a place in her first World Cup final.

Kennedy-Sim recaptured the form that enabled her to finish the 2011/2012 season with a world ranking of 11 and was headed towards second place in the final but unfortunately she went wide on the last turn before the finish line, which washed off precious speed.

With just 200 metres to race, Kennedy-Sim was overtaken for a place on the podium but she retains the confidence from bettering her previous best place in World Cup, a fifth in Canada in February 2012.

AIS ski cross program head coach Matt Lyons said that Kennedy-Sim's performance was a strong result.

“She can take a lot of confidence away from the day. She started each of her heats well. She was pretty much the fastest out in every heat and skied the top section really aggressively and really well.

"She maintained her position when she was being challenged by others. She did a good job.”

Fellow AIS/NSWIS squad members Jenny Owens was 23rd and Katya Crema was 26th, with both athletes unable to go further into the draw than the first final.

Crema was unlucky not to progress to the quarter finals, given that she was in a position to finish second in her heat, but she was passed by two athletes within a metre from the line, dropping the AIS/NSWIS skier back to fourth spot.

Owens missed the start in her heat and misjudged her speed with two jumps, pushing her down to third place in the heat, outside the top two places needed to advance to the next round.

Another AIS/NSWIS athlete, Australia’s only male in the event, Anton Grimus, who was the fastest qualifier on day one, was 17th after finishing third in a knock-out final.

The men’s event was won by American John Teller, while Sweden’s Victor Oehling Norberg was second and third going to Canadian David Duncan.

The squad will continue their World Cup season in Kreischberg, Austria, next weekend.


Grimus unable to build on qualification result

17/1/2014

 
PictureAnton Grimus at the bib draw in Val Thorens
Australian Institute of Sport/NSW Institute of Sport ski cross athlete Anton Grimus was unable to capitalise on setting the fastest time in the qualification session in Val Thorens, France, when he finished the weather-affected World Cup in 17th place today.

Grimus’s fastest qualification result, which was the first time in his World Cup career he has achieved that distinction, placed the bearded Australian into race one of the four-man knock out finals with the sought after bib number 1, pitted against three Swiss skiers.

But unfortunately Grimus crossed the line in third, with only the first two advancing to the quarter finals.

Grimus challenged for the lead in the heat but after being checked, which negatively impacted the Australian’s speed, he was not able to fight his way back to the front.

Severe winds and snow brought the day to a halt soon after, with the event being stopped after the last of the men’s quarter finals was decided.

Organisers had no alternative but to combine the first final and the quarter final places with qualification session results to form an overall finishing order.

Canadian Christopher Delbosco, who finished second to Grimus in qualifying, was awarded the win, ahead of German Daniel Bohnacker and Swede Victor Oehling Norberg in third.

In the women’s event, AIS/NSWIS athletes Sami Kennedy-Sim and Katya Crema improved on their qualification results by finishing the day in 19th and 21st. Jenny Owens did not qualify.

Switzerland’s Sanna Luedi won, ahead of Sweden’s Sandra Naeslund in second and Austrian Katrin Ofner in third.

AIS ski cross program head coach Matt Lyons believes that the wind, more so than heavy snow, was the main problem that caused the abandonment of the event.

Lyons said that winds reached 80 km/h but more importantly the wind was gusting directly behind athletes leaving the start gate, causing athletes difficulties in gauging speeds going into jumps and features.

So unpredictable was the wind that it caused all four athletes to crash in one of the heats.

The Australian squad competes again tomorrow in the second stage of the double header. The event will be the last ski cross World Cup before the Sochi Olympic Winter Games in Russia next month.


Kneller’s race of a different kind

9/1/2014

 
PictureIMAGE: Scott Kneller (Blue) leading a race earlier in the season © GEPA pictures/ Daniel Goetzhaber
Ski cross athlete Scott Kneller is racing against the clock to recover from injury in time to be fit for the Sochi Olympic Winter Games in 29 days.

The 24-year-old Australian Institute of Sport / NSW Institute of Sport athlete was injured in a training mishap in the Innechin / San Candido World Cup in Italy on December 22.

Kneller arrived back in Australia this week and went straight to the AIS facility in Canberra to fast track his recovery.

Kneller said that his back injury is progressing well and rates his chances of being fully recovered in time for Sochi as very good.

“If you look at me you wouldn’t think there was anything wrong. I’m walking around fine,” Kneller said.

“I would say the chances of being ready for Sochi are pretty good. It sucks for sure but this is the situation I have been dealt and all I can do is give it a go, basically keep my head up and train hard for the next month.

“I want to get back there, I want to compete.”

Kneller praised the level of expertise at his disposal with in the AIS facility.

“I’ve got so much support here, it’s incredible, between doctors, physios, strength and conditioning coaches. They’re the best in the world,” he said

The other factor which will determine Kneller’s Sochi aspirations is his ranking.

He said his raw ranking was 26th in the world, meaning that he is inside the 32 place cut off for ski cross for Sochi, however, he is the first to admit that his fate, in terms of points, is out of his control.

Kneller will obviously miss the final two events to be held before the January 20 Sochi qualification cut off date, but he believes his points buffer between the 26th and 32nd rankings should be enough to enable him to secure a place in the Australian team.

Australian Olympic Team chef de mission, Ian Chesterman, said he hoped Kneller was part of the team for Sochi.

“Scott made the top eight in ski cross at his Olympic debut in 2010 at Vancouver and he has dedicated himself to doing even better in Sochi over the last four years.

“He is a highly valued team member and we all wish him a very speedy recovery and that things work out the way he deserves.”


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