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Grimus ends the season with a 32nd

23/2/2015

OWIA/NSWIS skier Anton Grimus qualified for the finals and finished in 32nd place in his final World Cup for the season.

Competing overnight (Melbourne time) in the second of back-back-races in Tegernsee, Germany, Grimus posted the 27th fastest time in the qualification session, which saw the 32 athletes separated by only 1.35 seconds, to advance to the knock-out rounds.

His qualification result placed Grimus against Sweden’s Victor Oehling Norberg, who was third in yesterday’s race 1 of the double header and local skier Daniel Bohnacker, who was second 24 hours earlier.

The Australian was in 4th at the end of the start section but still close enough to challenge through the next traverse.

He couldn’t get the momentum to move up a place and was forced to tuck back in to fourth

Grimus remained close enough to the leaders after the last turn but could not generate a passing manoeuvre in the last stage of the race.

Frenchman Jean Frederic Chapuis took the gold medal ahead of Slovenian Filip Flisa and Swede Viktor Andersson in third.

Grimus’s OWIA/NSWIS teammate Sami Kennedy-Sim decided to sit the day out to rest a nagging back problem.

Kennedy-Sim had physiotherapy in the morning but decided not to compete at that time.

She has booked an appointment with a doctor in Innsbruck to assess if she should compete in the last two rounds of the World Cup tour in Megeve, France, on March 13 and 14.

Kennedy-Sim said she is “optimistic for a good result and I look forward to competing in Megeve.”

Today’s race was won by Swede Anna Holmlund, with Austrian Andrea Limbacher second and France’s Ophelie David in third.

Results

Women’s World Cup ski cross, Tegernsee, Germany

1.   Anna Holmlund (SWE),2. Andrea Limbacher (AUT), 3. Ophelie David (FRA), 4. Marte Hoeie Gjefsen (NOR), 5. Alizee Baron (FRA), 6. Karolina Riemen-Zerebecka (POL), DNS Sami Kennedy-Sim (AUS).

Women’s World Cup ski cross standings after round 9

1.   Anna Holmlund (SWE) 615, 2. Fanny Smith (SUI) 507, 3. Alizee Baron (FRA) 473, 4.Ophelie David (FRA) 439, 5. Katrin Ofner (AUT) 309, 6. Andrea Limbacher (AUT) 305, 14. Sami Kennedy-Sim (AUS) 168.

Men’s World Cup ski cross, Tegernsee, Germany

1.   Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA), 2. Filip Flisa (SLO), 3.Viktor Andersson (SWE), 4.Jonas Lenherr (SUI), 5. Johannes Rohrweck (AUT), 6. Andreas Schauer (GER), 32. Anton Grimus (AUS).

Men’s World Cup ski cross standings after round 9

1.Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA) 587, 2. Victor Oehling Norber (SWE) 495, 3. Daniel Bohnacker (GER) 310, 4. Andreas Schauer (GER) 281, 5. Sergey Ridzik (RUS) 255, 6. Paul Eckert (GER) 255, 25. Anton Grimus (AUS) 100.

Kennedy-Sim 15th in Germany

22/2/2015

Australia’s ski cross athletes Sami Kennedy-Sim and Anton Grimus are looking ahead to tonight’s World Cup, to improve on their results from day one of back-to-back events in Tegernsee, Germany.

Kennedy-Sim qualified for the quarter finals on day one in 13th place and ended the day in 15th.

Kennedy-Sim was unable to secure one of two positions in her quarter final to progress to the semi-finals.

The World Cup was won by Switzerland’s Fanny Smith, France’s Alizee Baron was second and Sweden’s Anna Holmlund was third.

Kennedy-Sim’s OWIA/NSWIS teammate Anton Grimus missed the cut for the finals, while Frenchman Jean Frederic Chapuis won ahead of Germany’s Daniel Bohnacker and Swede Victor Oehling Norberg in third.

Tonight’s second day of the double-header is the last event on the ski cross World Cup calendar and both Australians are looking to finish the season with a strong result.

World Cup women’s ski cross, Tegernsee, Germany

1.   Fanny Smith (SUI), 2. Alizee Baron (FRA), 3. Anna Holmlund (SWE), 4. Ophelie David (FRA), 5. Katrin Ofner (AUT), 6. Christina Manhard (GER), 15. Sami Kernnedy-Sim (AUS).

World Cup women’s ski cross standings, after round 8

1.   Anna Holmlund (SWE) 515, 2. Fanny Smith(SUI) 507, 3. Alizee Baron (FRA) 428, 4. Ophelie David (FRA) 379, 5. Marielle Thompson (CAN) 300, 6. Katrin Ofner (AUT) 273, 13. Sami Kennedy-Sim (AUS) 168.

World Cup men’s ski cross, Tegernsee, Germany

1.   Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA), 2. Daniel Bohnacker (GER), 3. Victor Oehling Norberg (SWE), 4. Terence Tchiknavorian (FRA), 5. Thomas Zangerl (AUT), 6. Jonas Devouassoux (FRA), 38. Anton Grimus (AUS).

World Cup men’s ski cross standings, after round 8

1.   Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA) 487, 2. Victor Oehling Norberg (SWE) 477, 3. Daniel Bohnacker (GER) 284, 4. Andreas Schauer (GER) 241, 5. Sergey Ridzik (RUS) 240, 6. Bastien Midol (FRA) 238, 24. Anton Grimus (AUS) 100.

11th and 16th for Aussie duo

16/2/2015

Australia’s Anton Grimus delivered a much improved performance while his OWI/NSWIS teammate Sami Kennedy-Sim was able to maintain her solid result from 24 hours earlier on day two of back-to-back ski cross World Cup events in Are, Sweden, overnight (Australian time).

Grimus, who was determined to avoid his frustration of missing the finals on day one, finished in 16th overall in Sunday’s event and heads to Tergemsee in Germany for next weekend’s rounds eight and nine on the World Cup calendar with the confidence of winning through to today’s quarter finals.

Kennedy-Sim, who finished 11th on day one, recorded the same overall position on day two.

The men’s final was won by Frenchman Jean Frederic Chapuis, Switzerland’s Alex Fiva was second and German Paul Eckert was third.

Hometown hero Anna Holmlund took the women’s gold ahead of Czech Andrea Zemanova and Austria’s Andrea Limbacher in third.

Grimus started the day by finishing in 31st place in the qualification session with a run that “didn’t look completely comfortable” according to coach Shawn Fleming.

While the qualification placing was not Grimus’s normal hard charging performance, he strengthened his resolve and won his first final, coming from third place for most of the heat.

In the next round, the quarter finals, he attempted several passing but was not able to generate the speed to move into one of the two positions to advance to the semis.

Kennedy-Sim’s qualification saw her set the second fastest split in the upper third of the course but she was unable to continue the pace in the mid-section, which gave her 14th fastest time for the session.

Kennedy-Sim was drawn against tough opposition in Limbacher, Switzerland’s Fanny Smith and Norwegian Marte Hoeie Gjefsen in a quarter final, however, she started well, tucking into second place.

After holding second for the first two turns, Smith and Kennedy-Sim bumped each other, resulting in the Australian being push off the fast line through the next section.

Kennedy-Sim lost a little speed and her second place position forcing her to settle for third. With only the first two places progressing to the semis, Kennedy-Sim’s day was brought to an end.

Kennedy-Sim and Grimus head to Germany straight away to prepare for their third double header weekend in as many weeks.

Kennedy-Sim admitted that she “felt pretty flat and quite fatigued” going into today’s race.

“I was really struggling to maintain my pace throughout the track,” she said.

“I was really fast in the upper part in qualification and then falling apart a little in the second half but I’m happy to improve my 14th in qualification to 11th overall again and can’t wait to race again in Germany.”

Results

Women’s World Cup ski cross, Are, Sweden

1.       Anna Holmlund (SWE), 2. Andrea Zemanova (CZE), 3. Andrea Limbacher (AUT), 4. Fanny Smith (SUI), 5. Ophelie David (FRA), 6. Margarethe Ashauer (GER), 11. Sami Kennedy-Sim (AUS)

Women’s World Cup ski cross standing, after round 7

1. Anna Holmlund (SWE) 455, 2. Fanny Smith (SUI) 407 3. Alizee Baron (FRA) 348, 4. Ophelie David (FRA) 329, 5. Marielle Thompson (CAN) 300 6. Katrin Ofner (AUT) 228, 12 Sami Kennedy-Sim (AUS) 152.

Men’s World Cup ski cross, Are, Sweden

1.       Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA), 2. Alex Fiva (SUI), 3. Paul Eckert (GER), 4. Terence Tchiknavorian (FRA, 5. Louise-Pierre Helie (CAN), 6. Sylvain Miaillier (FRA), 16. Anton Grimus (AUS).

Men’s World Cup ski cross standing, after round 7

1.       Victor Oehling Norberg (SWE) 417, 2. Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA) 387, 3. Andreas Schauer (GER) 221, 4. Bastien Midol (FRA) 220, 5. Sergey Ridzik (RUS) 208, 6. Daniel Bohnacker (GER) 204, 19.Anton Grimus (AUS) 100.

Kennedy-Sim 11th in Are

15/2/2015

Australian ski cross athlete Sami Kennedy-Sim was edged out of a semi-final spot in a photo finish in the World Cup in Are, Sweden, overnight (Australian time).

The OWIA/NSWIS skier finished day one of back-to-back races in 11th place overall.

The race was won by France’s Alizee Baron, ahead of Austria’s Katrin Ofner in second and another Austrian, Andrea Limbacher , also on the podium.

After earning a place in the finals with the 14th fastest time in the qualification session, Kennedy-Sim looked likely to advance to the semi-finals when she held second position through the last turn in her quarter final.

However, France’s former World Champion Ophelie David was able to pull out from behind the Australian and make a slightly better press on the last jump, giving her enough speed to bridge the gap.

Crossing the line, judges called on a photo finish to separate the two athletes but the print showed the Australian had finished just behind in third place, which meant she missed the cut to progress to the last eight.

Coach Shawn Fleming said that he was impressed by Kennedy-Sim’s tenacity throughout the competition.

“It was the best head-to-head racing I have seen her put together in a long time,” Fleming said.

“This gives me confidence that we will see good things come in the second race tomorrow.

Teammate Anton Grimus had a tough day at the office when a mishap in the qualification session saw him unable to qualify for the finals.

Grimus was in 15th place at the split in the qualification session but spun out in the most technical turn of the course, ending his qualification run immediately

Sweden’s Victor Oehling Norberg won his third event in a row, followed by Frenchman Jean Frederic Chapuis and Sweden’s Michael Forslund in third.

Fleming said that Grimus was skiing fast up to the point of spinning.

“At the end of the day, that is racing. He will be competitive for the second race tomorrow,” Fleming said.

Day 2 in Are continues tonight Australian time.

Results

Women’s World Cup ski cross, Are, Sweden

1.Alizee Baron (FRA), 2. Katrin Ofner (AUT), 3. Andrea Limbacher (AUT), 4. Yulia Livinskaya (RUS), 5. Ophelie David (FRA), 6. Andrea Zemanova (CZE), 11.Sami Kennedy-Sim (AUS).

Women’s ski cross World Cup standing, after round 6

1.       Fanny Smith (SUI) 357, 2. Anna Holmlund (SWE) 355, 3. Alizee Baron (FRA) 316, 4. Marielle Thompson (CAN) 300, 5. Ophelie David (FRA) 284, 6. Georgia Simmerling (CAN) 205, 12 Sami Kennedy-Sim (AUS)

Men’s World Cup ski cross, Are, Sweden

1.       Victor Oehling Norberg (SWE), 2. Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA), 3. Michael Forslund (SWE), 4. Bastien Midol (FRA), 5. Christopher Delbosco (CAN), 6. Jamie Preddle (NZL), DNF Anton Grimus (AUS)

Men’s ski cross World Cup standing, after round 6

1.       Victor Oehling Norberg (SWE) 411, 2. Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA) 287, 3. Bastien Midol (FRA) 220, 4. Andreas Schauer (GER) 205, 5. Sergey Ridzik (RUS) 199, 6. Daniel Bohnacker (GER) AUS) 85.

Grimus in season best 7th & and Kennedy-Sim 10th

9/2/2015

OWIA/NSWIS ski cross athletes Anton Grimus and Sami Kennedy-Sim have clinched top-10 finishes in the second World Cup event in Arosa, Switzerland.

Grimus improved his 17th placing from 24 hours earlier on day one of the fifth round of World Cup season by qualifying in fourth fastest time, winning his first knock out final and quarter final , before finishing in third place in the semi-finals and the consolation final.

Grimus was unlucky to miss a spot in the final after he was edged out in a photo finish that took a considerable amount of time to separate second and third places.

Unfortunately for the Australian, Frenchman Jean Frederic Chapius, an Olympic and World Championships gold medallist, advanced to the final ahead of Grimus after judges examined the photo finish.

The strong performance saw Grimus finish in seventh overall, his best result since the World Championships in Norway two years ago, while his OWIA/NSWIS teammate, Kennedy-Sim, was 10th.

The women’s event was won by Swiss skier Fanny Smith, with Swede Anna Holmlund second and Russian Sofia Smirnova in third.

Sweden’s Victor Oehling Norberg won the men’s ahead of Russian Sergey Ridzik and German Daniel Bohnacker in second and third.

“All in all I was pretty happy with the result,” Grimus said. “It’s good to see that things are moving in the right direction.”

Kennedy-Sim said she was aiming to better her eighth place from day one, however, “I’ll take a top 10 whenever I can get one.”

“This is both disappointing and motivating. I’m now looking forward to Are (Sweden) and putting it down on a different track,” Kennedy-Sim said.

The Arosa event was the second of six races in three weeks. The squad now journeys to Sweden for next weekend’s event.

Coach Shawn Fleming described the squad’s performances as a “great weekend – three top 10 finishes from two athletes”.

“It is a step in the right direction, for sure,” Fleming said.

“We talked last night about changing the tactics and it really worked in Anton’s favour.

“The tactic would have worked in the small final as well but the two Canadians who qualified first and second ended up in the same final and they worked together as a team which was an advantage.

“Anton was very happy to get through and have a full day of skiing.”

IMAGE: Anton Grimus racing in Arosa

Season best for Kennedy-Sim

7/2/2015

OWIA/NSWIS athlete Sami Kennedy-Sim enjoyed her best result of the season when she made the consolation final of the ski cross World Cup in Arosa, Switzerland.

The 26-year-old, who qualified for the quarter finals in 12th spot, ended the day, which is the first of six races in three weeks, in eighth overall.

Switzerland’s Fanny Smith won on home snow, with Sweden’s Anna Holmlund and Frenchwoman Ophelie David taking second and third respectively .

In the men’s draw Australia’s Anton Grimus once again showed his potential by setting the fastest time in a highly competitive qualification session, which saw the top 20 skiers separated by less than a second.

Grimus finished the day in 17th overall, behind Sweden’s gold medallist Victor Oehling Norberg, Russia’s Sergy Ridzik in second and France’s Bastien Midol in the third podium position.

Grimus said he “got caught up in the start a bit”, a pivotal element of racing on the Arosa course.

“Two guys pinched me in so I tried to make a pass but it wasn’t to be today. I’ve got to look forward to tomorrow,”Grimus said

Coach Shawn Fleming said that “his time will eventually come.”

“Anton was fast all week,” Fleming said. “He was first in training, he was first in qualy and fourth in the second qualy (for tomorrow’s next round of the World Cup) and he ran a practice run this morning with the current World Champion and handily won by five to 10 ski lengths.

“His time was the fastest of the morning’s training.

“He has the speed and we believe we have a good process in what we are doing.

“He wants to be there in a final and that’s what he is skiing for and to go out in the first round is a tough one.

“The nice thing about having these double races is that you get a bit of a second chance in a sense. Maybe we can go in and work on that mindset at the start and get a better result.

“We’ll switch it up a little and maybe we can do something tomorrow.”

Fleming said that Grimus’s reaction time in the final was a “bit off” getting out of the gate and by the time the four athletes reached the first turn, he was in third place by a margin of between a half to a ski length, behind Midol and Swiss skier Jonas Lennher.

The experience of the French and Swiss skiers ensured a mistake free run, shutting the door on Grimus making a move for one of the two places that would progress to the quarters.

Kennedy-Sim finished in second place of her quarter final, advancing to the semis.

Unfortunately Kennedy-Sim drew an inside gate which is not an advantage on the Arosa course.

She was third after the field settled into the race and despite throwing everything at her rivals, it was a position she was unable to improve upon.

Finishing the semi in fourth place meant that she did not qualify for the final.

In the consolation final, Kennedy-Sim grabbed an early lead thanks to a strong start and protected her margin through the top half.

However, she then took a slightly different line through a turn and opened a small opportunity for Austria’s Katrin Ofner who pushed the Australian back to second.

Kennedy-Sim also lost speed going into a relatively flat traverse section, which enabled France’s Alizee Baron and Poland’s Karolina Riemen to overtake the Australian as the four women approached the finish line.

“I’m moving in the right direction and looking forward to tomorrow to crack that big final,” Kennedy-Sim said.

Fleming said he was optimistic about Kennedy-Sim’s prospects for tomorrow

“The numbers are moving in the direction that we want. She is definitely hungry for more and today gave her a glimpse that cleaning up one or two things and all of a sudden you are talking about getting into the final,” he said.

IMAGE: Sami Kennedy-Sim racing in Arosa