Russia’s Sunny Valley resort, where Sami Kennedy-Sim and Anton Grimus competed on the weekend, attracted massive crowds at the newest venue on the ski cross World Cup circuit.

With a packed grandstand waiting at the bottom of the hill to greet competitors, Sami Kennedy-Sim praised the Sunny Valley after she qualified second and then won her quarter-final.

“The event was awesome with 10,000 spectators providing an atmosphere that I have only experienced at the Olympic Games,” Kennedy-Sim said.

“The course is suited to everyone, so the racing was very tight but conditions deteriorated every minute with snowfalls resulting in significant snow accumulation on the track, making it the toughest race I think I have ever done.”
 
Kennedy-Sim blitzed the field in her quarter-final leading from start to finish but was unable to advance to the big final and had to settle for the small final and seventh overall. 

“I skiied a great quarter final and then had some issues in the semi and small finals however I stuck to the race plan that we as a team came up with and I am proud of how I skiied, how I stayed focused and how I managed the changing conditions.”

“I’m sad that I didn't get to race in the big final but things are moving in the right direction,” she said.

Grimus returned to competition following minor surgery in January and whilst he failed to qualify, he is back on the road and looking towards the next World Cup in Canada.  

From Russia the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup now moves to Blue Mountain, Canada for the World Cup finals, with the single competition set to take place on March 5.
 
 

NSWIS Ski Cross athlete Sami Kennedy-Sim has broken through for the first podium performance of her career, claiming silver in the first of two World Cup events in Idre Fjall, Sweden.
 
The exciting result makes Kennedy-Sim just the fourth Australian Ski Cross athlete to win a World Cup medal, joining former teammates Jenny Owens, Scott Kneller and current teammate Anton Grimus as the only Australian’s to achieve the significant milestone.
 
On two previous occasions in her career, Kennedy-Sim had made it through to the final four skiers in the final medal round, but had to settle for fourth place.
 
After qualifying strongly in third position, Kennedy-Sim raced well in the head-to-head finals, finishing in second place in the quarter-final, semi-final and medal final round for the silver.
 
Finishing ahead of Kennedy-Sim in first place was Swedish skier Sandra Naeslund with Austrian Katrin Ofner once place behind in third.
 
Reflecting on her first World Cup podium, Kennedy-Sim commented after the race.
 
“Today has been an awesome day, this has been my first podium.”
 
“Usually my starts are my strength but on this track that is not the case. I skied the fast and technical track really well and the feeling of all the hard work that I have put in and that my support team have put in is fantastic!”
 
“Now that I have this under my belt I am so ready to repeat it.”
 
OWIA Ski Cross Head Coach Shawn Flemming was full of praise for his athlete’s performance.  
 
“Super proud of Sami today she was able to stay composed and stick to her game plan through every heat and we knew with that we had a good chance. Consistency was the goal for today and it finally paid off for her.”
 
“The track here is incredible, so much opportunity for racing. Very technical start section, through the middle it's full of roller combinations, small jumps and some turns then leading in to the longest finish straight which is packed with huge jumps and roller features, very exciting course to race on.”
 
Competing in the second World Cup event at Idre Fjall, Kennedy-Sim was unable to replicate her day one performance, with the NSWIS skier finishing in tenth place in the quarter final round.
 
Anton Grimus will have to wait a little longer to make his return to World Cup competition following minor knee surgery in December. Grimus took part in official training, but the coaching and medical team in consultation with Grimus elected to wait to the next event in Sunny Valley, Russia, for his return.

IMAGE: Sami Kennedy-Sim (left) breaks through for the first podium of her career © Anton Grimus

The FIS Ski Cross World Cup heads to Idre Fjall, Sweden this weekend will feature two athletes donning the green and gold racing kit.

Sochi Olympian, Anton Grimus is set to make his return to the circuit after battling a knee injury that has kept him out of competition over the past few months.

Still erring on the side of caution, the 26-year-old plans to take it easy in his first race back.

“Yeah skiing had been fine but we’ll see how the training runs go on the track,” Grimus said.

“Feeling confident but the plan is to take every day as it comes and gauge how the knee holds up.

“Confident though that it'll be ready to go!”

This weekend’s competition comes after last week’s World Cup in Feldberg, Germany was postponed due to weather conditions, despite a herculean effort from circuit organisers. 

Fellow Aussie, Sami Kennedy-Sim finished 11th after her one run on the German course, and said the competition left her feeling frustrated. 

“It is never ideal to have a competition cancelled,” Kennedy-Sim said. “They ran 'part' of a race on Saturday and then adjusted the result based on your rank. In this circumstance, I never had a chance at the podium.”

Kennedy-Sim, who also made her Olympic debut at the Sochi 2014 Games, will be looking to bounce back this weekend on the challenging Swedish course.

“Last season I had an injury in Watles, Italy that sidelined me for some weeks over January.

“Idre was my first comp back and it was very intimidating. It was the first time we had competed here.”    

The 28-year-old described the track as a very long course, with “very very big” jumps.

“Having said that, now we have been here once before, I know more of what I should expect.

“It's the complete opposite of the race in Feldberg last week.”

Kennedy-Sim currently sits in 15th on the FIS leader board, while Grimus sits in 43rd and both will be looking to get
Australia up onto the podium this weekend and increase their world rankings.

The pair are both looking to make their second Olympic appearance at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, where they will line up against 32 of the world’s best ski cross athletes.

Competition in Idre begins on Thursday, February 9th, with the first round of qualifications followed by round two on Friday.

Back-to-back races will take place on Saturday and Sunday, both beginning at 10:30CET (19:30 AEDT).
Ashleigh Knight
 

NSWIS Ski Cross athlete Sami Kennedy-Sim, has finished in 11th place in a weather affected World Cup event in Feldberg, Germany.

The first of back-to-back World Cup races scheduled to take place was cut short due to a winter storm that blew into the area during the competition.

The weather in Feldberg had been challenging for some time leading up to Saturday’s competition, with a qualification round scheduled for Friday already cancelled before Saturday’s troubles. While the track at Feldberg was in good condition on competition day, and local organizers had large crews on hand slipping and maintaining the course, at some point the battle against snow accumulation and the rising winds became a losing one.

With the cancellation of Friday’s qualifiers, officials elected to go with an alternate start plan on Saturday, expanding the heat format from 32 men to 64, and from 16 ladies to 32, giving every athlete at least one run in a head to head heat and whittling down the field to the standard format in time for televised finals on Saturday afternoon.

While these preliminary rounds were completed satisfactorily, the weather took a turn for the worse just before the start of the finals, and by the time the last men’s heat from the round of eight had completed their run, it became clear that the competition would be unable to proceed.

With at least one competition round completed officials were able to declare a result, this saw Kennedy-Sim finish in 11th.

Despite a herculean effort from organizers, crews, and officials, the second scheduled World Cup was cut short for the second straight day as persistent snow and wind made the situation too difficult and variable to finish the event. This day no heats where able to take place meaning the event was officially cancelled.

With four events remaining on the now 13-leg Ski Cross World Cup tour, Kennedy-Sim sits in 15th place on the standings.

Australia’s leading male athlete, Anton Grimus is currently battling a knee injury and was ruled out for the Feldberg event. The 26-year-old had surgery on his knee in late December, after it had caused him trouble at the back end of 2016.

Well on the way to recovery, Grimus was on the side-line in Feldberg, but has plans to travel to the next event with the rest of the team, and is hopeful of resuming competition in mid February.

The team now flies to Idre Fjall, Sweden, for two World Cup events which will take place during February 10-12.

Australia’s top female ski cross athlete Sami Kennedy-Sim is looking to continue her strong form this weekend at the next World Cup event in Feldberg, Germany.

Fresh off a two strong 2nd and 8th place results at the Europa Cup in Lenk, Switzerland, this weekend’s competition will mark her second competition within a week.

“I went to the Europa Cup in Lenk as a training exercise,” said the 28-year-old. “I had a solid week of training leading into it with volume focused on snow time and big gym sessions.

“It was fun to have a low-key event and especially to see our younger Australian Ski Cross athletes in their race environment.”

The 2014 Sochi Olympian has good reason to be enjoying her racing at the moment, after she equalled her best-ever result in December at a World Cup event in Arosa, Switzerland where she finished 4th.

Currently well-placed in 16th in the World Cup rankings, Kennedy-Sim credits concentration and discipline as the keys to maintaining her great form.

“Staying focused from top to bottom and executing tasks set out. At the end of the day, making it through the rounds is the key.”

With Pyeongchang 2018 just over a year away, the Winter Games are not far from her mind, but for now she is just looking to get as many races under her belt as possible.

“I am looking to ski as many heats of Ski Cross as possible.

“We have World Championships just around the corner and Olympic qualifications are well under way - there are so many boxes that need ticking before I get my plane ticket to Korea so I am focused on those.”

As for her thoughts on this weekend’s World Cup, she remains confident, provided they make it onto the track.

“The weather is not looking great and it has rained a considerable amount over the past week so fingers crossed we get to race at all.”

Meanwhile, top Australian male athlete, Anton Grimus is currently battling a knee injury and has been ruled out for the World Cup event.

The 26-year-old had surgery on his knee, after it had caused him troubled at the back end of 2016.

“I ended up missing a few World Cups in December due to knee pain and decided with help from all the OWIA medical staff and ski cross coaches that surgery was the best option,” Grimus said.

“Not only was it getting unsafe to race with discomfort, it was also hindering my ability to perform.”

Well on the way to recovery, Grimus was aiming to be back in full competition by mid-February, but has decided to play it safe this weekend and take in Feldberg from the side-line.

“The knee bounced back quite well, responding to treatment and now is pain free when skiing and general day-to-day training.

“The plan now is to continue to strengthen the knee to be able to return to competition as soon as possible. The aim is to compete in the Sweden World Cup in Idre Fjall in early-to-mid February.”

This weekend marks the first time Feldbery has hosted a World Cup event and the action kicks off (weather permitting) on Friday.