Sami Kennedy-Sim has completed the final event of the six leg Cross Alps Tour with a 13th place performance in Innichen, Italy.
 
The results gives Sami a final ranking of 15th, on the Cross Alps Tour standings, a new initiative for the December period of the season that saw six competition starts across two weeks.
 
The highlight of the six events was Sami’s equal career best fourth place World Cup finish in Arosa, Switzerland.
 
Sami’s NSWIS teammate Anton Grimus did not compete in the final two events of the Cross Alps Tour in order to rest his knee.
 
Sami and Anton will resume World Cup competition in the new year in Watles, Italy, on January 14-15.

Sami Kennedy-Sim has equalled her best ever Ski Cross World Cup result after finishing fourth in Arosa, Switzerland this morning.

After qualifying for the finals in 14th, Kennedy-Sim won her quarter-final and finished second in her semi to progress through to the race for the medals.

The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympian was competing in back-to-back Ski Cross World Cups in Europe. Having been unable to progress past the first round of competition at the first World Cup events in Val Thorens last week, she felt more comfortable with her performance in the third World Cup start of the season.

“I was feeling strong today and had a good training run this afternoon,” said Kennedy-Sim after her final run.

“I skied really well in each heat and I am proud to have reached my second final. My starts were extremely strong, especially as I was in the worst lane choice in the yellow bib, but I held my own.

"The World Cup at Arosa has been awesome; having an event at night is always exciting and it draws a great crowd.”

Marielle Thompson of Canada won the gold medal this morning with 100 points. Poland’s Karolina Riemen-Zerebecka took out silver and Ophelie David of France won bronze.

Fellow Australian ski cross teammate Anton Grimus qualified for the final in 30th position, but managed to improve his standings to finish 24th overall.

Kennedy-Sim and Grimus’ coach Shawn Flemming said the night was full of highs and lows.

"Obviously a great day for Sami and her skiing was in great form. Hard to miss a podium but great heat skiing from her and was great to see it finally pay off.

“Heartbreaking for Anton. He had such a good start and executed perfectly. The mistake in the negative was hard to watch and obviously was the end of the race for him.”

The pair now head to Montafon in Austria for the next World Cup, kicking off in two days’ time.

“I can't wait to head to Montafon tomorrow and get straight into the fourth competition of the Cross Alps Tour,” said Kennedy-Sim.

“Our Australian Ski Cross team coaches and staff, as well as my team mate Anton Grimus, have worked really well together and I am sure we will continue this for the rest of the season."

The Val Thorens Ski Cross World Cup is done and dusted for Sami Kennedy-Sim and a now beardless Anton Grimus after they failed to advance in their respective quarter final and heats.

Grimus trailed over the start in 4th and fought back to take a wide line from behind and make it into 3rd but didn’t have the pace to make it into the required top two for the quarter final.

For Kennedy-Sim, skiing in Quarter Final 3 it was a better start than her first race but the pace set by Swede Sandra Naeslund proved too quick to catch from behind today.

The Ski Cross community will make a fast dash to Arosa, Switzerland for the next World Cup in two days time.   

The opening event of the 2016-2017 World Cup season has been a tough one for NSWIS athletes Sami Kennedy-Sim and Anton Grimus, with both skiers unable to progress pass the first round of competition.
 
Competing under spectacular blue skies in the French resort of Val Thorens, both athletes came into the day optimist after qualifying for the finals in 15th (Kennedy-Sim) and 21st (Grimus) places respectively.
 
Unfortunately in the women’s round of 16, Kennedy-Sim was caught up on the first feature, losing all speed and was subsequently unable to catch up to the other competitors.
 
Grimus showed some potential in his first round heat, but was unable to establish himself in the top two, which is required to advance through to the next round.
 
The second day of World Cup competition will take place tomorrow, where both athletes will be keen to atone for the results on day one.

IMAGE: Sami Kennedy-Sim & Anton Grimus ridint the chairlift in Val Thorens, France.

Australian Ski-Cross representatives Sami Kennedy-Sim and Anton Grimus have made it through to the finals of the inaugural 2016 Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup Cross Alps Tour after solid qualifying runs overnight.

The event kicked off at 9pm AEDT in Val Thorens, France, with Kennedy-Sim the first competitor in the Ladies field, qualifying in 15th place ahead of the first of two finals races that start tonight.

Head coach Shawn Fleming said despite a few mistakes, Sami skied impressively and gave herself the best chance for the remained of the weekend.

“She skied the top and middle sections very smoothly and with lots of confidence,” Fleming said.

“Entering the bottom section, she ended up a little off line which cost her almost 1.7 seconds but she scrubbed up speed well enough to qualify.”

Kennedy-Sim said that despite a few minor mistakes, she was happy with her efforts.

“It was a tough day with the one qualifying deciding our places in two races, but it’s a new day tomorrow and I’m looking forward to the fight,” she said after the race.

In the Male field, Grimus put in a smooth performance, qualifying in 21st place to get himself in the finals as well.

“Anton was 7th at the first split and maintained his speed through the middle 8th, however had a mistake at the very bottom of the course,” said Fleming.

“It cost him speed through the last turns and to the finish jump, but good enough to keep him racing for the next two days.

It was a perfect way to start the season, with a slightly redesigned course with more technical turns and jump combinations possible.

Fleming said the perfect weather and snow conditions gave his two Aussies the perfect chance to succeed and gain some crucial points for Olympic qualification.

“It’s a new mini competition format, consisting of 6 races in 4 different venues, so it puts a lot of pressure for the first race than previous years,” he explained.

“It was really critical to get them both qualifying and start the season with some good momentum and they got the job done so now we look forward to the finals ahead.”

Sami and Anton will start their finals tonight from 11pm AEDT.

More information and scores can be found at http://www.fis-ski.com/freestyle-skiing/ski-cross/events-and-places/event=39084/race=9485/

The wait is over and the first ever Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup Cross Alps Tour begins with the first training session of the 2016/17 ski cross season beginning in Val Thorens (FRA) on December 6.

Among the competitors vying for qualification spots for the first of the back-to-back Val Thorens events on ahead of the first two races this Friday and Saturday are Australians Sami Kennedy-Sim and Anton Grimus.

“We arrived in Val Thorens on Monday from our Austrian training base,” explained Sami Kennedy-Sim. “It will be training for two days, qualifying on Thursday and racing the next two days.”

With a change in the structure of the Ski Cross World Cups, competitors will be facing a busy December with six Cups in two weeks.

“It’s new for us,” said Kennedy-Sim. “Every five days we will be at a new venue. The style of scheduling that’s been created by FIS will be a Cross Alps Tour – like a Tour de France, and it’s getting a lot of attention and traction across Europe.”

“I’m excited to start racing even though it is a crazy block,” she admitted. “We have two days off in 15.”

The Cross Alps Tour will bring some never-before-seen rules and features to the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup over the coming days, with the most notable additions being the “wild card” slots for the World Cup’s top athletes and the public heat selection. 

In brief, the wild card spot is an assurance that the top eight men and the top four ladies as ranked will see a spot in the finals even with a poor qualification performance, with one of the intentions here being to ensure the Tour is decided in the races, not in the qualifications. 

For the first race’s qualification in Val Thorens the ranking system will be applied based on last season’s final World Cup leaderboard. After the first race in Val Thorens, the wild card spots will be determined by an athlete’s ranking on the Cross Alps Tour leaderboard. 

Mental preparation will be key.

“It’s definitely going to be an interesting challenge for Anton and myself to regroup after every event – win, lose or draw,” Kennedy-Sim said.

“I’ve been working hard on my re-focussing skills with AIS Psychologist Tom Hammond and management skills with coach Shawn Fleming. It’s all about managing us holistically.”   

For the Cross Alps Tour and only for the Tour the top qualifying athletes - again, eight men and four ladies - will be given the opportunity to choose their three competitors for the first heat of the next day’s race.

The top qualifier will be given first choice, which for the men will mean choosing one competitor from those ranked 9-16, one from those ranked 17-24, and finally one from those ranked 32. After that the next top qualifier will choose, and on down through the top eight men or top four ladies.

After Val Thorens, Ski Cross heads to Arosa in Switzerland on December 12 & 13 then Montafon in Austria, December 16 & 17.