Two time Olympian Sami Kennedy-Sim has recorded her best result of the season, with a sixth place finish at a night World Cup in Arosa, Switzerland.
 
Kennedy-Sim advanced through two heats of racing to reach the semi final round for the first time this season.
 
In the semi-final, Kennedy-Sim was unable to each the big final after placing fourth, and in the consolation small final, she finished in second, to give the final ranking of sixth.
 
‘I am so happy to have achieved a sixth place today, Kennedy-Sim said, “I was one of the fastest girls in training over the past days and that confidence propelled me into today.
 
“I am looking forward to heading to Italy tomorrow for the final stop of the Cross Alps Tour.”
 
OWIA Ski Cross Head Coach was happy with the performance of the NSWIS athlete after the race.
 
“Arosa was a good race, the weather held off and we had good conditions.”
 
“Sami has been training really fast and was confident.”
 
She had a bit of trouble in the semi-final, getting held out of the first turn into the jump and had to give a little which cost her. “
 
“Sami came back really strong in the small final and had a clean run top to bottom.”
 
Also in action for Australia competing in the men’s event was Anton Grimus in 46th, and Doug Crawford in 54th.
 
The Australian Ski Cross team now heads to Innichen, Italy, for the final stop of the action packed Cross Alps Tour, which sees six competitions at four venues over the course of 17 days.

The first event will take place on December 21, with the second and final event of 2019 on December 22.

Photo: GEPA pictures/ Oliver Lerch

NSWIS Ski Cross athlete Sami Kennedy-Sim has finished in 14th place at the World Cup event in Montafon, Austria, her third top-16 finals performance of the season.
 
Kennedy-Sim started the event off strongly, qualifying in ninth place, but unfortunately in her first round heat in finals, she crossed the line in fourth, and was unable to advance to the semi final stage.
 
After three competitions, Kennedy-Sim is currently in 13th place on the World Cup standings.
 
Also in action for Australia was Doug Crawford, who placed 58th in qualifying.
 
Two time Olympian Anton Grimus was unable to compete after a heavy crash in training forced him to miss the event.
 
It’s a quick turnaround for the Ski Cross athletes, with two World Cup events in the next week as part of the Cross Alps Tour, which sees six competitions at four venues over the course of 17 days.
 
The first event is in Arosa, Switzerland, on December 17, with the final event of 2019 in Innichen, Italy, on December 22.

The 2019/2020 Ski Cross World Cup season has commenced with a double event in Val Thoren’s, France with mixed results for the Australian athletes.
 
Two-time Olympian Sami Kennedy-Sim made a good start to the event, qualifying for finals in 14th place.
 
Anton Grimus and Doug Crawford did not advance to the finals, after placing 49th and 57th respectively in qualifying.
 
In the first of two World Cup’s, Kennedy-Sim had a strong first round heat, starting well in the top section and leading at times during the heat. In the lower section of the course, Kennedy-Sim slipped back to third, and was unable to advance to the next round. This gave Kennedy-Sim a final ranking of tenth.
 
“Today’s racing was very tight. I had the lead at some points of the run, and I will carry that confidence into tomorrow’s racing”, said Kennedy-Sim.
 
“I look forward to reviewing the race this evening and being competitive again tomorrow.“
 
In the second World Cup, Kennedy-Sim placed fourth in her heat, giving her a final ranking of 14th.
 
OWIA Ski Cross Head Coach Shawn Fleming commented after the race.
 
“Well that was not the day we had planned for. Decent start but stuck in the mix going into first turn and checked speed tight on the inside. From there she was playing catch up the whole way.”
 
“Next week we compete in Montafon, Austria, which will be a shorter format this year due to low snow but the forecast looks quite challenging for the coming week with heavy snowfalls.”