Snowboard Cross riders return to World Cup competition this weekend in the last Olympic qualifying event in Erzurum, Turkey with Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin looking to extend his comfortable lead on 3,026 points at the top of the world rankings.

The Erzurum event becomes the first ever Turkish ski resort to host a Snowboard Cross Word Cup and therefore a new venue for Australia’s strong team that includes Alex Pullin, Adam Lambert, Cam Bolton and NSWIS riders Josh Miller, Matt Thomas and Adam Dickson.

Jarryd Hughes is sitting Turkey out, electing instead to train in Whistler, Canada.
 
“We’ve never raced there,” Head SBX coach Ben Wordsworth said about Erzurum. “There won’t be a great deal of snow and we think the course will probably be something close to Cervinia (Italy).”

Pullin, who won double gold in Argentina at the start of the season and a bronze at Cervinia late last year, is an athlete making smart decision says Wordsworth.

“Chumpy is in a good place - a really good place. He didn’t have the results he wanted in December. He wanted to win one of the three races he had, but he managed to pull together some good results and bounced back.”

Coach and athlete have been working together for eight years, with Wordsworth seeing a positive shift in Pullin going towards PyeongChang.

“He’s an older athlete. His decision making is better now and more adaptable to all the situations and he is extremely talented.”

 “He is good at reading race situations, getting into heats and coming out the other end at the final - better than what I’ve seen in the past.”

“Certainly, Chumpy is making good decisions in his racing and it shows. Argentina was back to back (gold). Val Thorens was not so great and then Cervinia (with bronze).  All those decisions make the difference in the long run.”

“One of the big decisions is to stay healthy. (It’s about) racing to your potential.”  

Jindabyne’s Adam ‘Lambo’ Lambert stamped his claim to a potential Olympic selection last season and has only looked forward, now currently fourth on the world leader board on 1,690 points going into Erzurum.
 
According to Wordsworth, Lambert has fitted into the SBX team with ease.

“Lambo’s a good snowboarder and good racer. His results have shown that over the past two seasons,” Wordsworth said.

“There was silver at Val Thorens and he knows what he wants. Lambo is in the sport to have a career and he wants to win races. That’s what drives him – there’s nothing else he’s in it for.”

“He’s the perfect athlete.  He wants results and has fitted in really well - good to travel with and fits into the group. Just got on with it, got results and tried to keep it pretty simple.”  

Australia is looking to qualify four men to PyeongChang and with a strong team, Turkey is the last event to cement a place – a goal that will be high on Cam Bolton’s to do list.

“It was good for Cam being in the top again (Cervinia with a tenth place),” Wordsworth said. “He’s got the skills and we want to see him push toward the small final and final and believe he can do it. It was a super close race in Cervinia.”

“Turkey is the last qualifying. The other three have an opportunity. Should be an interesting race,” he added.

Qualifiers for the Erzurum World Cup stop are on Friday, 19 January from 6.30pm (AEDT).
Finals start at 6.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday. 
 
Live timing links for qualifiers and finals, can be found here
Follow OWIA Twitter for updates here and watch the Finals live on Eurosport from 6.30pm on Saturday, 20 January.
 
Belinda Noonan
OWIA
 

Another World Cup awaits our Australian snowboard cross athletes, heading across the pond to Banslo, Bulgaria; making its debut appearance on the world cup tour.

World number 2 female Belle Brockhoff will be looking to keep up her strong current form, after finishing 6th in the final in Soltitude.

While in the men's field, current Top 10 riders Alex Pullin and Jarryd Hughes will compete on one of the shorter courses designed for the tour calendar, and will also be joined by Cam Bolton and NSWIS riders Matt Thomas, Josh Miller and Adam Dickson.

​Bulgaria will pose a different test for the athletes than what they have faced so far this season, with a more technical start section which is placed on a steep face.

From there, riders will head into the main features which consist of a step down, triple, table top and final jumps varying in size from 16 to 22 metres.

Speed will be key to success in the shorter form of the track, with qualification starting tomorrow night (AEDT) at 7:45pm for the men and 10:30pm for the women, with live scoring found on the FIS website.

Belle Brockhoff bounced back from a slight fall in qualification to finish sixth in the Big Final of the Snowboard Cross World Cup in Solitude, USA, this morning.

After qualifying in 15th for the finals, Brockhoff placed 3rd in her quarter final and semi-final to book a spot in the Big Final.

A mistake on a feature near the top of the course in the final, put her behind and was unable to make up any ground on the leaders. Eva Samkova won the event and leapfrogged Brockhoff into the world number one spot.

She did not slip far, holding onto the second place in the world rankings after a tough day of snow conditions.

In the men's competition, Jarryd Hughes topped the list of Aussies, finishing the World Cup in eighth overall after placing second in the Small Final.

Hughes just snuck in to the finals after qualifying in 41st place, but backed up last month's fourth placing with another top-10 placing today.

Dual World Champion Alex Pullin (17th), NSWIS rider Matt Thomas (22nd) and Cam Bolton (23rd) were not able to make it past the second round of head to head racing.

Josh Miller qualified for finals to finish in 43rd, while Adam Dickson was 53rd in the qualification round.

A World Cup Snowboard Cross team event also took place at Solitude, with Jarryd Hughes and Josh Miler representing Australia. The team unfortunately was knocked out in the first round of competition, finishing ranked equal 13th.

The next stop on the Snowboard Cross World Cup tour is Solitude Mountain Resort, USA - a new venue for the sport in which Australians have been successful in recent years , inspired in many instances by two-time Olympian and World Champion Alex “Chumpy” Pullin, Current World Cup leader Belle Brockhoff and X Games Champ, Jarryd Hughes.

Along with Pullin, Brockhoff and Hughes Australia’s Snowboard Cross team for Solitude includes Cam Bolton and NSWIS riders Matt Thomas, Adam Dickson and Josh Miller.  

The event, to be held from 19 to 21 January, will be the second World Cup for the 2016-17 season and the first major international snowboarding competition Solitude has hosted. 

That the course will be new to all competitors could well suit the Australians according to OWIA head Coach Ben Wordsworth.

“We’ve never raced at Solitude before and because it’s the first World Cup on that slope, we don’t know what the course will be like,” Wordsworth said.

​However, there’s been lots of snow, which lends itself to building something big and technical – and that generally suits our athletes.”

“We have very high-end athletes such as Alex and Belle who are very good in the technical area.”

“Belle really likes the big rollers, jumps and banks and she’s skilful in that area,” he said. 

Belle Brockhoff triumphed in a thrilling and exciting snowboard cross World Cup opener in mid-December at Montafon in Austria, winning her second career gold in a photo finish in what she described as a challenging course.

After a short break over the Christmas period in Australia Belle re-joined the OWIA Snowboard Cross Team in Ski Cooper, putting in valuable preparation. 

"I had great preparation this week for the upcoming world cup in Solitude and I’m looking forward to the racing this week and starting 2017 strong," Belle said.
​
Alex “Chumpy” Pullin, who began his season in Montafon with a third place, says he is on track for this weekend’s event. 

​"I had a good training camp in Ski Cooper this last week and I am looking forward to getting back to the World Cup in Solitude this week with some solid racing."

For Wordsworth, results count. “We’re staying focussed on what we need to do, which is to get results.”

21-year-old Jarryd Hughes, already an Olympian from Sochi, had a great start to his season in Montafon despite being injured, qualifying second and making it to the final where he ended up fourth overall.

“Qualifying second was really a confidence-booster and great way to come into the season,” Hughes said.

“In the run-up to Montafon I was injured (with bone bruising) and only had 12 days on snow the entire month and that included all the race days.”

Time at home after Montafon provided the youngest team member of the OWIA Snowboard Cross team time to recover, relax, train and enjoy a bit of summer.

“I’d be lost without the beach and the snow.” he said. “I was training at home after I got back, but it’s also good to relax and enjoy the summer while I can.”

​​“I left for Utah on January 10 with a few extra days to acclimatise and be with a few other riders to make sure I’m physically and mentally ready for Solitude. I like to focus on what I’m doing.”

His focus has much to do with personal belief and trusting his instincts.

“Some people have a whole lot of plans,” he said when asked what it’s like to stand waiting at the start gate. “I go in without a set race plan and let what I want to do take over. I trust my instincts.”

“There’s a lot of intensity at the start gate and it’s the people who best deal with it that continue on.”

OWIA athlete Cam Bolton is looking to improve on his season opener.

“Cam is healthy and has trained hard over the Australian summer,” coach Wordsworth said.

​“He’s definitely one of our fastest riders. It was unfortunate in Montafon that he was hit by another rider in the quarters and went out."

The winter wonderland dream results continue for Australia with Belle Brockhoff and Alex (Chumpy) Pullin winning Gold and Bronze respectively in the opening World Cup of the Snowboard Cross season in Montafon, Austria overnight.

It could not have gone any better for the NSWIS athlete Belle Brockhoff who had a near perfect qualifying run on Thursday, finishing second behind Olympic champion Eva Samkova, before winning the Quarter Final then coming second in her Semi to book a spot in the Final.

Trailing by a small margin to Sochi Bronze medallist Chloe Trespeuch coming through the second time-gate, Brockhoff had to work hard to take back the lead in the Final, to claim victory in the end. She was jubilant to start her season off in the best possible way.

“Couldn’t ask for anything better to start the tour off. Thank you for the support, happy days,” Belle Brockhoff said after winning Gold.

​A full-strength field was another tough challenge for the men, but as big names dropped out in the quarter finals, Pullin and fellow Aussie Jarryd Hughes made the most of it to push deep into the finals, with Pullin snaring a podium spot in 3rd.

Hughes got the jump on Pullin in the qualifying round, coming in second with Chumpy sitting in 11th.

But the Quarter Final was where the boys really got going, topping their respective group before moving through to the same Semi, where Hughes pipped Pullin and both progressed to the Final.

The tables were turned in the final when Hughes unfortunately did not finish to place fourth overall as Chumpy raced through in third to join Brockhoff with a podium finish.

Pullin copped a knock to the mouth in the final, but was thrilled with his result and congratulated USA winner Hagen Kearney on his first World Cup win.

“Sick day of racing, stoked to land on the podium at the first stop of the tour after some really tight heats,” Pullin said.

After the races, Olympic Winter Institute of Australia head coach Ben Wordsworth credited Brockhoff and Pullin’s hard work in training and said they were delighted to get a great early result.

“Belle has put a lot of work in through the Australian winter which paid off today. She made a great pass in the final and took a great win,” he said.

“Chumpy also rode extremely well today, putting a lot of work into his equipment and technique over the break. He rode some tight heats and made some great racing moves to get that podium.”

The only other Australian to qualify for finals, Cam Bolton, progressed through his Eight Final but couldn’t move out of the Quarters, finishing 15th overall.
​
NSW Institute of Sport team mates Matt Thomas, Josh Miller and Adam Dickson were placed 33rd, 38th and 56th after the qualifying competition.

A World Cup team event also took place in Montafon, with Matt Thomas and Josh Miller representing Australia. The young team did well placing fifth in the small final.

The athletes will break over Christmas in preparation for the next World Cup event in USA starting January 19. 

A fit and healthy Australian Snowboard Cross team are ready for the first World Cup of the new season, as they take to the snow for qualification in Montafon, Austria tonight. 

The bar is set high within the talented group of Olympians and exciting youngsters, with the season opener acting as perfect ground to showcase some solid early form.

Belle Brockhoff, fresh off winning two Europa Cup events in Pitzal, Austria last week, will lead the charge with New South Wales Institute of Sport team-mate Cam Bolton, who finished 9th last week, and Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin taking to the snow in the men’s field.

Jarryd Hughes, Josh Miller and Adam Dickson will also be competing, as Australia showcases one of its strongest ever fields in the sport.

Confident ahead of this week’s event, coach Ben Wordsworth said his team had been training well and are searching for good results early.

“Chumpy, Belle, Cam and NSWIS athlete Matt Thomas, have been here in Pitzal using the state-of-the-art facilities in preparation for this week,” he said.

“The last three weeks of preparation have been used to fine tune their technique and most importantly their heat racing to prepare for some strong results in the first race.”

Olympic qualification is far from the minds of Wordsworth and his team, with the ultimate goal of PyeongChang in 2018 still a fair way down the track.

“We don’t think about it, we just want to focus on the World Cups,” Wordsworth said.

“Obviously the qualification aspect is in there, but we just want the guys to try and nail each race and get the best results we can and the qualification will follow.”

Varying weather conditions earlier in the week raised some concerns over the start time of the event, but more stable and colder weather in the Vorarlberg Alps have helped ensure the event will go ahead. 

Qualifcation starts tonight at 11pm AEDT, with the finals starting at midnight on Friday to be shown live on Eurosport. You can find more information and program times below.
​
http://data.fis-ski.com/dynamic/event-details.html?event_id=39120&cal_suchsector=SB 

Two-time World Champion Alex “Chumpy” Pullin has finished sixth in the second of this weekend’s two races, at the Snowboard Cross World Cup event in Veysonnaz, Switzerland.

The OWIA/NSWIS athlete made great starts in both his Quarter and Semi-Finals to ensure his progress to the Big Final, but unfortunately couldn’t make it onto the podium for the second time this season.

Fellow OWIA/NSWIS athlete Belle Brockhoff was unable to match her Day One performance where she finished second,  as she just missed out on a spot in the Big Final after finishing fourth in her Semi-Final.

Brockhoff dominated the Small Final though, crossing the line comfortably in first place to finish seventh overall.

​Matthew Thomas had another top 20 finish, placing 19th after reaching the Quarter Finals, while Adam Dickson was unable to progress from the eight final after crashing out in his heat.

Today’s Men’s race was taken out by Spain’s Lucas Eguibar, whilst Michela Moioli of Italy took out the Women's.

With one World Cup event remaining for the season in Baqueira Beret, Spain, Brockhoff is currently ranked fifth on the standings with Pullin in sixth.

IMAGE: Alex Pullin fast out of the gate in Qualifying at Veysonnaz © FIS

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA)/New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete Belle Brockhoff has finished second at the first of the two World Cup Snowboard Cross events over the weekend in Veysonnaz, Switzerland.

Brockhoff, who also finished runner-up two weeks ago at the World Cup event in Russia, won her quarter final in impressive fashion to qualify for the Semi-Finals.

The 22 year-old finished third in her Semi-Final to qualify for the Big-Final, where she was able to hold off the rest of the field to finish second behind Bulgaria’s Alexandra Jekova.

“I had a really fun day today, the racing was close and I am really happy to get another podium”, Brockhoff said.

In the Men’s, Matthew Thomas was the best placed Australian finishing 16th, with Alex Pullin and Adam Dickson both eliminated in the Eight Finals. Pullin was caught in traffic and fell in his race.

IMAGE: Belle Brockhoff (left) celebrates on the podium in Veysonnaz © FIS

Alex Dickson has won Australia’s second medal of the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games after claiming silver in the snowboard cross on Hafjell Olympic Slope. Dickson just missed out on the gold after chasing the USA’s Jake Vedder all the way to the line, while Mollie Fernandez from Geelong was also fantastic in fourth.

"It's a dream come true," said the ecstatic youngster. "I always wanted a medal.

"The final was crazy. Everyone caught up to one another at one point and made it super tight, it was great racing.

The 17-year-old from Jindabyne didn't know what to expect heading into the competition but as it got closer there was only one thing on his mind.

"This was just going to be an experience for me but ever since training and then in the lead up all I wanted was a medal.

"I was hungry for it."

Dickson was strong throughout the competition qualifying in third just 0.03 seconds off the leader.

He finished fourth in his first heat before winning the next four to progress through to the Semi-Finals as the third ranked rider.

A second place finish in the semi set up a final showdown with Vedder, eventual bronze medallist Sebastian Pietrzykowski of Germany and Evan Bichon of Canada.

"The start was pretty crazy, we were all pretty tight. Then two pulled out in front and I had to make up some ground while trying to block off the guy behind me.

"I got the outside line on the second to last corner and just held second from there."

Fernandez was consistent throughout qualification and the heats and was ranked sixth leading into the Semi-Finals. Her second place finish there set her up for the four woman Final.

"I'm stoked," said the 17-year-old speedster.

"The competition was crazy. It was bang, bang, bang (race after race) and it was so much fun.

"I definitely didn't think I'd get to the Final so it's awesome."

Dickson’s result follows on from Emily Arthur’s silver medal in the snowboard halfpipe yesterday and improves on the two bronze medals from the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games with plenty more competition to come.

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au