Welcome to the 45th Edition of the Ski & Snowboard Australia E-News.

The action is hotting up on the Olympic qualification front, with all four disciplines now likely to achieve athlete selections to the 2006 Winter Olympic Games Team, a feat not achieved since the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

This edition of the SSA e-News provides reports from our World Cup teams as they continue their journey towards Torino. Alpine, Cross Country and Snowboard athletes were in action over the last few days, with Aerial and Moguls world cups in the coming days.

We will be producing a detailed, event by event Olympic qualification progress report prior to the Christmas Break however early indications are that Ski & Snowboard Australia looks set to send a record number of athletes to the Winter Olympics from February 10 – 26 in Torino.

A reminder that the SSA office will be closed from Friday 23rd December to Tuesday 3rd January, 2006.

Regards

Michael Kennedy
Chief Executive Officer

 

ALPINE

Brauer snares first top 60 per cent

Slalom specialist Jono Brauer has bounced back from his failure to finish in the opening race of the World Cup season, skiing to a 43rd place in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy.

Brauer negotiated the course in a time of 50.12 seconds, 3.13 seconds off the fastest first tun time of Benjamin Raich of Austria, missing a place in the second run, but claiming the first of three top 60 per cent of field results he needs to qualify for the Australian Olympic team for Torino 2006.

NSW team-mate Brad Wall was eight places further back in 51st position, unfortunately just missing the chance to pick up his second top 60 per cent..


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CROSS COUNTRY

Two cross country skiers set for Torino 2006

Two cross country skiers have completed the qualifying requirements for a place on the Australian team for Torino 2006, and another shown she is on track to join them after producing a record World Cup result.

Melbourne 28-year-old Clare-Louise Brumley kicked off the campaign for Olympic team places at the World Cup in the British Columbian venue of Sovereign Lake, finishing in 40th place in the 15km pursuit event.

The result put her in the top 80 per cent of the field in one of just two pursuit events prior to the Australian Olympic Committee qualification deadline, meeting the AOC selection criteria.

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FREESTYLE

Aerials
Ierodiaconou heads back to the snow

Lydia Ierodiaconou had one leg in the air this week as she worked out in the VIS gym on a springboard to strengthen her leg, but from Saturday, she will have both of them off the ground.

The three time World Cup runner-up flies out of Melbourne on Saturday, headed for the Canadian resort of Apex, to join her fellow Flying Kangaroos in on-snow training.

Ierodiaconou, who has spent the past month in Melbourne rehabilitating her knee, will ski "for a couple of days" then get back onto the inrun for the first jumps she has done on snow since the 2005 World Championships in Finland last March.

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Moguls
Mogul skiing World Cup set to start

Australia's mogul skiers start their 2005/06 World Cup competition on Thursday night in Tignes, France.

Dale Begg-Smith, the world number two last season and world championship bronze medallist, has already met the Australian Olympic Committee qualification criteria for the 2006 Games team, but team-mates Manuela Berchtold, Michael Robertson, Nick Fisher and Jason Begg-Smith will all be seeking top 60 per cent results.

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SNOWBOARD

Halfpipe men meet AOC criteria - now for FIS
The OWI halfpipe men were in action over the weekend in Whistler alongside their fellow Australian alpine snowboarders.

While Torah Bright opted to miss the event, and Holly Crawford was rested as a safety measure after she had experienced some minor aggravation of her repaired knee ligaments, Andrew Burton, Ben Mates and Mitch Allan contested two World Cup events.

The best performance in of the dual World Cup weekend came from Mitch Allan, who finished in 24th place in the opening event, at the same time posting the last of three top 60 per cent results he needed to meet the AOC qualifying standard for selection to the Australian Torino 2006 team.

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FIS Newsflash

	Cross-Country World Cup returns to Canada
	Val d’Isere (FRA) celebrates 50-year anniversary
	Tour de Ski hits the ground running
	Whistler (CAN) gets ready to host FIS Snowboard World Cup
	IOC issues anti-doping rules for Turin Games
	Freestyle Pioneer Irv Kagan dies at 76

Please click here to find the fifty-second edition of the FIS Newsflash
 

Sports Shorts

Alpine
Bear and Branch off the Pace in Val d’Isere Downhill
Australian Duo Closer to Torino after Personal Bests
Strong Qualifying Results from US World Cups

Cross Country
Canmore

Freestyle
Aerial Sking Training News

Snowboard
Top 15 Torino Bound Rider