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Edition 76 |15 March 2007 |
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Welcome to the 76th edition of the Ski & Snowboard Australia
E-News.
Australian athletes have just completed one of the most amazing
weeks in Australian Snowsports history with Dale Begg-Smith
taking the Dual Moguls title at the Freestyle World Championship in
Madonna di Campligio, Italy, one day after he had already won silver
in the single moguls event while Jacqui Cooper took bronze in the
Aerials event. Halfpipe rider Holly Crawford placed third in the
Snowboard World Cup event at Lake Placid and to round out the
weekend Torah Bright won gold in the World Superpipe Championships
at Salt Lake City, Utah.
This caps off an amazing season with Dale Begg-Smith and Jacqui
Cooper already confirming their dominance by winning their
respective World Cup Titles in Moguls and Aerials. Holly Crawford is
currently ranked number 2 in the Halfpipe World Cup rankings with
one event remaining which gives her the opportunity to take out the
World Cup Title. Team mate Andrew Burton is also having a career
best season with a current World Cup ranking of 4th.
This edition of the E-news provides updates of all athletes and
discipline programs during the last leg of the northern winter.
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Freestyle News
© FIS / Mike Ridewood |
Begg-Smith leads Australian
medal bonanza with world title
Dale Begg-Smith has captured the dual mogul skiing title at
the World Freestyle Championships, leading a medal feast by
Australia's winter sports athletes.
Skiing alongside him in the northern Italian resort of
Madonna di Campiglio, Jacqui Cooper won World Championship
bronze in aerial skiing, eight years after winning the world
title in 1999. |
And across the Atlantic in Lake Placid, New York, Holly Crawford
also collected bronze in snowboard halfpipe, her fifth medal of the
season, to keep her World Cup title hopes alive.
Following up on his World Championship silver medal in single
moguls, Begg-Smith qualified first in the dual format event in
Madonna, then demolished his opponents in the head-to head final
rounds.
Read More
©FIS Mike Ridewood |
Bronze to Cooper in wind-affected World Championship
Jacqui Cooper has won World Championship bronze in aerial
skiing, eight years after winning the world title in 1999.
Cooper led after the opening round of jumping, scoring
110.76 points with her triple twisting triple somersault to
be seven points clear of the field.
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But in the second jump she was a casualty of the
strong and gusty winds that buffeted the course during the event, a
sudden blast catching the 34-year-old veteran halfway down the
in-run, robbing her of the speed she needed to complete her double
twisting triple jump.
She received 71.82 points from the judges for a total of 182.58
points, enough for a podium place but not for the gold, which went
to defending champion Nina Li of China.
Read More
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Snowboard News
© FIS / Oliver Kraus |
Crawford bags fifth podium and eyes title
Holly Crawford has won the bronze medal in the second last
event of the season, at Lake Placid, New York State, USA.
The result drops her to second place on the World Cup
standings behind main rival Manuela Laura Pesko, but still
leaves her with a strong chance to take the title.
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Two more Australian winter sports athletes have won World Cup medals
during the weekend, Torino silver medallist Gretchen Bleiler won the
gold with 46.7 points, Pesko taking silver on 43.4 points.
Crawford pulled herself up to third position with a 39.8 points
second run after falling in her first trip down the pipe. It was her
fifth podium result of the season.
Read More
NSWIS/SSA Halfpipe Development Team Update
The NSWIS/SSA Halfpipe Development Team has finished training for
the Northern winter, with the exception of Hannah Trigger. After a
slow start to the season in Mammoth due to poor snow conditions we
ended up with a complete turn around in Colorado where we spent our
time either riding a perfect Halfpipe in Breckenridge or riding
powder in Vail.
Everyone enjoyed the conditions and it was good to be able to mix it
up between mountains depending on the snow conditions. In between
training blocks we competed in the Breckenridge Grand Prix and
Revolution Tour at Copper Mountain. Some of the best riders in the
world were also at these events and on the mountain training before
and after them. It was a great way to see where the standard is and
get in on the vibe where everyone’s pushing it to new levels
Read More
Snowboard Junior World Championships
The 2007 FIS Snowboard World Junior Championships have been
scheduled to take place in Bad Gastein, Austria beginning on the
11th of April. The event, which has only just been confirmed after
the previous host nation cancelled, will hold Boardercross, Parallel
Slalom and Giant Slalom and Big Air events.
Read More |
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Alpine News
Matt Lyons and Katya Crema.
© Matt Lyons |
Slalom results best for
Aussie juniors at world titles
Michael Rishworth has produced the best result for Australia
at the World Junior Alpine championships, finishing in 32nd
place in the slalom.
Rishworth recorded a two-run time of two minutes 6.13
seconds, 16.68 seconds behind the winning time of gold
medallist Matic Skube of Slovenia. |
Australia's sole female representative at the titles, Katya Crema,
finished in 46th place in the women's slalom. Crema covered the two
legs of the Altenmarkt-Zauchensee course in one minute 57.19
seconds.
Read More
Aussie skiers compete in 36th
Topolino event
The 36th Trofeo Topolino children’s race has taken place in
Panarotta, Italy.
The Topolino race is regarded as the world’s leading children’s
race, with many legendary Alpine skiers having competed in the event
as children.
Victorian skier Emily Bamford achieved the best result for Australia
at the event, finishing in 15th place in the slalom. Alexandra Pilat
from NSW also achieved a top 20 result, finishing in 17th place in
the combi event.
Read More
2007 Whistler Cup
The Whistler Cup is regarded as one of the top FIS Children’s
events with many athletes attending from all over the world. The
event will be taking place from the 6th of April, with Australia
being represented by the following athletes.
Read More
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Cross Country News
Cross
Country Junior World Championships
The 2007 World Junior/U23 Championships started today, six weeks
later than the scheduled dates. Of the nine athletes originally
selected to the Australian Team for these competitions, only three
are present in Tarvisio for the postponed events. The sole U23
competitor Ben Sim has returned to Europe directly from the World
Championships in Japan, arriving in Italy yesterday morning. Alex Almoukov arrived in Tarvisio two days ago after a month of training
in Russia, while Aimee Watson has been training in Tarvisio for 6
days with the USA team, having returned from Australia after a month
off snow. Because of the lack of snow (still) in Tarvisio, the
competitions are being held in a valley about 10km out of town, very
close to the Slovenian border...
Read More
Cross Country World Championships
The Cross Country World Championships have wrapped up in Sapporo,
Japan.
For a full report on the event please
click here
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