The Olympic qualification chances of halfpipe team members Ben Mates and Mitch Allan have been set back by the second airline lost baggage problem to disrupt training and competition schedules of OWI athletes in the past ten days.

Mates and Allan arrived in Austria from Canada en route to the Kreischberg World Cup - a vital qualifying opportunity for the duo - in company with already-qualified team-mates Andrew Burton and Holly Crawford.

But the baggage of all four team members failed to make the journey with them, eliminating any opportunity for pre-event training.

Alisa Camplin's Olympic preparation had also been disrupted by airline problems in the past week, the Salt Lake gold medallist delayed by a day on her flight to British Columbia to join an OWI training camp, then prevented from training for three days by the non-arrival of her baggage and ski equipment.

In the end, Mates and Allan opted to compete in borrowed gear, hardly an ideal arrangement for a crucial episode in their Olympic qualifying campaign, and their results unfortunately reflected the unavoidably poor preparation and competition circumstances.

Allan finished in 37th place and Mates in 39th position, both well short of gathering the 120 FIS points they need to meet the International Ski Federation qualifying standard for the Games.

Burton and Crawford, already qualified under both FIS and AOC requirements, opted not to compete.

The men's event in Kreischberg was won by Finnish rider Janne Korpi, the 19-year-old 2005 World Junior champion claiming his first World Cup victory.

Mates and Allan will get another opportunity to collect their required FIS points at two World Cup events in Leysin, Switzerland, on January 19 and 20.



Courtesy OWI/Sportcom