Paul Murray ticked off his second Winter Olympic "C" qualifying result today in the World Cup Sprint Freestyle in Sovereign Lake, finishing in 48th place out of a field of 62. However the best performance of the weekend came from Esther Bottomley, who finished 35th in the Sprint, only 0.8 of second outside becoming Australia's first World Cup Sprint finalist.

For a short time after finishing her time-trial Esther was sitting in the the top 30, keeping the Australian cheer squad in suspense. The final result of 35th out of 55 starters is the best ever World Cup result for an Australian female, and was only only just outside the 60% "B" qualification standard for Torino. While disappointed not to make the finals, on a small note of personal satisfaction she knocked off Solli from Norway, who tripped her up in the night sprint last Tuesday. Because there are 3 World Cup Sprint Freestyle events in the qualifying period, Esther still needs one more result in Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic at the end of the month to be eligible for selection for the Australian Winter Olympic Team.

Similarly to Dusseldorf in October, Paul Murray didn't really have a good race but just scraped in under the 80%. He felt tired before the race and looked a little sluggish around the track. Aiming for the top 30 and finishing 48th wasn't what he wanted, but with two top 80% races under his belt the pressure is off and Paul can focus on skiing fast in February. Ben Sim and Ben Derrick finished in 60th and 62nd place, feeling the effects of a tough race yesterday.

The team now heads back for Europe for training and competions in various locations. Ben Derrick and Esther Bottomley head to Germany, with BD competing in the opening event of the FIS Marathon Cup on the weekend, the La Sgambeda in Livigno in Italy. KT Calder is also set to return to racing next weekend in Continental Cup in Campra in Switzerland. Esther will contest the German Sprint Championships in the Olympia Stadion in Munich the following week. Paul returns to Sweden for local competitions before coming back down to middle Europe to join the rest of the team for Nove Mesto. Clare-Louise heads to Pontresina in Switzerland, joining up with James Rickard who has been racing in Sweden and Finland the last couple of weeks.