 Poster: A snowHead
|
Over the next few weeks British cross-country skiers will be competing
at several major championships.
European Youth Winter Olympic Festival, Szczyrk, Poland (15-20 Feb).
Andrew Young, Callum Smith, William Newman, Deborah May (all Huntly
Nordic SC). Lauren Spencer (Wessex Biathlon & Nordic SC).
World Junior Championships, Praz de Lys Sommand, France (28 Jan -6 Feb).
Andrew Young, Alex Standen (Huntly), Simon Platt (Lakeland), Simon
Spencer (Wessex), Al Duncan (Kingussie), Rhodri Buffett.
Sarah Young (Huntly), Fiona Hughes (Yorkshire Dales) & Ingrid Leask.
Universiade, Yabuli, China (18-28 Feb).
Posy Musgrave (Huntly), Simon Spencer (Wessex).
Also Andrew Musgrave, Andrew Young, Alex Standen, Simon Platt, Fiona
Hughes & Sarah Young will be competing at the World Senior
Championships, Liberec, Czech Republic (18 Feb - 1 Mar).
It is a tremendous achievement to have so many cross-country skiers
skiers from all parts of the U.K. competing at such high levels. I'm
sure you will all join me in wishing at the skiers & coaches the best
of luck.
The team has also had some impressive results in warm up races at the Swiss National Champs with 3 podiums plus other top 10 finishes.
There is updated news on the team at http://www.britnordicteam.co.uk/
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Dave Horsley, Great to hear how well these young people are doing, thanks for keeping us informed, I wish all of them the best of luck in their events.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
This is a shameless 'bump'. I know you are mostly downhillers on here, but these kids deserve all the coverage they can get. Only one of the skiers mentioned above is over 20, and AFAIK, only two more of them are over 18. Three podiums at the Swiss Junior Champs is a great result.
It is the first time there has been a British Team at the World Nordic Champs since the funding for Nordic was stopped in the early '90s with the result that the full-time team folded and the paid officials went. It is also the most ambitious racing programme for a long time.
The current achievements are the result of work by inspirational volunteers and a couple of clubs who think developing juniors is important. I estimate it has taken about 10 years to get here, with each age group of skiers going faster than the previous one, and steady improvements within the team to get it to this level. SSGB's funding has gone to alpine and snowboarding, leaving the other snowsports to fend for themselves.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
The team is doing really well, we are still near the back of the field at World Cup level with the two Andrews (Young and Musgrave), but they are not out of the back and are skiing at a reasonable percentage behind the winners time. However that is only to be expected as its the first year on the circuit, with limited funding and support and both the athletes are much younger than the rest of the field at 16 and 18years old. At junior level we are now getting podiums and wins at FIS races and national champs with both the ladies an mens teams. The team has high hopes for very good results at both EYO and the World Juniors. So heres hoping for a successfull campaign.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
First results in from the World Juniors:
From http://www.britnordicteam.co.uk/
01/02/09 – Andrew Young shows his potential at World Junior Champs. In today’s classic sprints, the opening event of the World Junior Championships Andrew the youngest competitor in the race finished in 39th place missing qualification for the finals by just 2.07 seconds.
With Britain’s best sprinter Andrew Musgrave being rested for the Pursuit and Time Trial races later in the week Andrew Young led the way for British competitors in his first Ever World Junior Championship competition. Andrew showed maturity far beyond his age to storm in to the top half of the field finishing just 6.1% off the winner and gained his best ever sprint points of 108.27 points. The upper age for the Junior category is 20 years, Andrew is currently only 16 years of age and this clearly shows that he has the potential to be world’s best in the category in future years.
Also in the junior men’s race the rest of the British skiers finished in a small group with just 0.5 seconds separating them. Simon Spencer was first home in 74th a personal best percentage from the winner of 15.5% gaining his best FIS points in Sprint racing of 221.81. Alex Standen was next home in 75th position with good points but not where he would like to be positioned. Al Duncan who has struggled with illness and injuries over the summer put in a reasonable performance to come home in 76th position.
In the Junior Ladies race Britain was represented by Sarah Young and Ingrid Leask, Ingrid is a new skier to the British team with dual citizenship between America and Britain. Sarah was first home finishing in 55th and 13.4% behind the winner this represents an improvement of 2% from her performances at last years World Junior Championships. Ingrid came home in a respectable 64th position in her first time in a team GB race suit.
Full results should be available here: http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/1228.html?event_id=25657&cal_suchsector=CC
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ