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Enter the Skier | General | ASI Reports | States
On Top Down Under
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On Saturday August 30, skiing history was created when an Australian man won a Worldloppet event. Paul Gray was a very jubilant winner of the Kangaroo Hoppet after a three way sprint finish with fellow Australian Anthony Evans and Korean Bjung Chul Park. 28 years old, Gray grew up in Mt Beauty, skiing for the Birkebeiner nordic ski club who organise Australia's Worldloppet event. He is temporarily a Mt Beauty resident again while on 9 months leave from his job with the Mars corporation in Wodonga. 3 days after the race, this interview was conducted with The Masked Reporter.
TMR: The first Australian to win the Kangaroo Hoppet. Have you come down from the high yet?
PG: I had to move out of my house the next day so I was packing and cleaning and then unpacking during the day, but I've actually been running the race in my head for the last few nights and I haven't been able to sleep. It only struck me later on the first night how close the finish actually was.
TMR: You showed extreme jubilation when you mounted the podium. What were you thinking of at the time?
PG: Did I really? That's fairly unusual for me I guess. It's the biggest event I've ever won.The feeling was quite unbelievable. Winning the Australian Championships was a great achievement, but standing on the podium in front of all those people was something else. The whole way round people were encouraging me. In the last kilometre people were screaming my name and I guess the support was fantastic. You get that sort of crowd involvement overseas but no other event in Australia is like it.
TMR: What sort of tactics were going on during the race?
PG: My plan was to stay with the lead pack for as long as I could. The pace was hot early on, especially up the paralyser. I nearly got dropped at the top, then clawed my way back. I thought "I've gone too hard, I can't recover", then somehow I was back on the pack. Ant was trying to break away for most of the first lap. The four of us in the lead pack (note. The fourth member of the pack was Russian skier Vitaly Chernov) just about jump skated up the last hill onto Heathy Spur to stay with him. No-one really went for the halfway sprint prize so I guess everyone was in it to win overall. Vitaly took the lead as we headed out into Sun Valley and I took the lead for the first time as headed up the hill from the lake. The pace eased off for a while as everyone realised they couldn't break away. Ant took the front again past Langfords Gap, and the Park for a while. Park picked up the speed when Ant and I took our last drinks and then the race was really on from Watchbed Creek to the finish.
TMR: When did you think you had the race?
PG: As I crossed the finish line. Towards the end I thought I might have finished 4th. We were going pretty much flat out the last three kilometres. I took the lead with about a km and a half to go, but I'm not sure why I did it. I expected the others to come past at any moment, and I was surprised I crossed the dam wall still in front. Park pulled alongside up the last short hill. I think Ant tried to go on the left but there wasn't enough room. The next thing I knew I'd pulled over the hill in front and waho I won. I'd like to see some TV footage because I'm not sure what really happened. I do know that was probably the hardest I've ever pushed in a race. I don't normally collapse after a race and I certainly wasn't doing it for the crowd this time.
TMR: Was Christer Skog pleased with your performance? (Christer Skog is Australia's national cross country coach)
PG: He didn't say anything to me, hardly a word, so I asked his girlfriend if he had said anything to her. She said he told her he hasn't felt that way since Torgny Mogren won the 50km at the Falun. (Skog was the Swedish coach during the 1993 World Championships in Falun, Sweden, and Mogren's gold medal on the final day was the only Swedish medal of the games.) I don't know if he really felt that way, but it sure sounds good to me. I told him I needed fast skis before the race and he delivered the goods.
TMR: You've had your best ever Australian season ever - a national title and a Kangaroo Hoppet victory. Is there anything you can attribute your good form to?
PG: The generosity of the company I work for in allowing me 9 months off to train full time. For the first time I can concentrate on skiing, train properly, and get the recovery I need, in a relatively stress free environment. The support of the ASI and Christer Skog means I don't have to worry about anything else except skiing fast. Also skis, I really had some good skis thanks to Christer.
TMR: Apparently the Kangaroo Hoppet wasn't the only thing you won on the last Saturday in August.
PG: What? Oh, I should have known you'd probably bring that up. Yes I had a rather successful day. I won the last round of the Ski Team tipping competition, which was also enough to take out the overall competition. I don't know what I'll do with the race number (One of the prizes in the competition was a signed race bib from the 1997 World Championships team), I already have a stack of them. I think luck played a large part in that victory. I skied with Camille Melvey before the first race and could see that she was really strong, and also I put my team in just before the cut-off date and knew about a few skiers who wouldn't race. But hey, I won, and I'm available for consultation next year, for a small fee. I might put a team in the World Cup tipping competition, but I think I'll leave myself out. I'd like to think I can get a few world cup points, but maybe Daehlie will get a few more.
TMR: Anything else to add?
PG: A happy skier is a fast skier.
Paul Gray will be departing from Australia in late October to race in World Cup and to try to qualify for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
XC is the official website of the Skiing Australia Cross Country Committee. It is produced with the assistance of the Australian Sports Commission, the Australian Ski Institute and the Kangaroo Hoppet. The editor can be contacted via hoppet@netc.net.au.
