Australian Team Reports
2005/2006
December 30 - And Then There
Were Three
Today Esther Bottomley ticked off her second Olympic C qualifiying
performance in the Sprint World Cup in Nove Mesto,
finishing 39th place out of 54 starters. This makes it three
Australians who have met the qualification standard for Torino, with
three other athletes still with a chance over the next three weeks.
Esther was very nervous leading into this final qualifying event for
sprint, which is unusual for her but perhaps not surprising as this
was make or break for the Olympic qualification. It was a tough
course, 1.2km with a steep last hill before a long finish straight
into a head-wind. Esther's 39th place left her about a second and a
half outside making the sprint finals (top 30), which will be the
goal for Torino.
Paul Murray finished 62 out of 73 starters in the men's sprint,
still a way off good form. His goal for Torino is also to make the
sprint final, so he has a lot of work to do between now and February.
He heads back to Sweden on January 1 for three weeks of solid
training "at home" in Borlange, before returning to middle Europe at
the end of January for two weeks at altitude leading into the
olympics.
Ben Derrick races tomorrow in the 15km Freestyle event. This race
doesn't count towards selection for Torino, however will be a good
indication of Ben's form leading into the event that does, the 30km
Freestyle in Val di Fiemme in two weeks time. Probably no reports
until at least January 1, straight after the race tomorrow the team
is packing into the car and driving to Innsbruck.
December 27 - Last Minute
Racing
Sometimes it can be difficult to find out about local races in
Europe, even when they are right on your doorstep. Yesterday Ben
Derrick was kitted up all ready to do some long intervals when he
found out about a 15km race happening that afternoon in the next town
only 20km away. A quick change to the morning session (ok just a
couple of intervals), a bit of lunch, some wax on the skis, and off
to Zwiesel for the Bavarian Forest Cup (Bayerwaldpokal). Even with
local club races it can be hare to get a good position on the start
line - BD was in the third row in the men's 15km Freestyle event, and
got a caning is the start. Fighting up from about 10th place he got
stuck behind German Sprint Team member Johannes Bredl in third place
while the leader Thomas Freimuth got a small gap. After the first 5km
lap Freimuth held a 10 second lead over BD, with Bredl 10 seconds
back in third and about to pull out (he only made it to about 6km).
But Freimuth was just too strong on the second lap (he was 12th in
the La Sgambeda last weekend), extending his lead out to a minute
after 10km. At the end the gap was 1:30, with BD comfortably in
second place. Despite the gap up to Freimuth BD was pretty happy, he
felt strong towards the end and thought that he is starting to find
some form.
Special thanks to the Felgenhauer family in Bodenmais for making
us so welcome over Christmas.
Ben Derrick training in Bodenmais, Germany, December 2005
Photo by Marco Felgenhauer
December 21 - Sugar But Not
Sweet
Expectations were high today going in to the German/Austrian
Sprint Championships in Munich, and spirits were low coming out.
Esther Bottomley and Paul Murray were ranked 7th and 8th from FIS
points, however finished 16th and 20th in the 1.2km time trial, with
Ben Derrick in 33rd place. Conditions were not ideal - some new snow
on top of a base that hadn't quite frozen solid resulted in a very
soft sugary track. Special technique was needed to ski fast in this
snow and our guys just didn't have it. Paul was very disappointed not
to make the final 16 - he was about 1 second outside. Esther scraped
into the finals (which were held over 4 hours later, thanks to lots
of junior finals in-between), but again wasn't competitive in the
soft snow and was knocked out easily in the first 1/4 final. Just a
tad short of the semi-final and A-final results we were aiming for.
We have to concede that it was a fantastic setting for a sprint
race. Held on a 600m loop nestled between the Munich 1972 Olympic
Stadium and Swim Hall, if the track had been hard and fast it would
have been an awesome spectacle and fun to be a part of. But it
wasn't. OK that's maybe a bit rough, though it wasn't a great display
of fast skiing there were some good contests in the finals and close
finishes. But for us it was a pretty average day.
Esther Bottomley in snow not quite as deep as the Munich sprint track
December 20 - Si, Benny
La Sgambeda, Livigno, Italy, December 18
The FIS Marathon Cup kicked off last Sunday with the La Sgambeda
in Italy. Because of avalanche danger up the end of the Livigno
valley the race was reduced from 42km to 35km. The traditionally
strong Italian marathon skiers were complemented by the Estonian
men's World Cup team and a handful of top marathon skiers from other
European nations. Still fighting the effects of jet-lag Ben Derrick
had a tough race but just managed to grab some Marathon Cup points in
27th place.
All the Australians recently returned from Canada really struggled
with sleeping the last week, and even last night several of them
couldn't sleep until 2am. The pace was on early in the La Sgambeda
and when the lead pack started to string out BD didn't have the
spring in his legs to go with them. He suffered badly, losing a lot
of time on the leaders until the course turned around at about 17km,
then as he started winding back down the valley in a group of 4 BD
began to feel better. They worked together well and caught the next
group of six containing Estonians Veerpalu and Olle with about 2km to
go. Veerpalu pre-empted the finishing sprint about 500m out,
stretching our the group and taking about 22nd place, with BD in the
middle of the group in 27th just after Olle. Roberto de Zolt from
Italy had the race in the bag until he fell with 20m to go and ended
up 6th (his prize money dropping from 5000 Euro to 250). Two other
Italians dead-heated for 1st in a photo finish (I dunno, they all
look the same), with Kattilakoski from Finland taking third. The
first women was Paluselli from Italy.
Next event, the German/Austrian Sprint Championships in Munich
tomorrow. The Australian team for Munich has been joined by Paul
Murray, who came down from Sweden early because there is bugger all
snow in Sweden.
December 11 - Not A Bad
Weekend
Sovereign Lake World Cup Day 2
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.
The Hard-Life On The World Cup Circuit
December 10 - Brumley Cranks
in Canada!
Sovereign Lake World Cup Day 1
World Championship debut last February, World Cup debut in
November, Winter Olympic debut next February? Today Clare-Louise
Brumley from Templestowe achieved the Australian Team "C" qualifying
standard for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. Clare-Louise
finished 40th out of 54 skiers in the women's 15km Pursuit in the
Sovereign Lake World Cup in Canada, several places under the top 80%
of field. As there are only two World Cup Pursuit events in the
qualifying period, only one result is needed to meet the C criteria
(see October 15 update for a summary of the
selection policy). The remaining Pursuit race takes place in
Oberstdorf in Germany on January 21.
Clare-Louise was back in about 51st place after the first couple
of kilometres, and then started to work her way steadily up through
the field. At the changeover she was in 40th place amongst a small
group, and early in the freestyle leg she consolidated her placing
and moved up to be solo in 39th place. In the closing kilometres C-L
was caught by Dussault from the USA and several other North American
skiers were close on her tail, but she dug deep to sprint to the line
behind Dussault and take 40th place. The result is one of Australia's
best female World Cup results - top effort C-L, a great achievement
for a lot of hard work put in. The race was won by Bjorgen on Norway
ahead of Beckie Scott from Canada.
In the men's 30km Pursuit Ben Derrick and Ben Sim finished 58th
and 59th out of 66 starters. Ben Sim was about 30 seconds ahead of
Ben Derrick after the 15km classic, but then tired on the freestyle
leg. BD struggled a bit on the classic leg but then came home strong
in the skating, picking up a few places and sprinting to the line
with a couple of Canadians. To reach the C-criteria BD would have had
to have finished 53rd - of note, Hofstad from Norway, who won the
last World Cup in Kuusamo, was 54th. The race was won by Angerer of
Germany - incredibly the top 5 skiers were all German.
Special thanks to Alan Mortimer from Canada who stepped in as wax
technician for these Canadian events and did a great job on the skis.
Also to all the Australian juniors who helped out giving drinks,
holding poles, and cheering like mad!
Tomorrow is the Sprint, where Paul Murray is aiming to score his
second top 80% result of the season and Esther Bottomley her first.
OK, they are also hoping to qualify for the top 30 and compete in the
finals - with fast skis and a good day it is not out of the question.
On FIS points Esther is seeded 29th for the event and Paul 39th,
Simbo is 46th and BD 52nd.
December 6 - We Was
Robbed!
Tonight was the Silver Star "Dash for Cash" Night Sprints, with a
stacked international field competing for $10,000 in prize money.
Esther Bottomley was the only Australian to qualify for the finals
and was very hard done by to be knocked out in the quarter-final. The
700m course started and finished in the main street of the Silver
Star ski resort, and despite chilly conditions around -12 degrees a
great crowd turned out to spectate - including a large Australian
cheer squad.
In the time trial Esther qualified in 11th place, 5.7 seconds
behind the surprise fastest qualifier Chandra Crawford of Canada.
World Cup champion Marit Bjorgen managed only 7th in the time trial.
In the men's time trial Paul Murray was the best Australian in 29th,
5.8 seconds behind Eigenmann from Switzerland (yes, that Eigenmann
who broke Paul's World 100m Record in March this year). Ben Sim
finished 44th, 12.5 seconds behind, with Nick Grimmer in 48th and Ben
Derrick in 49th out of the 64 skier field. A stack of the top World
Cup skiers missed out on the final 16, including Hetland, Roenning,
Bjerkeli, and Naess from Norway, and the Ostberg brothers from
Sweden.
Esther came up in the 1/4-final against World Championships sprint
bronze medalist Sarah Renner, Guro Strom Solli from Norway who broke
through on World Cup last year with a couple of semi-final placings,
and Canadian junior Amanda Ammar. Esther sat in third place for most
of the race, then turning into the finish straight caught and started
to overtake second placed Solli. However Solli veered into Esther's
lane just as she started to go past, their skis collided and Esther
went down. Though lane changing in the finish straight is against the
rules, technically Solli didn't change lanes because she hadn't
chosen one - she skied down the middle of the lanes and only moved
into the left lane as Esther started to come past. There's one for
the FIS Technical Delegates to consider... ok there might be some
bias here but we reckon that Solli should have been disqualified.
Esther had no doubt that she would have taken second place if Solli
had chosen a lane at the start of the straight.
So no cash for Esther but a promising performance against a
quality field. There was plenty of other action in the finals as the
last corner was fast and banked with a berm that was quite big
enough. Several skiers crashed during the finals and some even
launched over the berm - which incidentally Esther also did during
training. She is now limping and icing a large bruise on her buttock,
that will hopefully wont cause any problems for the World Cup on the
weekend. The A-finals were eventually won by Manuela Henkel of
Germany and Bjorn Lind from Sweden.
December 4 - Canmore Part
II
Day two of competitions in Canmore NORAM Continental Cup,
and the guys skied 15km Classic on a tough loop with lots of
climbing. Ben Sim and Ben Derrick finished 14th and 19th
respectively, 2:36 and 3:17 behind the winner George Grey from
Canada. Both skiers lost contact with the main bunch fairly early on,
with Ben Sim ending up skiing most of the race by himself. BD yoyoed
around a small group before finishing strongly and moving up a
handful of places on the last lap. Nick Grimmer finished back in 70th
place, skiing a solid race after getting caught in a pile-up in the
start. The air temperature during the race was about -10 - almost
balmy in comparison to the -25 first thing in the morning. Full
results available at Zone 4.
The result for the two Bens was not bad, but the boys will have to
ski a lot faster in the World Cup next weekend if they are to have
any chance of coming close to the qualifying standard for Torino.
After a six hour drive (stuck for a while behind trucks on the
Trans-Canada highway, with swirling snow making for extremely poor
visibility) all the Australian Team is now in Silver Star where most
of the other international teams are staying for the Sovereign Lake
World Cup. Special thanks to the George family in Silver Star, who
organised a house for us for the week and are cooking us up a storm
(and they put up with Esther Bottomley for the past month and a
half), and also to Peter and Benita Carter, who hosted Ben Derrick
for his first two weeks in Canada and are looking after Clare-Louise
Brumley this week.
So while the World Cup is the main focus of this week, on Tuesday
afternoon/evening there is also a sprint in downtown Silver Star -
here is some of the pre-event hype:
Come on up for the most energized Nordic event in
North America this year - Silver Star's Night Sprints Dash for Cash!
Olympic and World Cup Nordic racers from 23 nations will be skate
sprinting madly around a 650 metre course at the centre of Silver
Star Mountain Resort, with $10,000 in cash up for grabs! Join in the
massive street party with music, lights, fireworks, food vendors in
the village, and watch the action on the giant 17' Jumbotron!
Next update on Wednesday.
December 3 - Canmore Part
I
Today was the first day of the Canmore NORAM Continental Cup
in Canada, and three Australians contested the Sprint Freestyle
event - Ben Derrick and Ben Sim from the World Cup team, and Nick
Grimmer who drove up from the USA at the start of the week. Ben Sim
was a late addition to the team in Canada - with form starting to
pick up in Kuusamo last weekend he decided to compete in the
Sovereign Lake World Cup events next weekend. The rest of the World
Cup team here in Canada chose to stay and train in Silver Star, well
actually Paul Murray only arrived there today from Sweden.
The temperature at the time of the qualifying was right on the FIS
limit of -20 degrees (it was -18 in the stadium and -20.5 at the top
of the course). Ben Sim was the fastest of the Australians in the
1.2km time trial, finishing in 19th place, 8 seconds behind the
fastest qualifier Phil Widmer of Canada. The new World Cup system was
used, where 30 athletes are taken to the finals, with the normal
1/4-final round consisting of 5 heats of 6 athletes. Ben Derrick was
3 seconds further back in 31st place (damn!), with Nick Grimmer
another 5 seconds back in 51st place. BD had this to say after the
race:
"If some young punk hadn't come over from Europe at
the last minute I would have made my first sprint final in the
northern hemisphere."
That young punk skied a pretty solid 1/4 final, coming from behind
to finish 3rd behind Canadians Drew Goldsack and Dave Nighbor -
missing out on a semi-final spot but moving up to 15th in the overall
ranking. Widmer won the A-final ahead of Goldsack. Beckie Scott won
the women's final ahead of Chandra Crawford.
Tomorrow the competition for the men is a 15km Classic Mass Start.
It is expected to get down to about -28 tonight but warm up to -7
during the day. After the race the team is packing up and driving
over to Silver Star - about 5-6 hours away by car apparently, so most
likely another report wont be posted until Monday December 5. The
best place to find results will probably be the
Faster Skier
or Ski Faster websites.
November 28 - NORAM
Podium
NORAM Continental Cup, Sovereign Lake, Canada
Yesterday November 27 Esther Bottomley made the podium in the NORAM
Continental Cup Sprint in Sovereign Lake in Canada. The places in the
qualifying and A-final results were the same, with Esther finishing
3rd behind the World Championship sprint bronze medalist Sarah Renner
and her Canadian team-mate Chandra Crawford. All the events in
Sovereign Lakes this weekend were a practice run for the World Cup
events in two weeks time - same events, same styles, though the
Pursuit was half the distance.
In the 15km Pursuit on Saturday November 26 Ben Derrick finished
in 16th place, 2:45 behind the winner George Grey of Canada. Here's
the wrap-up from the horse's mouth:
It dumped here for our race. I had a high start number
#34 and got hammered at the start, but I once I got going I skied ok
in the classic leg. Had some good hills but still couldn't get on the
leaders. It was tough getting past with fresh snow in most of the
tracks but I didnt really have it in the tank anyway. Skating was
really hard in really soft snow. One thing, I do have to chase up a
pair of pursuit boots before the WC. Skating in my 4 year-old soft
classic boots was pretty tough. So some good sections for me this
weekend, but I have heaps of form to find before WC.
While it was a very good result for Esther in the Sprint - and
Australia's first podium in a Continental Cup event outside of
Australia - she will likely also need to find a little more time
before the World Cup. In the qualifying she was 10 seconds behind
Renner, which may not be good enough against a World Cup field -
unless of course Renner wins the World Cup, which no doubt the
Canadians will be cheering for on home snow. The most promising part
is that Esther was strong all through the finals and kept her place
from the qualifying.
Esther Bottomley on her way to the podium in NORAM Sprint
Sovereign Lake, Canada, November 2005
Kuusamo World Cup
In the 15km Freestyle World Cup in Ruka in Finland Ben Sim finished
86th out of 89 starters. As for yesterday Ben felt okay and scored
decent FIS points of about 84, but the World Cup field is just so
strong. We should remember also that as a first year senior skier he
is probably just about the youngest in the event. The next races for
Ben will be the Ural Cup competitions coming up next weekend in
Russia.
Sweden Cup, Gallivare
In Sweden Paul Murray finished 12th in the opening Sweden Cup sprint
event in Gallivare. After qualifying 16th , 7 seconds behind the
fastest qualifier Bjorn Lind from Sweden, Paul finished third in his
quarter-final, out-lunged by Lind and Anders Hogberg. The final was
won by Tobias Fredriksson ahead of Peter Larsson and Lind. This was a
good promising result for Paul and indicates that his form is going
the right way before the next World Cup.
Paul Murray and Clare-Louise Brumley travel to Canada this week to
join the others in Silver Star preparing for the Canadian World Cups.
KT Calder has decided to remain in Europe and race most on Swiss Cup,
looking to train well and focus on finding form for the World Cup
competitions in January.
November 26 - Close But No
Banana
There was some improvement from the Australian team at the World
Cup in Ruka in Finland today, however it was not enough to keep the
chances of qualifying for Torino in a classic event alive.
Clare-Louise Brumley had the best result, finishing 61st out of 70
starters in the 10km Classic. KT Calder was 69th in the same event,
still well away from good form. Ben Sim skied a lot better than last
weekend, finishing 80th out of 86 starters in the 15k Freestyle.
Waxing conditions were again a little tricky, with wet dirty snow
and rain the day before dropping 3-4 degrees and accumulating 2-3 cm
of new snow overnight. But this time the waxing crew were better up
to the task, with Clare-Louise and Ben having good skis and only KT a
little light on for grip. Clare-Louise was in the hunt for the top
80% of field Olympic qualifying result, but ended up 20 seconds short
of the 56th place she needed to achieve. Both Clare-Louise and Ben
scored their best FIS points in a World Cup or World Championship
event, 96.2 for Clare-Louise and 74.6 for Ben. To give an example of
the depth of the men's field, for Ben to make it under the top 80% of
the field he would have needed to score 51 points. The winner of the
women's race was Marit Bjorgen (again) from Norway, and Tobias
Angerer from Germany won the men's event.
Tomorrow only Ben will race in the Freestyle World Cup events -
Clare-Louise has difficulty backing up two days in a row with her
asthma, and KT is really not quite in the right shape to be skiing
World Cup. Other Australian team members are also racing around the
world this weekend - Ben Derrick and Esther Bottomley in Sovereign
Lake in Canada, and Paul Murray in Gallivare in Sweden.
Nick Almoukov Pondering Skis the Universe and Everything
Ruka, Finland, November 2005
November 19 - Room For
Improvement
"This is World Cup, not Clean Out The Cobwebs". So said Ben Sim at
the World Cup races in Beitostolen in Norway today. About the best
that can said about the races was that it wasn't quite a total
disaster. Clare-Louise Brumley and KT Calder finished 67th and 71st
out of 72 skiers in the women's 10km Classic, and Ben Sim was 81st
out of 82 in the 15km Classic. If any Australian skiers are to
qualify ifor the Classic events in Torino 2006 then a lot of
improvement has to be made before the second round of distance World
Cup events in Kuusamo in Finland next weekend.
With the lack of snow around Europe this was the first race of the
season for Clare-Louise and Ben (KT raced on a 1.8km loop in Finland
last weekend), and only the third day on snow for Ben. The organisers
in Beitostolen did a good job to put the race course together, a
3.2km loop made up of artificial snow and snow trucked down from the
nearby fjalls. Waxing wasn't so easy, with a combination of icy and
powder snow. Unfortunately the Australian waxing crew didn't quite
get it together, with all skiers lacking a bit of glide and the girls
also a touch short on the grip.
Ben Sim had a promising start, and was up in the mid 60's in the
first couple of kilometres. However after the second lap he had a lot
of problems with his back, and struggled with pain and keeping his
technique together for the rest of the race. He dropped back through
the field, ending up just ahead of one skier. The 15km Classic was
won surprisingly by Tor Arne Hetland of Norway, who normally has his
best results in Sprint. Not many of the "Red Group" (the top 30
skiers in the world) did so well today. Most of the top 10 were lower
ranked skiers, including Hetland and two others from the Norwegian
National Group - thos who get a start in the race only because the
race is in Norway.
Clare-Louise also had a reasonable start, in 60th place after the
first 1.6km. However both she and KT found that they were having to
work very hard to get grip on the hills and also lost time to those
around them on the downhills. The race was won by Marit Bjorgen from
Norway - no surprises there, the biggest question could be who will
beat Bjorgen this season. For Clare-Louise the gap up to the next
5-10 places was not so much, so her form seems to be not that bad and
she has a good chance to improve in Finland if (hopefully when) she
has better skis. For KT the challenge will be harder. For sure better
skis will help, however it may be that the recovery from the shoulder
injury may take longer. She is healthy and able to train and race now
and push hard, but something is obviously not right for her to be as
far back as she was today. Maybe the upper body fitness is what is
lacking, after such a gap without being able to do anything.
Ben, Nick Almoukov and Finn Marsland start the long drive tomorrow
to Kuusamo - if all goes well we should get there in the late
afternoon on Monday. KT and Clare-Louise stay an extra day in Norway
and then fly directly to Kuusamo on Monday. At least there should be
reasonable training in Kuusamo (Ruka) during the week - apparently
they have 5km of man-made snow already.
Ben Sim in action in Beitostolen
November 3 - Random
Preparations
A quick update on the Australian Team members preparing for the
next World Cup competitions in Europe and North America. The next
World Cup event is in Beitostolen in Norway on November 19, and there
is supposed to be a Norwegian Cup there from November 11-13. However
at the moment the tracks in Beitostolen are closed because the
organisers are trying to save the snow for the World Cup. It has been
too warm to make snow for the past week and rain has been eating up
snow all over Scandinavia.
KT Calder and Clare-Louise Brumley, together with National Squad
member James Rickard, are in Vuokatti in Finland at the ski tunnel.
As well as the 1.5km of tracks indoors there has been 2.5km of snow
outside. All three were supposed to be heading across to Beitostolen
on November 10, however now they are waiting to see what happens with
the Norwegian Cup; if it is cancelled or if the tracks wont be opened
leading into the World Cup, they will stay in Vuokatti for as long as
possible.
Ben Sim, the remaining Australian skier competing at the World Cup
in Beitostolen, arrived in Russia last week to join NSWIS coach Nick
Almoukov in Soloboevo. Unfortunately there's no snow there, they are
hoping it gets cold so they can get time on snow before they come
across to Norway on November 13.
Paul Murray is at his normal base in Borlange in Sweden, where
there is also no snow. His Swedish club Falun-Borlange had been
planning to hold a training camp anywhere there was snow, however the
usual early season site Bruksvallarna has no snow, and Idre which had
snow in October apparently now has less than 500m.
Esther Bottomley is in Silver Star in Canada, and they have just
hit the jackpot. The following is an extract from the Silver Star
press release on November 1:
This is no Halloween trick! A blast of midwinter
weather has treated cross country skiers at the world-famous Silver
Star Mountain into a snowy wonderland, and Australia's Esther
Bottomley couldn't be happier! "This is my first trip to Canada and I
chose Silver Star because I'd heard they have reliable early season
snow, and it's true!"
The 23 year-old member of Australia's national Nordic team hit the
trails today after landing at Silver Star last week for pre-race
training in advance of the World Cup races that will be held later in
December. She came straight from Dusseldorf, Germany, where she
competed in the season's opener sprint event that drew hundreds of
thousands of spectators.
Nordic Manager Glenn Bond says that fat flakes are flying in the
Village and up on the mountain, and with a few more centimetres the
heavy grooming fleet will be put into full operation. "We've got
enough snow to snowmobile groom right now and there are over a dozen
people out on the trails enjoying the early season conditions..."
Back in Australia, the remaining member of the World Cup Team Ben
Derrick is training in Falls Creek and Mt Beauty for two more weeks
before he heads over to join Esther at Silver Star. BD just finished
a solid month of training (~90 hours for October) ending with the
4-peaks competition in North-East Victoria. This is what he had this
to say about training yesterday:
Weeeelllll its raining, AGAIN! It was like a 25C
tropical downpour this morning. I might just do some core strength in
the gym this arvo. You can only get wet so many times before you
become irrational and no longer have responsibility for your actions.
Next report possibly after the Finnish Cup in Muonio this weekend
(if it is on), or after the Beitostolen Norwegian Cup (if it is on).
Glenn Bond and Esther Bottomley ski on the early snow in downtown
Silver Star
October 23 - World Cup Team
Sprint Debut
This was the first time Australia has fielded a team in a World
Cup Team Sprint and it was certainly a good experience. Ben Sim and
Paul Murray competed together in the Team Sprint at the World
Championships in Oberstdorf last February, but it is another thing
again on World Cup when all the top nations have two teams competing.
The team of Andrew Mock and Paul Murray ended up in 24th place out of
26 teams in the Dusseldorf Team Sprint today, after finishing 12th in
their semi-final. Mocky started first, and after making up ground
from the back of the grid came into the exchange at the back of the
pack. There was some chaos in the changover, Zorzi from Italy had his
pole broken in the first exchange and there were a few minor
collisions. Paul moved up a couple of places on his first leg, but at
the start of the 5th leg they lost contact with the bunch and without
any slipstreaming the gap blew out.The boys were a little
disappointed to lose contact with the pack, but early on they learned
a stack about pack sprinting with the best in the world.
In the finals Norway won both the women's and men's events. The
Norwegian men's team who finished 3rd was lucky not to be
disqualified, after Roenning swerved suddenly after his last change
to Hetland and took out Zorzi, effectively eliminating any chance for
Italy to contest the final leg. Zorzi didn't take it well - after the
race he reportedly picked up a metal barrier and threw it at the
Norwegian team.
The second changeover in semifinal 2 in Dusseldorf Team Sprint - Paul
Murray on far left
Extra Shorts From Dusseldorf
A minor drama before the sprint as Paul's ski-bag had been mislaid by
the airline when he arrived from Sweden the day before. It still
hadn't arrived at the hotel on the morning of the race when the
waxing crew headed off to the race track. Finally it turned up about
7:15AM; it had been mixed up with the Swedish team's skis and was
discovered (upon enquiry) in one of their wax cabins.
Training pre-Dusseldorf was assisted by Salomon, who provided some
in-line skates for training, and Peter Schlickenrieder, who supplied
rollerskis and also a training base for Esther for the first week in
Germany. Mocky's preparation involved a few days in Brussels
adjusting to jet-lag, then two days at the German training centre in
Neuastenberg east of Dusseldorf with Esther. Paul managed to get one
hit-out under his belt before the World Cup - he competed in the Mora
Sprint on October 16, a classic sprint on snow stored under bark from
last season. From a bad start position (he had to overtake two
skiers) Paul finished 14th in the qualifying just 4.5 seconds off the
pace against a stacked Swedish field. He was knocked out in the 1/4
final by Peter Larsson and Mikael Ostberg - yesterday's World Cup
winner and 2nd fastest qualifier respectively.
Paul's scraping in under the 80% yesterday was nearly out the
window when he almost fell going up the bridge on the first lap. Even
if he had only stumbled onto one knee it would have be enough to drop
him down several places and put him over 80%.
Almost a major blunder before the start of the Team Sprint when
Mocky became a little confused and nearly missed the start.
Admittedly the nomenclature on the start list was a little strange,
as semi-final 2 was scheduled to start before semi-final 1. Realising
his error Mocky made it onto the starting grid just in time, albeit a
little disheveled.
Crowd numbers at the Dusseldorf event were reported to be up 40%
on 2004, primarily due to an influx of young female fans intent on
catching a glimpse of Mocky undressing in the warm-up pen. Mocky also
made a special guest performance at the opening ceremony - though the
presenter got things a little mixed up and said he was from Canada.
Andrew Mock acknowledges the crowd at the Dusseldorf opening
ceremony, while Sarah Renner from Canada applauds.
October 22 - Some Consolation
In Dusseldorf
Today was the first race of the 2005/06 World Cup season, in
Dusseldorf in Germany. It wasn't quite the season opening we were
hoping for, but at least one skier made the C qualification standard
for the 2006 Winter Olympics. Paul Murray finished 53rd out of 69
starters in the men's 1.5km freestyle sprint, just under 80% of the
field. He needs to acheive at least the same again in one of the two
remaining freestyle sprint qualifying events to qualify for the
Australian Team for Torino. After the race Paul said "I didn't come
here to finish 53rd, but in the circumstances I'll take it. I'm
relieved to get one result out of the way; now I have another 6 weeks
to get into better form for the next one."
Andrew Mock finished 66th in the same event, struggling to get the
power down in the soft wet snow. The race course on the banks for the
Rhein in downtown Dusseldorf was constructed the night before with
man-made snow from the nearby indoor ski hill in Neuss. With air
temperature of about +15 and light rain falling as the morning
progressed, the snow softened up quite quickly. This event in
Dusseldorf will be Mocky's only World Cup this season - he returns to
Australia on Monday, after possible the shortest season in Europe
ever for an Australian skier. Not a bad effort for only one week off
work.
In the women's sprint Esther Bottomley finished 53rd out of 58
starters. With the women's event only 830m long expectations were
particularly high for Esther, who is normally very fast and
competitive on any course so short. Unfortunately this was not her
day. She looked really good for the first 150m, but became
light-headed after possibly starting too fast and definitely wasn't
displaying her normal dynamism in the latter part of the race. The
end result of 143 FIS points was disappointing and far from Esther's
best; the main thing on the plus side is that she can definitely ski
a lot faster (and has!), and there is plenty of time to find form
before the next event. On Monday she flies directly to Canada, where
the next sprint World Cup takes place at Sovereign Lakes on December
11.
The men's A-final was won by Peter Larsson from Sweden, and the
women's A-final by Marit Bjorgen from Norway. Tomorrow are the Team
Sprint events, with Australia represented in the men's event by Paul
and Mocky. The aim is to stay in the pack in the semi-final and be
there for the sprint on the final lap. Qualifying for the final (top
5 teams) is probably a bit much to ask for, but if the pack stays
together anything is possible.
Full results are available from the
FIS website. Also on the
Dusseldorf site.
October 15 - Early Season
Start
It is the middle of October and the first World Cup is only one
week away. There's not really much snow anywhere, but there are a few
places with articificial snow on the ground. The first World Cup will
be held in Dusseldorf in Germany, on an 800 loop of man-made snow on
the banks of the Rhein. The main focus of the Australian Team this
winter is to qualify athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino,
and this is the first selection race. Paul Murray, Esther Bottomley,
and Andrew Mock will contest this opening sprint event; other
athletes on the team are preparing for distance races later in the
season. This is a big year. A great deal of time, money, and energy
has been invested since 2002, when no Australian cross country skiers
competed at the Winter Olympics, and the current crop of athletes are
aiming high. From now until January 24 the goal is to get between one
and six athletes qualified for Torino. Of course the aim is also to
produce great results at the Olympics, but unfortunately until the
athletes are qualified they do not have the luxury of being able to
focus only on Torino. The selection process for the Australian cross
country skiers is outlined below. We will endeavour to post regular
updates before and after every event - for those keen enough the
results of the races can be seen live over the internet via the
FIS site.
Qualification for 2006 Winter Olympics
Full details of the Selection and Nominations criteria for the
Australian Team for Torino are available in the
Selection Criteria
for Major International Competitions section on this site. Here
is a quick summary:
Selection for Torino will be made on an event by event basis.
There are three performance standards under the Selection Criteria,
A, B and C. These correspond to achieving results respectively within
the top 20%, 60% and 80% of the starting field in World Cup events.
For example, if there are 80 starters in an event, if an athlete
finishes in place 48 or better then they are within 60%. Only the
World Cup events in the exact same distance and technique as the
Olympic events count for selection (except for the 30/50km event - as
there is no World Cup event in this distance before the Olympics then
the 15/30km event will be used). There are 12 Olympic events, 6 for
each gender. Critieria C only applies if no athletes have qualified
under A or B, and a maximum of one athlete per event may be selected.
Under Criteria A only one result under the standard is required. For
Criteria B and C, the athlete must achieve the standard in 50% of the
races prior to the selection deadline on January 24. This is rounded
up, so if three events are held then the athlete needs two results
under the standard. For the Team Sprint, Criteria C doesn't apply.
Seven Australian athletes have been selected to the Shadow Olympic
Team, which means that they have achieved the FIS selection criteria
to compete on World Cup (120 FIS Points) and the IOC standard to
compete at the Olympics. The following table indicates which athletes
are trying to qualify in which event:
|
Event
|
Sprint Freestyle
|
10km / 15km Classic
|
Pursuit
|
30 / 50km Freestyle
|
Team Sprint Classic
|
|
Location / Date
|
Dusseldorf, GER - Oct 22
Sovereign Lakes, CAN - Dec 11
Nove Mesto, CZE - Dec 30
|
Beitostolen, NOR - Nov 19
Kuusamo, FIN - Nov 27
Otepaa, EST, Jan 7
|
Sovereign Lakes, CAN - Dec 10
Oberstdorf, GER - Jan 21
|
Val di Fiemme, ITA - Jan 14
(Note - 15/30km)
|
Canmore, CAN - Dec 18
Oberstdorf, GER - Jan 22 ???
|
|
Athletes*
|
Paul Murray
Esther Bottomley
Andrew Mock
|
Ben Sim
Clare-Louise Brumley
Katherine Calder
|
Ben Derrick
Clare-Louise Brumley
Katherine Calder
Ben Sim (late addition in Canada)
|
Ben Derrick
Ben Sim
Katherine Calder
Clare-Louise Brumley
|
Paul Murray / Ben Sim
(likely in Oberstdorf only)
|
|
# Of Results**
|
Two
|
Two
|
One
|
One
|
One
|
* Note that not all athletes will be competing in all
events
* * Number of results required to qualify for Torino under Selection
Criteria B or C.
What are our chances?
The chances of Australian athletes qualifying under Criteria A are
remote but not inconceivable. No Australian cross country skier has
ever made it under 20% of the field in a World Cup, however in the
last two years Paul Murray has had two results around 40% in classic
sprints. Of the rest of the Shadow Team, Esther Bottomley was the
closest to reaching the Criteria C standard in 2004/2005, with one
result of 80% and one of 86.6%. The rest of the team have had some
results outside of World Cup which could possibly be of a comparable
standard to the 80%, but basically they have to achieve a higher
standard on World Cup that they have ever achieved before. A tough
aim, but also realistic considering the gains that have been made in
recent years.
Here's to a succesful season; best of luck to everyone involved
and fingers crossed for some outstanding results!
