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Spring News 2001
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November 1 - JWASR Roller Ski and Blade Series
October 30 - Speed Golf and 2001-2002 Team Plans
October 12 - Excerpts from Overseas

 Summer News 2001/2002


Australian Team Camp, Falls Creek October 2001

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2001 Race Results

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Spring 2001 Updates
November 1 - JWASR Roller Ski and Blade Series
The Jindabyne Winter Academy of Sport and Recreation has just announced the dates for its 2001/2002 Roller Ski and Blade Series. The first event is already on our doorsteps, to be held at the JWASR on Saturday November 10 at 9:00am. The full schedule for the series is as follows:

When:

10 Nov

1 Dec

12 Jan

9 Feb

9 Mar

13 Apr

11 May

8 June

Format:

Sprint

Sprint

Pursuit

Sprint

Pursuit

Sprint

Pursuit

Pursuit

Faezor Biathlon events are to be held concurrently with some of the events, dates TBA.

The events are open to all levels of roller skier or blader. Numbers permitting, there will be categories for Masters, Open, Junior, and Novice, as well as Club and School classes. The cost of each is event is $4.00, covering the use of facilities and insurance. All events will have registration at the JWASR athletics/bike track between 9:00-9:15 am. The use of helmet, knee pads and elbow pads is strongly recommended.

Further information about the series can be found through Tim Greville at the JWASR on Tel: 02 6456 2242 or e-mail: tgreville@dsr.nsw.gov.au


October 30 - Speed Golf and 2001-2002 Team Plans

Speed Golf Initiation at National Team Training Camp
Taking on the challenge set by Chris Jeffries from the Canadian Ski Team ( See September news item on the Ski Faster website), several Australians had their initiation to Speed Golf at the recent national team training camp in Jindabyne NSW. Paul Murray lead the score card with 60 shots for nine holes in 16 minutes 28 seconds, ahead of Finn Marsland with 62 shots and 18 min 9 sec, and Duane Butcher bringing up the rear on 78 shots and 19 min 25 sec (it should be noted that Duane did spend quite a bit of time looking for his ball). While the speed is not too bad, the skill level is a long way from Chris Jeffries record of 83 strokes for 18 holes in 37 min 54 sec.

The other highlight for the weekend was the rollerski /rollerblade time trial and knockout sprints on the Jindabyne Winter Sports Academy sports track. With one eye to the sky for swooping magpies Paul Murray posted the fastest time of 1 min 40 sec on the 800m course (two by 400m) on his fourth round out of five, though it has to be noted that he was on rollerblades and there was a great difference in ski/blade speed amongst the group. Esther Bottomley posted the fastest women's time of 2 min 16 on rollerskis. It was a fantastic venue for such events, keep a look out for the Jindabyne Winter Sports Academy Rollerski Series taking place over the summer and leading into the next Australian winter.

Australians Begin 2001-2002 International Season
With the first Continental Cup races coming up in Fairbanks Alaska next weekend and the first World Cup due to start in Finland less than 4 weeks away, the first members of the Australian Team have departed for Europe. Australian #1 woman Camille Melvey left Sydney yesterday heading for Finland, accompanied by "Supercoach" Allison McArdle. The two have the toughest schedule of all the Australians this season, as Camille chases FIS races in attempt to qualify for World Cup and the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. The target for Camille is 75 FIS points to get into distance World Cup, and then a top half of the field finish in World Cup to make it to the Olympics - a huge ask

The next to depart will be the main body of the World Cup team, with Ben Derrick and National Team Coach Finn Marsland leaving on November 22, and Paul Murray following soon after. Paul and Ben are also aiming for Winter Olympic selection but with the advantage of World Cup qualification and starts already granted. The first World Cup events for the Aussies are in Cogne on December 8 and 9, with other Continental Cups and World Cups in central Europe concluding with Val di Fiemme at the the start of January, the last chance to qualify for Salt Lake City. Cameron Morton is also qualified to ski sprint World Cup, however will be following the biathlon World Cup circuit and seeking Winter Olympic qualification in that direction.

Team Almoukov is the next to depart on November 29, with NSW coach Nick Almoukov looking after World Junior Championship contenders Ben Sim and Chris Darlington, senior A team member Katie Calder, and two younger developing NSW juniors along for the experience. Katie Calder has been doing a lot of the leg work to get the program in place, taking in training and competition in Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Italy leading up to the 2002 World Junior Championships in Schonach Germany.

The rest of the World Junior team will assemble in Ramsau in December 10 under the guidance of experienced manager Brian Keeble. Junior skiers Rhiannon Palmer, Esther Bottomley, and Andrew Mock all have their sights set on Schonach, with 16 year old Sally Cunningham whetting her appetite for future years and last year junior Andrew Circosta getting his first taste of international experience. The team will stay in Ramsau until the new year, then compete in Germany and Switzerland before heading across to join the rest of the juniors at Schonach prior to the start of the World Junior Championships on January 21.

Other members of the national cross country team following individual competition schedules overseas this summer include Rob Curtis and Andrew Wynd.

Further details of the 2001-2002 international programs will be available in the next edition of Australian XC News, expected to come out in mid November. Progress of the teams will be published in the team report section of this site.


October 12 - Excerpts from Overseas

USA Hoping for Step Up in 2002
Christer Skog was the Australian coach from 1995-1998, and since then he has been with the USA ski team. This interview with Hahan Degselius was translated from the www.skidsport.com website.

New Non-Stop Pursuit to make World Cup Debut
When the 2001-2002 FIS calendar came out earlier this year a new type of event was to be trialed on Continental Cup. Called a "Ski-Duathlon" by some, basically it is a pursuit race with no break in between races - classic first and then an equipment change and on with the skate. Now FIS is proposing to include this event in World Cup this season, at the March World Cup events in Falun, Sweden.

While full details of the changeover zones and procedures are yet to be revealed, the word is that a complete set of equipment has to be changed - skis, boots and poles. Australian skiers will get their first taste of the new event at Ramsau on December 15, where there will be 5km/5km race for womena and a 7.5km/7.5km race for men.

Under 23 World Cup/ World Championship?
Another idea being floated by FIS is the introduction of an U23 World Championship and World Cup events. Other sports including cycling have had this intermediate stage for years, the aim being to have a stepping stone from juniors up to the elite professional level. Not messing around, test events are to be added in to the FIS calendar already in 2002, in Val di Fiemme in February just prior to the start of the Winter Olympics. Further test events are scheduled for Salt Lake City in 2003.

Marcialonga into World Cup 2002-2003
The Transjurassienne was the first Worldoppet race to be included in the World Cup circuit in 2000. In 2001 a manufactured long distance race in Kuopio Finland was used , but in 2002 the World Cup is reverting back to a existing Worldloppet race, the Norwegian Birkebeiner. Now it has been decided that the 70km Marcialonga in Italy will be included as the long distance event in the 2002-2003 World Cup series.

Langrenn.com Re-introduces English Version
The Langrenn.com website from Norway (formerly XC-Skiing ) has re-introduced it's english version after a 10 month break. With a new english translator this site which features exlusive reports from the top Norwegian skiers is worth adding to the browsing list.


XC is the official website of the Skiing Australia Cross Country Committee. It is produced with the assistance of the Australian Sports Commission and the Kangaroo Hoppet. The editor can be contacted via info@hoppet.com.au.