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Stryn, Norway, February 2-8 Official Championship Site Back to 2003/2004 Team Reports |
Aussie WJC Reports
February 2 - The Australian TeamThe 2004 World Junior Championships take place in Stryn on the west coast of Norway. The Australian Team arrived on January 29, to be greeted soon after by very warm almost "Australian" conditions. Temperatures of +5 were predicted for the opening competition, and the tracks were wet and glazed. Ben Sim is the only member of the team starting in the classic mass start events tomorrow. The Official Championship Site or the FIS site will likely be the quickest to post results, and we will try to get summaries of the Australian performances up as soon as reports come from Norway.
Australian Team
Coaches: Nick Almoukov, Allison McArdle
Athletes: Ben Sim, Sally Cunningham, Aimee Watson, Ewan WatsonCompetition Schedule:
Date
Event
Australian Competitors
February 3
Women 15km Classic
None
Men 30km Classic
Ben Sim
February 5
Women 5km Freestyle
Sally Cunningham
Aimee Watson
Men 10km Freestyle
Ben Sim
Ewan WatsonFebruary 7
Women 1km Sprint
Sally Cunningham
Men 1km Sprint
Ben Sim
February 8
Women 4 by 5km Relay
No Australian Team
Men 4 by 10km Relay
No Australian Team
February 3 - Competition Day One - Women 15km and Men 30km Mass Start ClassicA solid start for the Australian team at the 2004 World Junior Championships with Ben Sim taking 41st place in the 30km mass start classic. Ben started conservatively, and despite a fall on the 3rd lap and a broken pole on the third lap (he received a quick replacement) was satisfied with his performance. The temperature during the race was about +3 and conditions were wet after rain overnight and light rain during the women's 15km. The field spread out very early after the first three skiers broke away away from the pack soon after 3km. After about 20km Neuchesov from Russia and Perl from Switzerland made it clear from Goering from Germany, with Neuchesov breaking away on the last hill to win by just 12 seconds. Ben finished stongly towards the end, gaining time on all skiers around him. More details now available from Allison McArdle.
Men 30km Classic Mass Start 1 1:24:32 Anatoly Neuchesov, RUS 2 1:24:44 Curdin Perl, SUI 3 1:25.54 Franz Goering, GER 35 1:32:51 Dave Nighbor, CAN 41 1:33:35 Ben Sim, AUS - 10.69% - 141.91 FIS points 42 1:33:56 Brent McMurty, CAN 58 1:37:16 Michael Sinnot, USA 59 1:38:10 Casey Simons, USA 61 1:38:40 Bret Bedard, USA 62 1:39:34 Jesse Heckrodt, CAN 63 1:40:08 Casey Dyck, CAN 68 1:43:58 Tim Damrow, USA 76 skiers in start 71 skiers in finish Women 15km Classic Mass Start 1 46:12 Irina Artemova, RUS 2 46:23 Antje Dittrich, GER 3 46:28 Marion Ruf, GER 19 48:56 Lindsey Weier, USA 29 49:44 Lindsey Williams, USA 34 50:12 Maria Birkigt, CAN 37 50:19 Morgan Smyth, USA 38 59:21 Alison Crocker, USA 44 50:54 Amanda Ammar, CAN 55 54:06 Perianne Jones, CAN 64 skiers in start 61 skiers in finish
February 5 - Competition Day Two - Women 5km and Men 10km FreestyleDay two of competition in Styrn saw more rain and wet conditions again for the freestyle 5km and 10km events, which were held for the first time with a 15 second start interval instead of the usual 30. The women's 5km was up first, with Aimee Watson and Sally Cunningham taking 73rd and 76th place. Aimee started well in her World Junior Championship debut, and was in 69th place after 2.5km. Sally on the other hand made an uncharacteristicly slow start [Note - apparently Sally fell early on], 28 seconds behind Aimee after 2.5km before romping home to be only 8.5 seconds outside 72nd place at the finish. Aimee's FIS points of 163.62 were a personal best. Sally will likely be disappointed with her result after skiing so well in Sweden in mid-January. At the front of the field Russia made a trifecta with Artemova making it two in a row.
In the men's 10km the field was incredibly tight early on in the fast wet conditions. Ben Sim was in 27th place after 5km, with a stack of skiers within only a few seconds. He dropped to 34th place at 7.5km, and then hung onto this place at the finish by just 0.4 of a second ahead of Dave Nighbor from Canada. Ben's 7.47% behind the winner in a distance race at the World Junior Championships is only bettered by his own performance in the 30km freestyle last year. Ewan Watson made a great WJC debut finishing in 82nd place from 88 starters and with personal best FIS points of 154.28. At the front Goering from Germany and Koschevoy from Kazakstan had a battle for the top spot, with Koschevoy looking to have it won at 7.5km only for Goering to come back and take victory by 3 seconds. Look again in the next day or so for another detailed report from the team. [Wait now until later next week!] [OK, don't hold your breath, it's lost in the mail]
Women 5km Freestyle 1 13:03.7 Irina Artemova, RUS 2 13:17.2 Anna Slepova, RUS 3 13:20.5 Valentina Novikova, RUS 14 13:42.6 Lindsey Williams, USA 22 13:56.4 Perianne Jones, CAN 40 14:11.9 Amanda Ammar, CAN 45 14:17.0 Lindsey Weier, USA 46 14:17.6 Alison Crocker, USA 60 14:39.2 Sonne Nordgren, USA 62 14:53.6 Claire Rennie, CAN 72 15:51.7 Maria Birkigt, CAN 73 15:51.7 Aimee Watson AUS - 163.62 FIS points 76 16:00.2 Sally Cunningham AUS - 170.13 FIS points 76 skiers in start Men 10km Freestyle 1 24:19.2 Franz Goering, GER 2 24:22.2 Yevgenie Koschevoy, KAZ 3 24:45.8 Nikolay Morilov, RUS 34 26:08.7 Ben Sim, AUS - 7.47% - 79.82 FIS points 35 26:09.1 Dave Nighbor, CAN 53 26:44.3 Bret Bedard, USA 59 27:07.9 Casey Simons, USA 61 27:09.0 Jesse Heckrodt, CAN 62 27:16.2 Michael Sinnot, USA 68 27:24.8 Brent McMurty, CAN 70 27:26.8 Christopher Werrel, CAN 71 27:31.5 Beau Baldock, USA 82 29:09.3 Ewan Watson, AUS - 19.88% - 154.28 FIS points 88 skiers in start
February 7 - Competition Day Three - Women and Men 1km Sprint FreestyleApologies for this late and very short report of the third day of individual competitions. A more detailed report will come in the next week or so. Conditions were incredibly fast for the sprint competitions, even the fastest women posted times under 2 minutes. Sally Cunningham put her average result from the 5km behind her and skied possibly her best sprint race ever to take 53rd place from a starting field of 71, only 13 seconds behind the fastest qualifier. Sally also scored personal best FIS points of 148.12. In the men's race Ben Sim finished in 46th place out of 83, what would have been a sensational Australian result only 2 years ago but is now only an average race by Ben's high standards. The course was probably a bit too fast for Ben's liking - those who watched him race in the Australian Championship sprint would have seen that Ben needs a little longer time to kick into high speed.
Women 1km Sprint Freestyle - Qualifying Time Trial 1 1:56.24 Astrid Oevstedal, NOR 11 2:00.28 Perianne Jones, CAN 13 2:00.86 Lindsey Williams, USA 15 2:01.60 Katie Ronse, USA 42 2:05.57 Alison Crocker, USA 45 2:06.24 Amanda Ammar, CAN 52 2:08.73 Claire Rennie, CAN 53 2:09.39 Sally Cunningham AUS - 11.31% - 148.12 FIS points 55 2:10.37 Cristin Jaques, CAN 61 2:11.84 Sonne Nordgren, USA 71 skiers in start Women A-Final 1 Astrid Oevstedal, NOR 2 Ida Ingemarsdotter, SWE 3 Valentina Novikova, RUS 4 Ingrid Vikman, RUS Men 1km Sprint Freestyle - Qualifying Time Trial 1 1:39.52 Robin Bryntesson, SWE 6 1:43.38 Casey Dyck, CAN 9 1:43.92 Christopher Werrel, CAN 23 1:45.60 Dave Nighbor, CAN 27 1:46.24 Beau Baldock, USA 36 1:47.80 Tyson Flaharty, USA 37 1:47.88 Brent McMurty, CAN 43 1:48.61 Casey Simons, USA 46 1:48.93 Ben Sim, AUS - 9.45% - 129.55 FIS points 65 1:52.79 Michael Sinnot, USA 83 skiers in start Men A-Final 1 Robin Bryntesson, SWE 2 Ville Verkama, FIN 3 Martin Stockinger, AUT 4 Mikael Devatiarov Jnr, RUS
February 8 - Competition Day Four - Women and Men RelayNo Australian teams, Kazakstan won the men's relay in a sprint with Germany, maybe Norway(?) won the women's relay.
So that's it, another World Junior Championship down. Some great performances by the Australian athletes, in particular from Ben Sim in all 3 events and from Sally Cunningham in the sprint, and some solid debuts from the younger Watson twins. The 2005 World Junior Championships are scheduled for Rovaniemi in Finland, and all of the team from this year are still eligible. There is a good chance the WJC next year will also be combined with the first official U23 World Championships, so there should be a large Australian team heading north to the home (allegedly) of Santa Claus. Don't forget, more details from the competitions this year coming soon, apparently the disc is in the mail. Cherio!
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