What a week for our New Zealand female athletes around the world!
Alice Robinson takes out first World Cup of the season
Sölden, Austria (26 October 2019) – New Zealand ski racer Alice Robinson has started her 2019/20 season on a high, winning the FIS Alpine World Cup Giant Slalom in Sölden, Austria.
The traditional season opening on the Rettenbach Glacier in Sölden attracts the world’s best racers, all vying for top honours. The 17-year-old from Queenstown, with just 10 World Cup starts to her name, wasted no time making her presence felt today, skiing from start bib nine in to second place on her first run, just 0.14s behind reigning overall FIS World Cup Champion Mikaela Shiffrin (USA).
With the start order of the top-30 racers flipped for run two, Alice was the second last racer through the gates on run two, putting down a blistering run to take the lead but had to wait for Shiffrin to finish before her podium placing was decided. Shiffrin recorded the fastest time at the first split before falling behind the pace set by the young Kiwi and finishing 0.06s behind Alice, in the silver position. Bronze medal went to World Cup veteran Tessa Worley (FRA).
“It’s pretty crazy,” said Alice after the race. “It was very close. I was a little nervous but I just tried to keep calm and enjoy it all.”
Robinson is the current Junior World Champion in Giant Slalom and claimed her first World Cup medal in March this year, finishing second at the FIS Alpine World Cup Finals in Andorra. It was NZ’s first Alpine ski racing World Cup medal in 17 years.
Luuka Jones takes bronze at Tokyo Test Event
Japan's first-ever purpose built Canoe Slalom course came to life for the Tokyo 2020 test event over the weekend with New Zealand's own Luuka Jones claiming a bronze medal.
"The state-of-the-art course uses similar technology to the one built for Rio 2016, which allows the volume and intensity of water to be easily adjusted. It will have 7,500 temporary seats during Games time, with the competitions running from 26 to 31 July.
Numerous top paddlers from around the world attended the test, aiming to get a feel for the course where they will compete for medals next (Japan) summer."
- Olympic.org
Sarah Walker back on the podium after hard mahi
Olympian Sarah Walker made up for a crash last weekend by celebrating on top of the podium in Indonesia - Adding valuable points for New Zealand's NZ Olympic Qualification bids.
Emma Twigg wins Gold Cup Foundation regatta
Rower Emma Twigg has taken out the top prize at the Gold Cup regatta in Camden, New Jersey, rowing a 750-meter, all out, sprint for cash.
"We don't get to do this very often," said Twigg. "So, it's a lot of fun. It was good. I can't complain. I went for it from the start, and managed to find myself in the front. It's been a really great comeback year and the key to it all was just enjoying myself." - https://www.row2k.com
And on a side note:
A huge congratulations to kiwi Olympians Sam Webster and Stacey Michelsen on their engagement!
Posted by Sam Webster on Monday, 28 October 2019
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