J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

With 40 racers having completed the Men's Super G competition at the Sochi Olympics this morning, Bode Miller in joint bronze medal position with Canadian racer Jan Hudec, looks set to become the oldest Alpine skier to medal at an Olympics.

36 year old Miller, who is competing in his fifth Olympics having first raced at Nagano in 1998, and has already won five Olympic medals including one gold, was .53 of a second behind winner Kjetil Jansrud of Norway. Bode's fellow American Andrew Weibrecht was in silver position .3 of a second off the winning time. Miller has the most Olympic medals of any US ski racer.

The start of the Men's Super-G Ski Race was rescheduled to start an hour early in sa bid from the organisers to deal with the heat problems Sochi has been suffering, in common with the Vancouver Games four years ago. It started at 10am rather than an 11am local time.

Yesterday it was 10C when the women's Super G started at 11am and more than a third of competitors failed to finish. Several racers blamed the snow conditions although the Austrian coach who set the course said it was a technical course and that he was surprised how many racers made errors.

Chemmy Alcott made her third appearance of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games earlier today, competing in the Ladies' Super-G.

She finished 23rd in a time of 1:29.14 minutes and immediately after crossing the line looked less than pleased with her final Olympic race. Chemmy Alcott (Alpine Skiing)
On her race, Chemmy said,

"I should have managed my expectations a bit better but I just know if I could do it again I would be a lot better. I saw a lot of the girls skiing pretty and round so I took some risks and they paid off until the last pitch. I just made a judgment error and had to battle down."

"You choose your own fate and that [crashing out] wasn't going to be my fate. I was going to fight down and get my best result ever, that is how I think. Ski racing is a brutal sport to go out on your best race ever is the golden day but I don't think that golden day happens that often."

Commenting on the course Chemmy said,

"It was brutal, you had ice at the top to deal with then it was gripping and then there was snow at the bottom. I knew that wasn't going to suit me because you haven't got any feeling on this and I haven't got any feeling anyway."

Alcott had previously finished 19th in the ladies' downhill on Wednesday and had previously raced in the downhill section of the super Combined using it as a training run.

The only British downhill racer at the Sochi Games, she had previously competed at the Salt Lake, Turin and Vancouver Olympics.

While the world's focus has been on the new ski area opening in North Korea last month, another asian ski area, this one with an officially sanctioned Doppelmayr gondola, has just opened in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq.

Korek Mountain Resort (thekorekmountainresort.com – not functioning when we tried to look) officially opened this week according to a BBC Report, even though snow conditions are currently below average. The local Erbil area has just been selected as the 2014 Arab Tourism destination of the year.

Access to the slopes is provided by a Doppelmayr built gondola which climbs over two miles (3670m) from a base station at 724m asl to its top station at 1690m asl.

There are not believed to be any other lifts at the moment and few trained skiers or boarders around to enjoy the slopes, but the centre boasts an ice rink and a hang glider simulator ride ion which up to four people descend beneath a hang glider like canopy hanging on a wire – a kind of zip line ride.

Although ski resorts have existed for many years in Turkey to the north and Iran to the east, and ski touring has been possible for intrepid skiers in Iraq, this is believed to be the country's first ski resort with lifts.

James 'Woodsy' Woods who learnt his freestyle skills on the dry slope in Sheffield and rose to be the current Crystal Globe holder in World Cup Skiing Slopestyle finished fifth in the Olympics finals today in Sochi.

Woods finished third in qualifying earlier this morning and after his first final run, 10th of the 12 remaining, he was in silver medal position, but the two skiers after him pushed him down to fourth at the end of the first run.

"I'm a bit sore. I'm trying to make the most of the situation. I was just looking to make that final," said Woods after qualifying, referring to a hip injury he picked up last week during training.

"I was delighted with my first run, I do this week in, week out and I know what I'm doing. I'm happy and fortunate that I put that first run down relatively painlessly."

After he finished fifth in the Olympic ski slopestyle final, Woods added,

"It's always a little disappointing when you can't perform at your best, but I'm very proud to be here in such an immense final. Any other occasion I wouldn't be near my skis so I cannot be unhappy with this - it's the world stage. Fifth in the Olympics, with four of my best mates in front of me, it is great. I think as a whole we'll put on an incredible show and I honestly couldn't be more happy for Joss Christensen. I'm a bit sore but ultimately very, very happy and proud to have been representing Great Britain in such an incredible event."

Yes, that's a fair point. To be honest I kind of wrote the headline then the story. The novelty of the double win was up there with what would otherwise have been more entirely Chemmy focused from the Brit perspective. And I rushed it out more quickly than usual to try to have it out soon after the race finished. Any hoo I'll change the title so less misleading on content as I agree with you! PS I'm in Scotland so you can imagine how popular the 1966 England football world cup win repeated references plays out up here :)

I know, I know, but the Swiss win so much, have the mountains and the money for training so we're just backing our plucky Brit! She may in fact be the last one other than any others wealthy enough to fund themselves, and is now reported to be retiring. So future stories should just be on the actual winners as you rightly point out! But for now we just got some words in from Chemmy via Team GB HQ in Sochi that might help you understand a little, "After what I've been through, it's amazing justice. I'm swelling with pride and I'm on a buzz. When I made the commitment to come here it was about personal goals. I never put any statistics on it, if I had then top 20 would have been massively over superseding what I expected. I've done this against all odds and I'm very proud. I know it sounds crazy to some people, but 19th is a gold for me. Anyone who has followed what I've been through will understand that."

Dominique Gisin of Switzerland and Tina Maze of Slovenia jointly won the Ladies Downhill at Sochi this morning, both recording times of 1:41.6. No silver medal will be awarded with another Swiss racer, Lara Gut, taking bronze. A tie for first place is unusual but not unprecedented, being last recorded in the 1992 Albertville Games for the women, and 1998 Nagano Olympics for the men. Chemmy Alcott finishing 19th, 1.86 seconds off the pace.

"After what I've been through, it's amazing justice. I'm swelling with pride and I'm on a buzz. When I made the commitment to come here it was about personal goals. I never put any statistics on it, if I had then top 20 would have been massively over superseding what I expected. I've done this against all odds and I'm very proud. I know it sounds crazy to some people, but 19th is a gold for me. Anyone who has followed what I've been through will understand that," said Chemmy

"Chemmy is in her final Winter Olympics. One of only two Brits in the alpine skiing. She is happy to have raced in this Olympics and to currently be in the top 20. She is just happy to have got down. I'm really proud of her, after all her injuries," Emma Carrick-Anderson told the BBC.

Chemmy, who has raised all the money she needed to cover training and competition herself since British funding for downhill racers was withdrawn, has been training with the Norwegian squad, placed 11th in the Downhill at the Turin Olympic downhill in 2006, then 11th in the Super Combined and 13th in the Downhill at Whistler in the 2010 Vancouver Games.

In a bold but practical move Britain's number one Alpine racer Chemmy Alcott used downhill section the Ladies Super Combined as a training run in Sochi this morning.

Chemmy finished 16th in the race in a time of 1.44.83, qualifying for the Super Combined Slalom but posting as DNS for 'Did not start' in the overall results, preferring to concentrate on Wednesday's Downhill.

"I knew starting with bib number five that people would be watching me and I had to up my game. I'm really happy with the result," said Chemmy after the race,

"There were a couple of turns up there that really challenged my leg, so I just had to muscle through them and know where my strengths are, and charge it where I can."

Chemmy is still battling back from serious injuries over the past few years and wanted to maximise her experience of the Sochi downhill course, with the Downhill leg of the Super combined run on the same course as the Downhill will be.