Alpine skiers launch Winter YOG campaign – Lausanne 2020 Day 1 wrap

Flagbearer Zoe Michael and teammate Isabella Davis kicked off Australia’s Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Campaign today in the women’s alpine Super-G at Les Diablerets Alpine Centre.

Speeding down a shortened course, Michael finished 43rd overall in time of 1:03.02, with Davis just behind, finishing 48th in 1:05.52.

With Super-G not being the preferred alpine event for either skier, 17-year-old Davis said she was glad to have the first race out of the way to shake off the nerves before her favourite event, the Giant Slalom, later in the week

“It was super terrifying at the top of the course because I don’t really like Super-G, but then coming out of the start gate with everyone there was super exciting,” Davis said.

“It’s nice to get this one done because now I have a lot more confidence for the rest of my events, I feel a lot more confident I can send it harder and I trust my skiing ability.”

The Canberra-skier, who had her mum and grandpa cheering her on in the crowd, said the Winter YOG has been like nothing she’s experienced before.

“It really gives a good view of where your abilities stand compared to everyone else in the world and it’s really good motivation for future competitions.

“The whole experience here is amazing, with everything that they offer, all the people, and knowing you’re going to be racing all these amazing racers - it’s the best experience I’ve ever had, I’m so lucky.”

The host nation had a great start to the Games, with Switzerland’s Amelie Klopfenstein winning the first gold medal of the Games in the Super-G in a time of 56.37. France’s Caitlin McFarlane was only 0.08 seconds behind in silver with Israel’s Noa Szollos rounding out the podium, only 0.01 seconds behind silver.

Following the women’s event, Joey Steggall and Thomas Hoffman kicked off their YOG campaigns at Les Diablerets.

Hoffman went into the event ranked 40th, but his strong time of 56.05, saw him finish 23rd, only 1.49 seconds behind the eventual gold medallist, Adam Hofstedt of Sweden. Steggall placed 47th in a time of 59.38.

“I’m definitely happy, I haven’t trained much Super-G this year,” Hoffman said following his run.

”It’s only my third or fourth run on Super-G this season, but I’ve skied a lot of Super-G in the past, so I had that experience which helped.

“It’s always hard going to a new hill you haven’t skied before, but I think I’ll be a lot less nervous coming into the next few races now.”

All four alpine skiers will return to the mountain tomorrow for the Slalom run of their Alpine Combined competition – where today’s Super-G score will be added to tomorrow’s Slalom score to give them an overall Combined ranking.