Aussies use World Cups to warm up ahead of main event

Aussies use World Cups to warm up ahead of main event

Over the past two weeks, the Australian Para-Alpine team have had a busy schedule with two World Cups in Austria and Slovenia.

With the Tarvisio World Championships about to get underway, the events were a good warm up for the athletes as they prepare to take on the world.

“Overall I’m pretty happy with how the team performed over the past two weeks in Innerkrems and Kranjska Gora,” Head Coach Christian Geiger said.

At the first event in Innerkrems, Austria, Mitch Gourley came away with a silver medal in the Downhill as well as two top 10 places in other races.

“Mitch couldn't really have done much more in Innerkrems, with the terrain of the hill and the weather,” Geiger said. “Mitch had it tough to race others with a factor advantage.”

In Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Gourley went on to record two third places and won two of the runs in the process.

“I feel that I showed some good skiing at times in Kranjska Gora,” Gourley said. “I figured out some equipment setups that can work in this snow, giving me a little bit more belief heading into nearby Tarvisio.”

Victoria Pendergast showed some good glimpses at both Innerkrems and Kranjska Gora, giving confidence of her putting it together when it counts at the World Championships.

“It was good for Tori to get a go on the long boards in Innerkrems ahead of World Champs and to ski a hill as tricky as Kranjska Gora,” Geiger said.

In Kransjka Gora, the team was joined by Mark Soyer who placed 15^th in the Giant Slalom.

The team are now joined by the development athletes in Tarvisio, Italy where the World Championships will take place from 23 – 31 January.