Ski Cross duo hungry for Arosa Competition

Anton Grimus training at Val Thorens. Image Courtesy FIS

Courtesy olympics.com.au

Australia's ski cross duo, Anton Grimus and Sami Kennedy-Sim are ready fly out of the gates in Arosa tomorrow as the second leg of the Cross Alps Tour gets underway. 

After the second Val Thorens World Cup event was cancelled due to heavy weather conditions over the weekend, the pair are eager and ready to race at the Switzerland edition of the circuit, with valuable Olympic qualification points on the line. 

“I’m here to make some points for Olympic qualification because last year was a write-off pretty much," Sochi Olympian Anton Grimus said, who has returned to competition following a serious knee injury last season. 

"I’ve just got to get that confidence going now in every run I do, every day [that] goes past I get more confidence and, at the end of the day, that’s what separates the top guys I think … being confident in your skiing ability.”

Also hungry to make her second Olympic appearance, Sami Kennedy-Sim said the best way to improve her race conditioning was to get out there and line up with the world's best. 

“The best training for racing is racing," said Kennedy-Sim who was "chomping at the bit" to get out there and race at Val Thorens

"You can’t reproduce the atmosphere or the stress without going to a race. We’ve got some important races this year and a busy next couple of weeks as well.

"To start the season off this way is not necessarily great but it’s definitely not a detriment either,” she said on the cancelled races in France.

The 29-year-old said she "can’t wait to get back in the start gate... two days off racing is too much," on her instagram account, signalling she means business heading into Olympic season. 

The next stage of the 2017 Cross Alps Tour kicks off Tuesday, December 12, with an exciting nighttime sprint format competition slated to get underway under the lights at 20:15 local time (6:15am Wednesday AEST).