Successful week of alpine racing wraps up in Hotham

The 2016 Australia New Zealand Cup (ANC) Alpine Series took place in Mount Hotham last week, with competitive racing, strong international representation and promising Australian results.

Greta Small was the standout Australian female, placing second in both giant slalom races as well as the second of two slalom races.

“I was satisfied with both my first giant slalom runs of both races but blew my lead on some not so great skiing on the second runs,” Small said.

“The first slalom day I skied well and had a 2.3 second lead over second place. I was skiing well on the second run but unfortunately came unstuck on the second last gate, crashing and then hiking back up for a finish. Day 2 of the slalom I did not commit to the ski as I had the day before. 

“As an athlete I am always expecting to perform at my best as I know what skiing I am capable of.  I always love competing at Hotham and overall, I am happy to walk away with three silvers into the next part of the race series at Coronet Peak.”

Small faced tough competition from German teenager Julia Mutschlechner who won gold in both giant slalom races and bronze in slalom race 1. Norway’s Rikke Gasmann-Brott dominated the slalom winning both races with the USA’s Madison Lord also picking up a silver and a bronze.

Australia’s Alec Scott picked up two top-10 performances in the men’s events, with a sixth place in giant slalom race 1 and 10th in slalom race 2. The 19-year-old also placed 11th in the second giant slalom race – again the best performing Australian.

In a strong sign for skiing in Australia, the men's field in particular was packed full of highly ranked international competitors.

Robby Kelly of the USA picked up gold in both Slalom races, continuing his good form in 2016 which has seen him take gold at the New Zealand National Championships and silver at the US National Championships.

Willis Feasey (NZL) and Andreas Zampa (SVK) each topped the podium in the Giant Slalom races.

The competition at Hotham is the first in the ANC series and the winner of each discipline title receives an automatic start position on 31 in all other Continental Cup series worldwide. 

The winners of the different events and Overall winners, or best placed competitors from Australia or New Zealand, in the respective Continental Cups then qualify to compete in World Cup races. 

As World Cup starting positions are hard to come by, international competitors hope to secure their own personal spot ahead of the first World Cup of the season.
 
The series heads to New Zealand this week, and will be completed on 8 September.

To view the full results from Hotham, click here >>>