Winker, Fordham take the double at Australian Championships

A wonderful series of racing over the weekend at Perisher has seen the Australian Championships decided for 2024.

On Saturday the Sprint was contested in the free technique with Germany’s Christian Winker looking for back-to-back wins after taking out last year’s event at Falls Creek.

True to form, Winker came through the rounds to make the final and again taste victory ahead of Seve de Campo and Bentley Walker-Broose. Jayden Spring made the final for the second straight year and finished fourth.

The Women’s event saw four different finalists from last year’s event after achieving two ANC victories at Falls Creek in June, Rosie Fordham’s form stayed strong as she claimed the Sprint ahead of Rosie Franzke, Emily Champion and Satara Moon.

Those results saw Fordham and Winker both start as leading contenders in the 10km Classic on Sunday and both athletes made it a perfect weekend.

Winker took out the men’s even with a 27sec victory over Seve de Campo with Phil Bellingham in third. The result delivered the German a double-double having taken out the sprint and distance events for two years in a row.

Fordham’s victory in the women’s race was even more commanding, winning by almost three minutes ahead of Hannah Price and Franzke.

The 22-year-old has a perfect record during the domestic season, finishing with a ‘1’ next to her name in every competition contested.

While attention would normally now turn to the famed Kangaroo Hoppet, next week’s event has unfortunately been cancelled due to rapidly deteriorating snow conditions and a forecast of warm temperatures and rain this week.