November 20, 2009 – For the next three and half months the Australian Cross Country Ski Team’s main focus is the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Paul Murray, Esther Bottomley, Aimee Watson, Callum Watson, Ben Sim and Mark van der Ploeg are all in Scandinavia at the moment, with the first World Cup event coming up this weekend in Beitostolen in Norway. Most likely three of these six athletes* will represent Australia at Vancouver in February 2010. Between now and December 20 the team will compete in World Cup competitions in Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Slovenia, and after these events the cross country skiing ranking list for Vancouver will be finalized.

The atmosphere amongst the team is generally very positive. A couple of the athletes are managing minor injuries but otherwise everyone is healthy and looking forward for the World Cup season to begin. While not everything went to plan in the opening races last weekend (see reports below) there were some very promising performances and everyone is motivated.

*Nick Grimmer has also met the FIS A-Qualification standard for Vancouver and been named to the Australian Shadow Team. Although Nick has decided to remain home in Australia for the summer, he will be on the first plane out of Melbourne if his performances from last March are good enough for him to be selected for Vancouver.

Recent Events

“Beitosprinten”, Beitostolen, Norway, November 14-15
Ben Sim has hit the northern winter season in great shape, scoring two impressive results in the Beitosprinten last weekend. Sim was 35th in the 15km Freestyle and 42nd in the 10km Classic, finishing each race just over two minutes behind the Norwegian winners Petter Northug and Martin Sundby, both of whom are potential World Cup winners in the coming weeks. In addition to the strong Norwegian fields the national teams of Switzerland, Slovakia, Japan, Italy, Russia and the USA were competing. Sim’s performances caught the attention of spectators and other athletes in Beitostolen, and bode well for the World Cup coming up next weekend on the same track.

Aimee Watson and Callum Watson also had solid opening races. Aimee was 57th in the 10km Freestyle and 55th in the 5km Classic, and within 15% of a charged-up Marit Bjoergen of Norway in the classic event (Bjorgen won the freestyle by nearly a minute and the classic by 23 seconds). Callum finished 102nd and just under 15% behind the winner on both days. The men’s starting fields were limited to 128 starters based on FIS points and Callum only received confirmation of his start in the classic race the night before.

Full results and more details are available via the Australian Cross Country Skiing Website

Bruksvallsloppet, Bruksvallarna, Sweden, November 14-15
Esther Bottomley finished 20th in the women’s Classic Sprint in Bruksvallarna on November 14. Waxing was tricky and Bottomley only just qualified for the finals in 30th place, however the 26 year old from Mt Beauty was more competitive in the finals when she opted to double pole the 1.4km course. Leading out the first quarter-final ahead of 2009 overall World Cup winner Justyna Kowalcyzk from Poland, Bottomley was reeled in on the steeper hills but held on for fourth place ahead of Maria Rydqvist from Sweden and 2006 Olympic Sprint gold medalist Chandra Crawford from Canada.

The Australian men in Bruksvallarna made the wrong choice for the qualification, opting to use classic skis when most of the eventual finalists double poled on skating skis. Paul Murray and Mark van der Ploeg finished in 40th and 58th place from the field of 92 starters, but though they were disappointed not to be in the finals the boys were at least satisfied to have a good classic sprint hit-out before the World Cup event in Kuusamo where double poling without wax won’t be an option. Though Bottomley, Murray and van der Ploeg have their focus on sprint events this winter they raced again the next day in the distance Freestyle events, with Bottomley faring the best in 40th place in the 10km Freestyle.

Full results and more details are available via the Australian Cross Country Skiing Website

Coming Events

World Cup, Beitostolen, Norway, November 21
On Saturday November 21 Ben Sim, Aimee Watson and Callum Watson will race in the World Cup opening in Norway. The events are 15km Freestyle for men and 10km Freestyle for women. The Australian athletes know the courses well after training in Beitostolen for a week and competing in the Beitosprinten last weekend. The temperature is forecast to be warm, plus four on Friday and then plus one for the races on Saturday.

Reports and results from the weekend will be posted on the Australian Cross Country Skiing Website.

World Cup, Ruka, Finland, November 28/29
After Beitostolen the World Cup circuit moves to Ruka in Finland. Paul Murray, Esther Bottomley and Mark van der Ploeg will contest the Classic Sprint event on Saturday, while Ben Sim and Callum Watson will race the 15km Classic on Sunday. Aimee Watson was planning to skip the Ruka World Cup and go directly to Davos in preparation for the World Cup there in December, however there is no snow in Switzerland right now and she may end up coming to Finland after all.

Reports and results from the weekend will be posted on the Australian Cross Country Skiing Website.