2013 Slovenia and Austria WC Races
Saturday, January 19 – Cory’s Report
Today we had two out of three with better results! The classic was a long long long ordeal, the winning mens time was 2:50, and the winning woman was 3:02…ooph. It was not overly difficult, just long. Madi did some of he best skiing of the season thus far, skiing into 9th place, although she was so focused in the course she forgot to jump, however she did land tele so a full load of penalties was avoided. I (Cory) also laid down some excellent skiing, coming into 16th position. Although it could have been better as I skied pretty conservatively, not taking some risks I should have. Tommy struggled once again to find his strength, after the race he noted that he is definitely not 100% after his second off-season knee surgery. We are all in good spirits after a (mostly) successful trip!
Todays fastest:
1- Amélie Reymond (SUI)
2- Sigrid Rykhus (NOR)
3- Lisa Englud (SWE)
1- Jonas Schmid (GER)
2- Mattias Wagenius (SWE)
3-Bastien Dayer (SUI)
Goodbye from Rauris!
Friday, January 18 – from Tommy’s Blog
Well first off…the World Cup race organizers switched the race event today to a Sprint Classic. It was going to be a Classic but due to better weather conditions on the weekend they switched the Classic to Saturday and the Sprint Classic to today.
All and all a good day. I did not ski my absolute best unfortunately but rather just good. There were 46 competitors and I skied to a 27th place. I was extremely sloppy when it came to penalties. I was tagged with 9 seconds worth of penalties and that is just not going to get you a good result. But I managed to stay on my feet and make it to the finish with no injuries. I spent a lot of time watching the other competitors today…..and man these guys are good. Really Good!! It is such a good experience being able to watch the best guys in the World.
At the end of the day, I skied a World Cup. Got some great experience and learned a few things. Our time in Austria is coming to a close. Tomorrow is the Classic. We just had a team meeting and the course is expected to be 3 mins long. That is REALLY long. Today’s course was only a minute long…ahhhhaa. Tomorrow should be a fun one. True test on your fitness. Tomorrow I will be wearing bib 19 which is better then 27th or 28th (what I had the other races) Typically the earlier you go the better course conditions you will have. Excited for tomorrow!!! 3 minute long course……wow.
Cory’s Report
Today was a better day for one american and a worse day for the others. Cory finally remembered how to ski mostly. 12th fastest with zero penalties after the first run, he skied fast but messy in the second run coming to a head when he got so late he had to carve a turn underneath a gate then back into the course adding quite a few seconds to his time. He finished 25th with only the one penalty. Tommy struggled to find his timing on the jump and in the course along with 9 penalties landed him in 27th position. Madi also skied better in the first run, coming down in 8th position, but a difficult second run set, and some serious ruts sent her out of the course. The entire field struggled to cleanly ski the second run set by the Norwegian coach Jo. We are all looking forward to tomorrows classic. The whole thing looks to be a brutally long ordeal. As they say the bigger the challenge the greater the reward! GO USA!!
Women:
Sigrid Rukhus
Ameilie Raymond
Lisa Englund
Mathilde Ilbrekke (NOR)
(Johanna with a broken pole first run for 6th)
Lau Phillippe
Mattias Wagenius
… Jonas Schmid
Bastien Dyer
Luka Pintar (SLO)
Sven Lau
Olle Collberg
(Tobi with 3 penalties for 8th)
The Americans…
Today we were blessed with snow falling all day bringing difficult conditions to us. The Americans had high hopes going into today but struggled to execute. Cory managed to stay on his feet and make it through the finish line in both runs, and did not make the jump lines which in this tough field of competition really sets you back in the results. Madi was also another victim of not making the jump line which really hurts in the tight ladies field. She finished 13th for the day. Tommy had the “Cory’s” as he face planted on the first run. On the second run Tommy was able to put a solid run on but was plagued with a jump penalty as well. Cory 30th Tommy 39th.
Monday is off with the next race on Tuesday. After that the WC moves on to Austria.
January 12, 2013 Today was the first World Cup race of the season in Slovenia. Madi McKinstry, Cory Snyder and Tommy Gogolen are there representing the USA.
We don’t have complete results yet but will post them when we do.
Cory has reported in that it was a “Tough day to be an American today. Madi struggled to find her skiing, finishing last on the day. Cory also had a bad day at the office, falling just before the jump in the first run, and just after it in the second. The second fall was enough to earn him a nice big DNF after he slid on his stomach through a gate. Tommy was the lone bright spot, improving from his 28th bib to finish 26th. He lost some time from the first run, but is still skiing faster. Look for the Americans to take some revenge on the hill tomorrow after the hill took round one today!”
Tommy writes: Well day One of racing is over. Although it is just one day…it has been a long time of preparing for this day. Lots and lots of physical therapy…countless days in the gym and plenty of training over the past 7 months to get to actually just be able to race. Although it has been a few hours since the race ended there has been some good reflection time and I am pleased to say it feels great just to be able to compete at this high level. Just a few months ago I could not even run. Today all the hard work paid off as I had the opportunity to ski against the best telemark skiers in the World. The knee did great.42 races started the race. I skied to a fair 26th (maybe 25th. the results are not out yet). There was a lot of nerves today and I did not ski my best. But also do know that I feel confident in the fact that I skied hard and my knee did great. As much as tried to put the knee in the back of my head today pre-race I am sure there was some uncertainty. But like I said, day 1 is over and I am pleased. 26th. Not bad but definitely not my best.