There were no shocks today as the first titles of The British Land National Championships were conclusively secured by previous winners, both of whom have already booked their seats to their first Olympics.

Both Finlay Mickel, 24 (Edinburgh) and Chemmy Alcott, 19 (Twickenham) came straight from promising World Cup results at the weekend to retain their respective Men¹s and Women¹s Super G titles.

While Mickel travelled from Wengen, Switzerland where his first ever tilt at the demanding Lauberhorn brought a promising 37th on Saturday, Alcott is starting to feel at home on Saalbach-Hinterglemm¹s Zwolferkogel mountain. In preparation for next month¹s Olympic Winter Games she raced her first ever World Cup Combined event on Saalbach-Hinterglemm¹s same wolferkogel
pistes. Going in to the final slalom run on Sunday she was lying seventh, but she made a costly error to drop to 18th overall.

As well as bidding for the overall British Women¹s title which she won at 16, all-rounder Alcott will be finding out this week how she copes with the demands of racing all four disciplines ­ Super G, Giant Slalom, Downhill and Slalom ­ in a single week.

Today she showed there is clear daylight between her and the next British girls in Super G, when she left her British Land National Alpine Ski Team compatriot Jo Greig (19, East Molesey, Surrey) 5.19 seconds behind. Emma Carrick-Anderson 26 (Edinburgh), three times Women¹s Super G title winner, chose to train Giant Slalom in a nearby resort in preparation for tomorrow¹s showdown for the Women¹s Giant Slalom. This should be the highlight of the week for the Women¹s field.

With five times champion Alain Baxter pursuing Slalom form this week, and therefore only likely to race in Friday¹s Slalom, Mickel¹s closest opposition for the overall title comes from 1999 champion Ross Green. Green finished runner-up today.

RESULTS

The British Land National Ski Championships
Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria

British Super G Championship - Men:

1 F Mickel (The British Land National Ski Team/Edinburgh) 1¹17.94
2 R Green (The British Land National Ski Team/Falkirk) 1¹20.22
3 G Trayner (The British Land National Ski Team/Fife) 1¹21.93
4 J Barcock (The British Land National Ski Team/Bath) 1¹22.54
5 K Unger (Gateshead) 1¹22.73.

British Super G Championship, Women:

1 C Alcott (The British Land National Ski Team/Twickenham) 1¹22.50
2 J Greig (The British Land National Ski Team/East Molesey) 1¹28.09
3 K Head (The British Youth Team/Oxford) 1¹28.72
4 K Forsyth (Scottish Alpine Team/Dollar)
5 T Chapman (GBG Girls/London) 1¹31.98

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