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Best ever GS finish for Alcott
 Chemmy
Alcott, (21) carved herself another slice of British ski racing
history today at the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup season opener, the
giant slalom weekend in Soelden, Austria, as she today scored the
best British Women's Giant Slalom result at World Cup level for
nearly 15 years when she skied to 25th place.
All-rounder Allcott, who skis all four disciplines, proved the value
of her long summer of fitness training in Salzburgerland, Austria,
as she composed an attacking first run from the lowly start number,
50, to lie 23rd after the first heat.
Confident and good conditions
After over a metre of fresh snow over the last few days up on Soelden's
Rittenbach Glacier, conditions turned in Alcott's favour with a
hard overnight frost and clear skies which ensured the first track
held firm to give her a fighting chance in the 70 strong women's
field. Last year on the same course Alcott came to grief on the
final pitch, but today it was a much more mature and confident skier
who proved able to convert the recent training form into her first
ever world cup points scoring result in giant slalom.
" It's a good way to start the season," grinned British champion
Alcott, "The first run I skied really fast and on the edge and nearly
came out a few times, but the second run was tighter and more turny
and I did not like it quite as much. I made loads of little mistakes
on both runs. I had my hand on the snow at one point and the top
of my leg touched down at another, so there is plenty of scope to
do better."
Potentially much more to come
Significantly Alcott is the second youngest skier among the top
30 finishers today, further proof that she has the potential to
win in the not too distant future. Today's winner Germany's Martina
Ertl is nine years Alcott's senior.
' This is a strong start for Chemmy and for our team. We have had
a good summer of training and seen some very promising advances.
On the one hand it is great to see her making a good result, but
of course you are still left wondering what if she hadn't made the
mistakes, but overall a result to build on' said British skiing's
Performance Director Mark Tilston.
Women's Giant
Slalom Results
1 - M Ertl (Ger) 1:13.53, 1:18.33, 2:31.86
2 - A Paerson (Swe) 1:13.86, 1:18.20, 2:32.06
3 - M Rienda-Contreras (Esp) 1:13.49, 1:18.76 2:32.25
4 - T Maze (Slo) 1:14.46, 1:18.89, 2:33.35
5 - T Poutianinen (Fin) 1:14.74, 1:19.23, 2:33.97
25 - C Alcott (GBR) 1:16.49, 1:20.05 2:36.54
 Baxter
fails to qualify
Faced with a bumpy and rutted track on Sunday as he made his first
serious attempt at giant slalom at World Cup level for well over
a year, Alain Baxter (29) was unable to qualify for the second heat
today in Soelden, Austria.
The Aviemore skier was
quick and strong on the technicial sections of the course and the
long icy steep which is virtually the sole feature of the Rettenbach
glacier track but lost speed going in to the crucial long flat into
the finish. He has shown a leap in his giant slalom form over the
past few weeks, but did not manage to make it into the qualifying
line up.
Determination but bumpy
'It was quite an encouraging performance from Alain. We knew that
it was not going to be easy to come from down the start order and
crack it straight away and today was not the day to be doing that.
The course was set more like a Super G in places and really favoured
the Super G and speed disciplines skiers.' explained Baxter's coach
Christian Schwaiger.
'It feels pretty hard
to take at the moment because it has been going so well all the
way through the summer, but I am determined to really give Giant
Slalom a go over the next few months. I knew it was not going to
be easy but I found it hard in the bumps' admitted Baxter, who travels
to North America in early November to prepare for the Park City
world cup races there in a month's time.
Mens GS Results
1 - B Miller (USA) 1:02.79, 1:06.79 2:09.58
2 - F Covili (Fra) 1:02.88, 2 1:07.82 2:10.70
3 - J Chenal (Fra) 1:03.70, 1:07.06, 2:10.76
4 - A Rieder (Ita) 1:03.44, 1:07.99 2:11.43
5 - B Raich (Aut) 1:03.51, 1:07.99 2:11.50
DNQ: A Baxter (GBR) 1:07.46
[Source: Snowsport GB]
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