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Hard on the heels of Lesley McKenna's inspirational victory in the
first World Cup half pipe event of the season last Friday in Sweden,
Zoe Gillings (18, Isle of Man) again underlined her promise on the
new Olympic snowboard discipline of Boardercross with an impressive
fourth place in her first World Cup of the season in Whistler, Canada.
Promising performance
Competing in a capacity field of 44 women at only her third World
Cup, Gillings qualified second in both of her preliminary rounds.
Identifying a faster, more aggressive line through the top section
of the course, she was second all the way through both of the qualifying
runs.
In the final she used the same tactic and looked set for a second
when she was badly impeded near the finish. She fell momentarily,
but recovered in time to scramble across the line in fourth.
Hard work paid off
'This is really just what we are looking for at this time in the
season and it really proves a return on all of our hard work through
the summer. Zoe has worked incredibly hard for this. We kind of
knew that she should be up there, capable of a top three or four,
and really could easily have had second, but hey! it's a great result'
recalls Craig Smith, coach of the British Snowboard Development
team. 'This was a great field, with all the top girls here. With
Boardercross accepted as an Olympic discipline it now means that
all the countries have their full quotas of places used.'
'Last season I was delighted just to qualify. But today I felt that
all the training I've been doing since the summer meant that not
only was I keeping up but I was actually passing some of the world's
best riders!' remarked Gillings. Zoe's summer training regime has
almost certainly been tougher than many of the world's top riders.
She has spend all summer on snow in Tignes and in les Deux Alpes,
France. 'Zoe spent most of September and November in the gym and
by October had upped her training to five days on snow with one
day off, so she really has put her everything into this and it is
paying off.'
Women's Snowboardcross
Results
Nokia FIS Snowboard World Cup, Whistler, Canada
1 K Ruby (France) 1000pts
2 J Frino (Ita) 800pts
3 M Laissus (Fra) 600pts
4 Z Gillings (GBR) 500pts.
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