World Junior Moguls Championships
Place: Krasnoe Ozero (St Petersburg region, Russia)
Athletes: Ellie Koyander
Andrew Longley
With the temperature hovering around -12 oc, the bumps at
the FIS Junior World Moguls Championships were icy and hard.
The steep 200m long slope at Krasnoe Ozero in Russia attracted
some 80 World Class competitors from the USA, Canada, Finland,
Sweden, Kazakstan, Norway, France, Slovakia, Czech Republic,
Belarus, Italy, Germany, Russia, Switzerland and last but
not least Great Britain.
After a day of practice and after the qualifying round, the
moguls became deeply defined and the ice became like polished
glass. The sheer quality of the athletes was evident from
the start with nearly everyone it seemed pulling high Degree
of Difficulty tricks such as corked 720s, D-spins, Lincoln
Loops, Backflips with full rotations. This race was not for
the faint hearted and mental control and technical precision
was called for.
Our two athletes Ellie Koyander and Andy Longley did exceptionally
well in this their first international FIS race coming in
24th and 35th place respectively. If ever there was a misnomer
for a competition it is this one. The word ‘Junior’
implies that this is a children’s race however it involves
skiers from the age of 15 up till the age of 20. The race
effectively benchmarks the careers of the ‘young end
of the range’ of professional skiers that is to say
those who hold an International Ski Federation (FIS) Licence.
The majority of skiers at Krasnoe were 19 – 20 year
old hardened FIS racers with over 50 Europa Cup and even World
Cup races under their belts. With several of the competitors
fresh back from the Torino Olympics our two Great Britain
skiers where the youngest competitors in the field by at least
2 years. Their achievement should not be underestimated as
they where racing literally against the best young generation
moguls skiers in the World and there results where beyond
the targets set for them.
Ellie Koyander put in a strong first run with a 360 and twister
spread as her tricks. Andy Longley pulled a huge 360 with
grab as his first trick followed by a backflip with cross
for his second.
The athletes’ views? Ellie Koyander commented after
the race ‘although I was a little nervous at being the
youngest competitor in the race, as soon as I was in the start
gate, the adrenalin just kicked in and I went into racer mode.
This has been a career best for me and I was really delighted
with my performance getting 16 points in the Worlds. I can’t
wait to come back to the Worlds next year!’
Andy Longley said after the competition ‘I have a lot
of respect for the guys who came out to Russia. Their skiing
was just awesome! I am really pleased with my performance
in the race I skied the best ever run of my life and made
many friends. It was a fantastic opportunity to represent
Great Britain at such an early age!’
Our young Brits are members of a 6 strong development team
aimed at ‘medalling’ in the 2010 Winter Olympics
in Canada. Andy and Ellie will take their experience back
to the team and next year it is hoped that all 6 will take
part in the Junior Worlds.
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