After a period of non-programme activity following the conclusion of the 2022/23 winter season, GB Snowsport squads are now back in pre-season training.
With the 2023/24 season approaching quickly and the Freestyle World Junior Championships already on the horizon, pre-season training camps have been confirmed in the following locations while the Alpine and Cross-Country Squads have both already completed a number of pre-season camps in Peer and Bo.
Freeski
Location: Perisher, Australia
Dates: 16 August – 3 September
Athletes Attending: Connie Brogden, Caoimhe Heavey, Chris McCormick, Kirsty Muir, Mia Rennie
Location: Cardona, New Zealand
Dates: 25 August – 29 September
Athletes Attending: Zoe Atkin, Connie Brogden, Tom Greenway, Caoimhe Heavey, Kirsty Muir, Mia Rennie
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Freestyle Snowboard
Location: Perisher, Australia
Dates: 2 – 23 August
Athletes Attending: Mia Brookes, Billy Cockrell, Charlie Lane
Location: Cardona, New Zealand
Dates: 20 August – 12 September
Athletes Attending: Mia Brookes, Charlie Lane, Katie Ormerod (completing return-to-snow protocols)
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Moguls
Location: Whistler, Canada – Water Ramp Camp
Dates: 8 – 30 July
Athletes Attending: Cali Carr, Will Feneley, Makayla Gerken Schofield, Mateo Jeannesson
Location: Perisher, Australia
Dates: 18 August – 5 September
Athletes Attending: Will Feneley, Makayla Gerken Schofield, Mateo Jeannesson
Location: Hintertux, Austria
Dates: 3 – 13 October
Athletes Attending: Will Feneley, Makayla Gerken Schofield, Mateo Jeannesson
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Ski Cross
Location: Corralco, Chile
Dates: 13 – 26 September
Athlete Attending: Ollie Davies
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Snowboard Cross
Location: Corralco, Chile
Dates: 9 – 29 September
Athletes Attending: Charlotte Bankes, Huw Nightingale
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Cross Country
Location: Blink Festival, Sandnes, Norway
Dates: 31 July – 6 August
Athletes Attending: James Clugnet, Joe Davies, Andrew Musgrave
Location: Hemsedal, Norway
Dates: 10 – 15 September
Athletes Attending: James Clugnet, Joe Davies, Andrew Musgrave, Andrew Young
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Alpine
Location: Saas Fee, Switzerland – Men’s Slalom Camp
Dates: 13 August – 2 September
Athletes Attending: Billy Major, Dave Ryding, Laurie Taylor
Location: Saas Fee, Switzerland – Van Deer Camp
Dates: 7 – 15 August
Athlete Attending: Charlie Raposo
Location: Saas Fee, Switzerland – Men’s Slalom Camp
Dates: 10 – 30 September
Athletes Attending: Billy Major, Dave Ryding, Laurie Taylor
Location: Saas Fee, Switzerland – Women’s Alpine Camp
Dates: 22 August – 1 September
Athlete Attending: Charlie Guest
Location: Argentina – Van Deer Camp
Dates: 23 August – 16 September
Athlete Attending: Charlie Raposo
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Para Alpine
Location: Oslo/Fonne – Norway
Dates: 27 July – 12 August
Athletes Attending: Shona Brownlee, Menna Fitzpatrick, Katie Guest, Adam Hall, Louise Harrison, Michael Kear
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Para Snowboard
Location: Perisher, Australia
Dates: 20 July – 17 August
Athletes Attending: James Barnes-Miller, Matt Hamilton (Invitational Athlete)
GB Snowsport confirm the British Freeski, Freestyle Snowboard, Moguls, Snowboard Cross, and Ski Cross Squads for the 2023/24 season
Featuring three reigning Snowboard World Champions in Mia Brookes (Slopestyle, Bakuriani 2023), and Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale (Team Snowboard Cross, Bakuriani 2023) and nine World Cup medallists, the six World Cup and A Squads will host 26 athletes across Freeski Slopestyle and Big Air, Freeski Halfpipe, Freestyle Snowboard Slopestyle and Big Air, Moguls, Ski Cross, and Snowboard Cross disciplines.
Among the athletes named in today’s selection are five who meet World Cup/A Squad criteria for the first time, and a further seven athletes selected pending coach and FIS point criteria reviews at the end of the pre-season programme.
The Freeski A squad features eight athletes, with Zoe Atkin, Connie Brogden, Tom Greenway, Tyler Harding, Chris McCormick, Kirsty Muir, James Pouch, Mia Rennie, and James Woods all returning from last season’s selections, and Caoimhe Heavey named for the first time having chosen to transfer to the British programme from the Canadian system. Sam Gaskin, meanwhile, is selected to the B Squad in Halfpipe.
The Freestyle Snowboard A Squad features Slopestyle World Champion Mia Brookes alongside Billy Cockrell, Maisie Hill (who continues her recovery from injury), Katie Ormerod and Emily Rothney. Charlie Lane and Ethan Smith are also selected on an initial pending basis. The B Squad features Lenny Fenning, Teiva Hamaini, and Euan Rogers, with Roahan Duncan, Amber Fennell, and Mia Langridge all selected on a pending basis, while Siddhartha Ullah will continue his progress in the Freestyle Halfpipe discipline having recorded top-10 positions in National Championships and Nor-Am Cup competitions last season.
In Snowboard Cross, two-time Crystal Globe holder Charlotte Bankes is joined by fellow Team World Champion Huw Nightingale, while in Ski Cross Ollie Davies is once again selected to the World Cup squad having secured his first World Cup podium earlier in the year. An eight-athlete Ski Cross Europa Cup Squad features Greg Baillie, Tommy Dade, Faith Davie, Scott Johns, Alannah Lawrie, Emma Peters, Zoe Winthrop, and Patrick Young.
The Moguls discipline sees 16-year-old Cali Carr join Will Feneley, Leonie Gerken Schofield, Makayla Gerken Schofield, Thomas Gerken Schofield, and Mateo Jeannesson in a World Cup squad that delivered a series of exceptional performances through the 2022/23 season.
Without a World Championships to focus on across the Freestyle programme, athletes across all disciplines will be looking to this season as an opportunity to hone and develop technical skills as the build-up to the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games draws closer, while continuing to deliver exceptional results on the World Cup circuit.
Mateo Jeannesson, Moguls World Cup Squad Member, said:
“Last year I feel like I made some big strides in my development, and I’m excited about what’s coming next season. We’ve got a great team spirit and an amazing set-up, and I feel like that’s given us all the ingredients we need to show the rest of the world how much talent there is in British Moguls skiing. I’m really pleased to be a part of this team, and I’m looking forward to getting back to it.”
Pat Sharples, GB Snowsport Head Coach, said:
“After a hugely successful 2023 winter season for our athletes at World Championships, X Games, and on the World Cup circuit, it’s super exciting to see new, young, talented athletes join our teams across all Freestyle disciplines. With many of them targeting events like the World Junior Championships and Youth Olympic Games, and some starting out on their journey on the World Cup circuit, this promises to be another exciting season ahead.
“Selection to these squads doesn’t happen without an enormous amount of hard work and dedication, and it’s right that we acknowledge both the athletes’ own commitment and the incredible efforts of all the coaches across the British Freestyle system who play such an important role in developing such a talented pool of British snowsport athletes.”
Full Squad Selections
Freeski – A Squad
- Zoe Atkin*
- Connie Brogden†
- Tom Greenway
- Tyler Harding
- Caoimhe Heavey** †
- Chris McCormick
- Kirsty Muir
- James Pouch
- Mia Rennie†
- James Woods
Freeski – B Squad
- Sam Gaskin*
Snowboard Cross World Cup Squad
- Charlotte Bankes
- Huw Nightingale
Ski Cross World Cup Squad
- Ollie Davies
Ski Cross Europa Cup Squad
- Greg Baillie†
- Tommy Dade
- Faith Davie
- Scott Johns
- Alannah Lawrie
- Emma Peters
- Zoe Winthrop
- Patrick Young†
Moguls World Cup Squad
- Cali Carr***
- Will Feneley
- Leonie Gerken Schofield
- Makayla Gerken Schofield
- Thomas Gerken Schofield
- Mateo Jeannesson
Freestyle Snowboard A Squad
- Mia Brookes
- Billy Cockrell
- Maisie Hill
- Charlie Lane†
- Katie Ormerod
- Emily Rothney
- Ethan Smith†
Freestyle Snowboard B Squad
- Roahan Duncan
- Amber Fennell†
- Lenny Fenning
- Teiva Hamaini
- Mia Langridge
- Euan Rogers
- Siddhartha Ullah*
* Half Pipe Only
** Nation Transfer from Canadian system
*** Nation Transfer from American system
† Selection status pending FIS points or coach review
Moguls, Alpine Snowboard, Ski Cross and Snowboard Cross WJC selections announced today
Some of Britain’s most talented young snowsport athletes have been selected to represent their country at the Moguls, Alpine Snowboard, Ski Cross and Snowboard Cross World Junior Championships later this month.
In total, eight athletes have been selected across four squads. The Moguls World Junior Championships is the first to get underway on 21 March in Valmalenco, with Mateo Jeannesson the sole British competitor. The Alpine Snowboard World Junior Championships will see Sam Carpenter compete in Bansko between 22 and 27 March, with the Snowboard Cross and Ski Cross Championships following in Passo San Pellegrino from 27 March to 31 March, with Tommy Dade, Scott Johns, Patrick Young, Emily Keen, Mackenzie Patrick, and Osian de Bagota selected.
Full Selection Details
Moguls World Junior championships – Valmalenco – 21-25 March
- Mateo Jeannesson
Alpine Snowboard World Junior Championships – Bansko – 22-27 March
- Sam Carpenter
Ski Cross World Junior championships – Passo San Pellegrino – 27-28 March
- Tommy Dade (Individual and Team)
- Scott Johns
- Emily Keen (Individual and Team)
- Patrick Young
Snowboard Cross World Junior Championships – Passo San Pellegrino – 30-31 March
- Mackenzie Patrick
- Osian de Bagota
GB Snowsport wishes all athletes selected the best of luck in their Championships.
British athletes continue to rewrite the history books in another week of storming successes
Mia Brookes made snowboarding history in Bakuriani this week, where she became not only Britain’s youngest ever Freestyle World Champion, but the youngest Snowboard World Champion in world history, and the first woman to ever land a cab 1440 in competition. In doing so, the 16-year-old delivered on the rich promise that she’s shown since childhood, and opened the book on a new chapter in Freestyle Snowboarding. Read more about Mia’s stunning World Championships gold medal winning performance here.
Medals were also in the offing for the Para Alpine squad, with Menna Fitzpatrick and Katie Guest taking a hard-fought bronze in the first of two back-to-back Kitzbuehel Slalom World Cup races. The site of so much of Britain’s recent Alpine success, Fitzpatrick and Guest and Neil Simpson and Rob Poth will be hoping for more in the week’s second set of races today.
Britain’s Team Sprint pair of James Clugnet and Andrew Young took the second best Cross-Country World Championships result in British history with a stunning sixth place in Planica. Coming into the Championships fresh off a season which had already seen a World Cup top-10 for the pairing in Livigno last month, Clugnet and Young’s final time of 18:00.66 left them more than five seconds clear of the German team in seventh, and confirmed the nation’s second best Cross-Country World Championships result, behind only Andrew Musgrave’s benchmark setting 50km fourth place in Lahti in 2017. The result also marks the first time that Britain has secured a top-10 World Championships finish in a Cross-Country Sprint discipline.
Andrew Musgrave’s World Championships got underway with 14th place in the Skiathlon 15km/15km C/F in a race which also saw Joe Davies take 40th place on his World Championships debut.
Personal records were also being set elsewhere in the Freestyle World Championships in Bakuriani, where Makayla Gerken Schofield took a brace of top-10s with ninth place in Moguls and sixth in Dual Moguls. The results were Makayla’s eight and ninth top-10 finishes of the season, with the Dual Moguls performance coming through an epic Quarter Finals battle against the imperious Perrine Laffont, a five-time World Champion and 2018 Olympic Winter Games gold medallist.
Elsewhere in Bakuriani, Mateo Jeannesson finished just outside the top-20 in both Moguls and Dual Moguls with 21st and 24th place finishes, Will Feneley came 25th and 27th, and Tom Gerken Schofield finished 33rd and 28th. In Freeski Slopestyle, Chris McCormick and Tyler Harding both finished outside of the qualification spots coming 16th and 20th in their respective heats. A weather-interrupted Ski Cross World Championships race, meanwhile, saw Ollie Davies finish in 27th place, having earlier qualified in 13th spot.
With the Alpine World Championships concluded, the World Cup circuit shifted focus to the US for the Lake Tahoe World Cup. In a dramatic Slalom race, Britain returned two top-20 finishes with Dave Ryding taking 16th and Billy Major a fantastic 18th place including the third fastest second run of the race, giving him the joint best World Cup finish of his career.
More history made as Britain’s record-breaking season continues
As another weekend of high drama on the slopes came to a close, GB Snowsport athletes could look back on another history-making achievement in a season which has seen records set across the globe. For the first time in history, every single discipline under the GB Snowsport banner has delivered a World Cup, World Championships, or X Games podium – a record which includes no fewer than nine gold medals.
Cementing the record was Ollie Davies, who produced a sensational performance in the second of two Ski Cross World Cup races in Reiteralm, Austria, to take silver and the first podium of his five-year World Cup career. Coming off the back of a promising 12th place in the week’s first World Cup, Davies was blisteringly fast across the Finals, with his final run leaving him just 0.43s behind the veteran Swiss Jonas Lenherr who took the fifth World Cup victory of his career. Davies’ performance comes just days before he sets out for the World Championships in Bakuriani, for a competition which catapulted him to the highest reaches of the sport in 2021, where he took a surprise fourth place in Idre Fjall and proved his ability to mix it with the very best in the world.
There were more podiums in the Para Snowboard set-up, where James Barnes-Miller took World Cup gold and Nina Sparks Europa Cup gold in Grasgehren. Poor weather conditions meant the loss of the weekend’s second set of races, but the results left Barnes-Miller with a scarcely believable six podiums including four victories in his last six World Cup competitions, and well out in front of the Men’s Snowboard Cross SB-UL World Cup FIS points list, with a gap of almost 2000 WC points to his nearest rival, Italy’s Jacopo Luchini, while Nina Sparks also tops the women’s SB-LL2 Europa Cup rankings with 2200 points for the season to date.
At the Alpine World Ski Championships in Courchevel, Charlie Raposo put a difficult season behind him to take an excellent 17th place in the Giant Slalom race, with a second run which saw him briefly take the leader’s chair. His second run time of 1:14.44 was bettered by only seven skiers in the whole race, including winner Marco Odermatt, and showed conclusively Raposo’s ability to deliver on the biggest stages.
In the Men’s Slalom, Dave Ryding had the pick of the results with a 13th place finish, with Billy Major joining him inside the top-30, finishing 28th, and Laurie Taylor just outside coming 33rd. Ed Guigonnet also qualified for the second run, before recording a DNF. Ryding’s finishing time of 1:40.32 left him 0.82 behind Henrik Kristoffersen, who topped the podium for Norway, with Ryding delivering a characteristically fast second run, the fifth quickest in the field. Away from the World Championships, Laurie Taylor also took seventh in Europa Cup in Berchtesgaden.
The Women’s Slalom saw Charlie Guest finish just outside the top-30 with a 31st place finish, having battled back from injury to take her position in the starting gate. Victoria Palla, on her World Championships debut, took an impressive 36th spot while Reece Bell and Alex Tilley, both of whom have also been on the comeback from injury this season, registered DNF in the second and first runs respectively.
Tilley qualified for the second run in the Women’s Giant Slalom before lodging a DNF, while the pick of the Championships’ other results came in the Alpine Combined, where Owen Vinter took 17th place and Ed Guigonnet 22nd. In the Downhill, Roy Steudle took 39th, while Calum Langmuir’s World Championships debut saw him take 38th in Super G.
In Telemark, Jaz Taylor added another World Cup podium to her career record with third place in the Sprint World Cup in Aal, with 19th, eighth, and sixth place finishes in two Classic and one Parallel Sprint races. Sissi Compton took four top-20 finishes with two twentieth places, a nineteenth, and an eighteenth.
All eyes now turn to the Freestyle World Championships in Bakuriani, where the first day of official competition for British athletes comes on Thursday with the Ski Cross qualifiers.
Five 2022/23 World Cup podium holders have been named in a 13 athlete British squad who will travel to Bakuriani for the 2023 Freestyle World Championships this month
Zoe Atkin (Freeski Halfpipe World Cup Gold, Mammoth Mountain; X Games Superpipe Gold), Mia Brookes (Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup Silver, Laax), Makayla Gerken-Schofield (Dual Moguls World Cup Bronze, Val St. Come), Kirsty Muir (Freeski Slopestyle World Cup Silver, Mammoth Mountain; X Games Slopestyle Bronze; X Games Big Air Bronze) and reigning World Champion Charlotte Bankes (Snowboard Cross World Cup Gold, Cervinia and Cortina, World Cup Bronze Cervinia) headline a squad that features two debutants in Brookes and Beijing 2022 Snowboard Cross Olympian Huw Nightingale.
Freeski
A four-person Freeski Slopestyle and Big Air squad brings a collective 15 World Championships under their belts with 2019 Slopestyle World Champion, James Woods, lining up alongside Tyler Harding in his fourth World Championships, Chris McCormick competing for the third time and Kirsty Muir in her second Championships. Zoe Atkin, meanwhile, will compete in her third World Championships in Freeski Halfpipe, having taken bronze in the 2021 Championships in Aspen.
Snowboard Cross and Ski Cross
Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale will reprise their Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in the Snowboard Cross Team Event, while Bankes will be looking to defend the World Championships title she secured at the 2021 World Championships in Idre Fjall.
In Ski Cross, Ollie Davies will be the sole British representative on his third World Championships, having taken an exceptional fourth place at the 2021 Idre Fjall Championships.
Freestyle Snowboard
On her World Championships debut, Mia Brookes will be the sole British Freestyle Snowboard competitor, where she is set to compete in both the Slopestyle and Big Air competitions. Brookes comes into the Championships on the back of an outstanding debut World Cup season which has seen her notch three top-10 finishes, including a silver medal at her last World Cup in Laax in January.
Moguls
The Moguls competitions will Makayla Gerken-Schofield, Will Feneley, Tom Gerken-Schofield and Mateo Jeannesson representing British interests, in a season which has seen Makayla Gerken-Schofield take the first World Cup podium of her career, Jeannesson break into the World Cup top-20 for the first time, and Feneley match his best ever World Cup result with an eighth place finish in Dual Moguls at this month’s Deer Valley World Cup. The team will be looking to Tom Gerken-Schofield’s sixth place at the 2021 Almaty World Championships for inspiration with a rich combination of experience and form to draw on from the season to date.
Freestyle Snowboarders Maisie Hill and Katie Ormerod, both of whom met selection qualification criteria, miss out on the Championships through injury.
The Bakuriani Freestyle World Championships begin on 18 February with the first British athlete due to be in action on 23 February, with the Ski Cross Qualification rounds.
Full Squad Selections
Snowboard Cross
- Charlotte Bankes
- Huw Nightingale
Ski Cross
- Ollie Davies
Freeski – Slopestyle and Big Air
- Tyler Harding
- Chris McCormick
- Kirsty Muir
- James Woods
Freeski – Halfpipe
- Zoe Atkin
Freestyle Snowboard – Slopestyle and Big Air
- Mia Brookes
Moguls
- Will Feneley
- Makayla Gerken-Schofield
- Tom Gerken-Schofield
- Mateo Jeannesson
Header Image: Kirsty Muir competes during the Women’s Freeski Big Air Finals on day three of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain Resort on December 16, 2022 in Copper Mountain, Colorado. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Dave Ryding and Mia Brookes put the crowning touches on an exceptional week of competition for Britain’s Skiers and Snowboarders
A year to the day from his jaw-dropping victory at the Kitzbuehel Slalom World Cup, Dave Ryding was back on the podium for the first time this season as he delivered a blistering second run performance to rise from sixteenth to second on one of the world’s most revered Slalom stages. Remarkably, it was the third time that Ryding had made the podium at Kitzbuehel, having also taken second spot in the 2017 race exactly six years earlier.
In a packed and highly competitive field, Ryding’s first run put him in sixteenth place and with work to do if the race leaders were going to face a challenge from the reigning champion. From the moment he left the gate for this second run, though, it was clear that Ryding wouldn’t relinquish his crown without a fight, putting down a staggeringly fast and technically perfect run that saw him move straight into top spot. In the end, only Switzerland’s Daniel Yule could match Ryding’s endeavours, coming in 0.40s ahead of the Rocket, but 0.31s down on the Brit’s sensational second run time.
Earlier in the competition, Billy Major took an excellent 23rd place finish for his best World Cup finish of the season, while Laurie Taylor just missed out on qualification for the second run.
Incredibly, Ryding’s podium marked Britain’s second snowsport silver of the day, with Mia Brookes earlier delivering on her incredible potential by taking silver in the Laax Open Freestyle Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup. Competing in only her third World Cup competition, having been ineligible through age last season, and the first Slopestyle World Cup of her career, Brookes was in breath-taking form throughout the weekend, qualifying for Finals in top spot before delivering a sensational performance to leave her with a score of 79.91, behind only Beijing Olympic Gold Medallist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand.
Brookes’ World Cup career has now yielded a ninth place, a fifth place, and a runner’s up spot across three World Cups, with the 16-year-old next set to compete in the prestigious X Games competition later this month.
Brookes will be joined at X Games by Freeski sensation Kirsty Muir, who notched yet another World Cup top-10 with sixth place in the Laax Open Freeski Slopestyle World Cup. Muir’s result came through the qualifying rounds as the Final was eventually called off owing to treacherous weather on a weekend beset by challenging conditions. The result gives Muir her eighth World Cup top-10 finish at the age of just 18, with each of her three World Cup competitions this season ending in the top-10.
In the men’s competitions in Laax, Billy Cockrell came 28th in the Snowboard World Cup, while in the Freeski contest Tyler Harding was the pick of the Brits with a 24th place finish, Chris McCormick coming in in 41st, and Tom Greenway in 48th.
Ollie Davies’ World Cup season continued with 17th and 30th placed finishes in Idre Fjall’s back-to-back Ski Cross World Cups, with the first of the two races granting Davies his second best result of the season after his exceptional seventh place finish in the last of 2022’s World Cup races in Innichen, Italy.
While the Para Alpine World Championships suffered schedule changes and delays due to high winds, the Para Nordic World Championships in Ostersund had enjoyed more serene conditions, and a pair of outstanding results for Britain’s sole competitor at this year’s Championships, Scott Meenagh. His fourth and seventh place finishes in the 7.5km Sprint Biathlon and 18km Individual Classic represented an outstanding demonstration of the skill and strength that Meenagh has shown over his years competing for Britain as a Para Nordic sit skier. The Championships are set to continue until 27 January with Meenagh’s form promising more excellent results.
In the Olympic Cross Country discipline, James Clugnet and Andrew Young took a stunning top-10 finish in the Livigno World Cup Team Sprint, with Clugnet also finishing in the top-20 in the Sprint Free race, coming 17th having qualified for Finals in 7th. Andrew Young came in 32nd, just outside of the qualifying sports for the Quarter Finals round.
The Telemark squad saw their first World Cup races of the season deliver a pair of fourth-place finishes for Jaz Taylor in dual sprint races in Carezza, Italy, with Timote Gough also picking up an excellent 12th place finish in the second of the week’s World Cup races.
At the World Junior Alpine Championships, Calum Langmuir picked up the best British men’s result since 2021 with 17th place in the Super-G competition, with an excellent run which saw him looking close to podium form until a tricky few gates near the bottom of the course. Meanwhile, the World University Games saw Britain’s snowsport athletes bank two medals with Scott Johns taking a first ever British WUGS Ski Cross Gold, while Thea Fenwick took bronze in the Freeski Slopestyle event, just ahead of teammate Olivia Burke in fourth. Jay Hebblethwaite also took fourth in the Men’s Freeski Slopestyle, while Ben Carpenter finished 22nd in both Alpine Snowboard Parallel SL and Parallel GS.
The GB Snowsport Results Round-Up is brought to you by Snow+Rock. Header Image credit Sam Mellish
13 British skiers and snowboarders, competing across five disiciplines, will represent Team GB at the 2023 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival
The British Olympic Association has today confirmed that 13 ski and snowboard athletes will travel to Friuli-Venezia Giulia as part of an 18 athlete Team GB to compete at the 2023 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival.
Six Alpine skiers, one Ski Cross athlete, one Freeskier, three Freestyle Snowboarders, one Snowboard Cross athlete and one Alpine Snowboarder will compete in the Festival’s snowsport disciplines against 14-18 year old athletes from almost 40 countries in one of the largest youth winter sport gatherings in the world.
EYOFs play an important role in the development of young British athletes, providing crucial multi-sport event experience and guiding them towards realising their Olympic ambitions.
Italy will become the first nation to host the event twice, 30 years after staging the inaugural Winter EYOF in Aosta in 1993. The competition will take place across the northern Italian territory of Friuli-Venezia Giulia as well as neighbouring regions in Austria and Slovenia, with over 2,000 atheltes from 40 nations expected to participate.
This year’s British delegation will follow in the footsteps of Katie Summerhayes, Chemmy Alcott, Kirsty Muir and many others who represented Team GB at youth events before going on to compete at a senior Olympic Winter Games.
Many of the young athletes selected for Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2023 have ambitions to do the same, and with the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games drawing closer, the Winter EYOF offers a valuable opportunity to build their confidence when competing on the international stage.
Pete Ambrose, Team GB Chef de Mission for Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2023, said:
“It is a huge honour to be the Chef de Mission and lead Team GB in Friuli Venezia Giulia. It will be the first time many of our young athletes experience the Olympic movement and is an invaluable opportunity for them to develop in an international competition of this level.
“While it may be many of the athletes’ first exposure to a multi-sport event environment, Team GB has a great history of youth athletes taking part in an EYOF and going on to become senior Olympians and medallists, so it will be great to help them use it as a foundation for future Games. It is a really exciting time to be a part of British winter sport.”
Olivia Howeson, said:
“I’ve been training hard in the run up to EYOF and have been really enjoying it, it makes me very excited for the Games and I’m looking forward to seeing how I can perform. It feels amazing to be able to represent my country, it’s always been a dream of mine and I’m very proud to be able to race for Team GB.”
Charlotte Holmes, said:
“I’m really excited to put what I’ve been doing in training on the big stage. It’s something I’ve been working towards over the past few years and to be able to do it with my teammates and meet new people is going to be really special.”
Snowsport Discipline Athletes Selected:
Alpine
- Olivia Howeson (16, Welwyn Garden City)
- Charlotte Holmes (17, Burnley)
- Molly Butler (16, Guildford)
- George Black (17, Bury St Edmunds)
- Jack Irving (17, Carol Springs)
- Luca Carrick-Smith (17, Edinburgh)
Freestyle Skiing
- Bailey Webster (16, Castleford)
Freestyle Snowboard (Slopestyle and Big Air)
- Charlie Lane (15, Brighton)
- Teiva Hamaini (15, Gibraltar)
- Amber Fennell (15, Dudley)
Ski Cross
- Jake Dade (16, Great Yarmouth)
Alpine Snowboard
- Samuel Carpenter (16, High Wycombe)
Snowboard Cross
- Mackenzie Patrick (17, Frimley)
Header Image: Olivia Howeson. Photo Credit: Racer Ready.
Andrew Musgrave’s second career World Cup podium was the highlight of an exciting weekend’s action, which also saw Makayla Gerken Schofield match her best ever World Cup performance
Andrew Musgrave’s incredible start to the 2022-23 season continued in Beitostolen this weekend, with third place in Saturday’s 10km C giving the 32-year-old his first World Cup podium in five years. Having record fifth and fourth place finishes in 10km races in Ruka and Lillehammer so far this season, Musgrave’s race strategy finally brought him back to the podium with a performance that saw him finish just 10s behind Paal Golberg’s race-winning time.
Andrew Young recorded his own career milestone in the same race, his 23rd place marking his best ever 10km World Cup performance, while Joe Davies took a highly respectable 63rd place in only the third World Cup race of his career.
The weekend’s Sprint C races saw Young take 32nd spot, Musgrave 54th, and James Clugnet 60th, but the weekend belonged firmly to the 10km C and a result which acts as a rich reward for one of Britain’s most dedicated endurance athletes.
A career-best result was also on the cards in the Moguls World Cup in Idre Fjall, Sweden, as Makayla Gerken Schofield took 6th in the Moguls and 8th in the Dual Moguls, with the former marking her best ever Moguls finish and the latter a second career top-10 in Dual Moguls. Leonie Gerken Schofield also performed excellently in Idre Fjall, taking 23rd in the Moguls and 20th in the Dual Moguls, while in the Men’s competitions Will Feneley came 29th in the Moguls and 24th in Dual Moguls, Thomas Gerken Schofield 38th in Moguls and 25th in Dual Moguls, and Mateo Jeannesson 30th in Moguls and 39th in Dual Moguls.
In Alpine, the Men’s Slalom World Cup season finally got underway in Val d’Isere, with Dave Ryding finishing just outside the top-20 having qualified for the second run in ninth spot. Laurie Taylor and Billy Major both took DNFs from the first run, as did Charlie Raposo in the weekend’s Giant Slalom races.
Charlie Guest finished 43rd in the Sestriere Slalom races, with Alex Tilley recording a DNF.
Earlier in the week, the Ski Cross World Cup season got off to a promising start in Val Thorens for Ollie Davies with a 16th place finish in the week’s second WC competition, after a 34th place in the first contest.
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