Simpson/Poth and Taylor take World Cup Golds
Para Alpine and Telemark stars top standings in Courchevel and Pinzolo
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Top-10s in Freeski, Cross-Country and Telemark mark successful festive season for British athletes
Amid the Christmas and New Year festivities, British skiers and snowboarders were putting down some impressive results in the lead-in to an Olympic and Paralympic year
As the clock ticked over into 2022, 18-year-old Freeskier, Zoe Atkin, was adding to her already impressive body of results with a pair of top-10 finishes in Calgary World Cup. Her first, an eighth-place finish, came after she was forced to withdraw from the final having qualified in fifth after sustaining a cracked helmet in training. Having successfully come through required head injuries protocol assessments, she returned to land sixth place in the year’s first World Cup competition having qualified in third. The two results continue Atkin’s streak of top-10 World Cup finishes which now extend back to her very first World Cup competition in 2018, and includes two podium finishes in Copper Mountain and Aspen in 2019 and 2021.
Calgary also marked Connie Brogden’s return to snow for the 20-year-old’s first World Cup competitions since March, landing 20th and 22nd place Halfpipe finishes. Katie Ormerod took 23rd place in Snowboard Slopestyle and Sam Ward a brace of 26th place Freeski Halfpipe finishes rounded out British results in the Canadian resort.
Three-time Cross-Country Olympian, Andrew Musgrave, delivered one of his finest results in recent years at the third stage of the Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, Germany, on New Year’s Eve, with a fourth-place finish in the 15km free, which saw him miss out on a podium place by just 1.6s.
YES MUZZY!@musgraveandrew with a massive 4th place at #TourDeSki 15km free, just 1.6s off a podium spot.
This man is a machine 👇🏼💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/dq1KoA42aC
— GB Snowsport (@GBSnowsport) December 31, 2021
In Alpine, Laurie Taylor secured World Cup points in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, with an excellent 25th-place finish amid an extremely strong field. Dave Ryding had seemed on course for another tilt at the top positions but was unfortunate to ski out in the second run having come through the first run in fourth place. Charlie Guest saw similar misfortune at World Cup Lienz in Austria after an excellent first run that saw her move into 14th place. Reece Bell, meanwhile, delivered an excellent World Cup debut finishing just 0.45s outside of qualification for the second round before suffering the agony of an ACL tear in training.
It's World Cup points for @LaurieTaylorSki in Madonna di Campiglio with a strong 25th place finish.
Great job, Laurie!💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/A3Q1u4rnUH
— GB Snowsport (@GBSnowsport) December 22, 2021
Britain’s leading Telemark skier, Jasmin Taylor, got her season back underway with third and fourth place finishes at the Meiringen National Championships in Switzerland. World Cup competition in Telemark resumes from mid-January in Samoens, France.
And finally, off the slopes, Para Alpine skier, Shona Brownlee, was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours lists, with her nomination citing her as an exemplary ambassador for the Royal Air Force. Brownlee was recently named in the British squad for the World Para Snow Sports Championships in Lillehammer, Norway, which get underway on 8 January.
The weekly GB Snowsport results summary is presented in association with Snow+Rock
Header Image: Andrew Musgrave, GEPA pictures/ Daniel Schoenherr
