Late sport Star for N.Z. ski series

Press, 4 July 1978, Page 6

Late sport Star for N.Z. ski series

By

TIM DUNBAR

Klaus Heidegger, a young ski racer who finished fourth over-all on the last World Cup circuit, will compete in (the F.I.S. series at Mount (Hutt later this month. • The 21-year-old is one of la team of four Austrians whose names were received yesterday by the convener of the organising committee (Mr I Neil Harrison). His entry will give a great (boost to the organisers, who (had been still short of a real (“name” skier such as Ingemar Stenmark (Sweden), who competed in the initial New Zealand series last September.

Heidegger was second behind the incredible Swede — who took the World Cup for the third successive year—in the slalom standings on the 1978 circuit and finished seventh in the giant slalom. His recent progress on the circuit has been rather remarkable. Two years ago (Heidegger had barely caused ja ripple in ski-ing circles [when he scraped up four •World Cup points and finished in equal forty-ninth place. But on the 1976-77 circuit he was the big surprise, with an emergence from virtual obscurity to take second place behind Stenmark with

,250 points and his 1978 effort .was. almost as good. Also in the Austrian team iis Leonhard Stock, who was i twenty-first in the 1978 World • Cup with an eighth place in • the giant slalom and twentv- • second in the downhill. The • other members are Prodinger and Albi, whose Christian names were not available.

The good new# about the Austrian team has to be tempered by the virtual certaintv that the Swedish women will not now be comin® to New Zealand. No reply was originally received from the Aus* trians and it had been intended to extend the invitations to the Swedes instead. This is a blow to the talented Canterbury trio of Fiona Johnson, Julia Allison an Anna Archibald, who will miss a grand opportunitv to lower their F.I.S. start points. The names of the French team coming to the U.T.A. Airlines-Europa Oil series (which starts on July 19) have also been received by Mr Harrison. Included are F. Obert, G. Passey and T. Neynet. but little is yet known of their abilities. Earlier confirmations for the series were Willy Frommelt (Liechtenstein), third in the giant slalom at the 1978 world championships, and Erika Haker (Norway), a downhill specialist.