Swiss skiers avoid Austrians

Press, 19 July 1983, Page 38

Swiss skiers avoid Austrians

The Austrians will not have to contend with their alpine ski-ing rivals, the Swiss, when they compete in the seventh Europa F.I.S. series at Mount Hutt next month. Last year the Swiss men’s f downhill team, ranked No. 1 1! in the world, spent two weeks training and racing at Mount Hutt and was expected to return this winter. But the Swiss have pulled out of. the series. It seems they were reluctant to train on the same hill as the Austrians, who boast the world’s No. 1 downhill team.

The series, though, looks sure to be the biggest and best yet with abouwlSO skiracers from 11 or £2 coun-

tries. There is some doubt as to whether the Yugoslavs are coming. Over the last week the chairman of the organising committee, Mr Neil Harrison, has received entries for , the first time from the Irish Ski Federation and the Danish Ski Federation. Mads Boedker will be the lone Dane, Robert McKee the Irishman. Other overseas teams which have confirmed entries for the series, which will last from August 1 to 14, are Norway (represented by Paul-Arne Skajem), Britain, West Germany, Canada, the United States, Australia, and Japan. One of the British skiracers, Ronald Duncan, arrived in New Zealand last

week and trained at Mount Hutt on Sunday. Two more team members arrived yesterday, as did a host of Japanese. Most of the other teams will arrive this week, notably the Austrian contingent of about 30 on Friday and the United States women’s team in Saturday. The Austrian men’s team will be spearheaded by the 1976 Olympic downhill gold medallist and-present World Cup downhill champion, Franz Klammer, together with such other big ski-ing names as Harti Weirather, Peter Wirnsberger, Erwin Reach, Leonhard Stock, and Hans Enn. Tamara McKinney, the firSfr American to win the overall women’s World Cup

ski-ing title,'is making her fourth trip to New Zealand for “summer” training. The other United States skiers include Cindy Nelson, now in her twelfth year on the national team and a downhill silver medallist in the world championships at Schladming, Austria, last year, and Christin Cooper, who won two silver medals and one bronze at the world championships. In the Canadian women’s team are Gerry Sorensen and Laurie Graham, who combined with Nelson for a North American clean sweep of the • downhill medals of Schladming. Sorensen, a 24-year-old from Kimberley, 8.C., «on the gold and Graham the

bronze. For the 1983 series the International Ski Federation (F. 1.5. will have Mr David Stapleton, from Aspen, Colorado, as its technical delegate. He specialises in downhill events. The full programme for the Europa F.I.S. series, which will be covered again by Television New Zealand, is:— Downhill training: Monday, August 1 to August 3. Opening ceremony by Minister of Tourism (Mr Talbot): August 3. Air New Zealand downhill: August 4. Europa downhill: August 5. Europa men’s and women’s giant slaloms (2): August 8 and 9. Europa men’s and women’s slaloms (2): August 11 and 12.