2010 Twenty Ten –

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Scott's Superb Seventh in Inaugural Ski Cross

 

Feb 22, 2010 / 03:06:40 PM

Words - Don St Pierre


Australia's Scott Kneller racing in today's ski cross. Image - Getty Images

Australian Scott Kneller barely scraped into the Olympic field, he was the last athlete to qualify for the ski cross; and today he took seventh place in the inaugural Olympic ski cross event at Cypress Mountain.

After breaking his collarbone on 5 January at the World Cup at St. Johanan, Kneller had been focusing on rehabilitating his shoulder and had slim hopes of qualifying for the Olympics. The last minute berth was exciting enough, to earn such an excellent result is astounding, especially considering he's had about a week and half on snow.

"I mean, I just scraped into the Games, I was the second last to qualify, so to do that, to come here on such an amazing day in such an amazing venue and to deliver my best performances, it's just incredible," he told Bigpnd sports after the race.

It is interesting to note Kneller went to the same school in Cooma, NSW as snowboard half pipe gold medalist Torah Bright. As 'The Gateway to the Snowies', Cooma has plenty to be proud about with the efforts of their Olympians in Vancouver.

Swiss skier Michael Schmid won gold in an exciting final. The silver medal went to Austraia's Andreas Matt with the bronze going to Audun Groenvold from Norway. Quoted by NBC Schmid said, "Once you're ahead, you can race your own race". "Once you're in front, it's easy. A lot easier than being behind somebody."


USA's Damon Ralves and France's Ted Piccard collide in the high octane ski cross. Image - Getty Images

Ski Cross has captured the world's attention today and anyone watching would have to agree it's entertaining for the audience and can be brutal for the athletes as they jockey for position at speed negotiating a variety of jumps, burms and turns - as proven today when the USA's most decorated downhiller, 36 year old Daron Rahlves clashed with Ted Piccard and landed on his back and was left in agony at the bottom of the course.

The women's ski cross qualification and medal rounds will commence 5:30am Sydney time and Mountainwatch will be there blogging on Twenty Ten. Our athletes include Jenny Owens and Katya Crema. As Kneller has proven today ski cross can be anyone's race if you put it all on the line and have the skill to back it up.

tags: olympic, feature, features, ski, cross, scott, kneller, jenny, owens, katya, crema, cypress, mountain