Tuesday, January 18, 2011

World championships 2011


Today I competed in the world championships in La Molina, Spain.

With the less than ideal run up to the competition that I had and the fact it was my first world class competition since the Olympics last February I wasn’t expecting much of a result, but I finished 7th which I am very happy with.

The organizers did a very good job building a good course here despite there not being too much snow. It had some pretty big jumps and I don’t mind saying I was a little scared at the start of the training day on Sunday. I got used to it pretty quickly though so it wasn’t a big problem.

As I had virtually no training with my coach before the competition my aim was just to qualify in the top 16 so I was pleased when I had two solid qualification runs which put me through in 11th place.

My first heat today was against Deborah Anthonioz (FRA) who won silver at the Vancouver Olympics, Claire Chapotot (FRA) and Bell Berghuis (NED). We pulled out of the gate together then had some trouble on the run up to the first jump basically leaving 3 of us in the race. I got into second position and held that all the way down with no problems qualifying me through to the semi finals.

My next heat was a bit tougher, I was against Chapotot again as well as Lindsey Jacobellis (USA) and Dominique Maltais (CAN) I made a mistake at the top of the course so was playing catch up the whole way down. I managed to get into 3rd but that wasn’t enough to get me into the final unfortunately.

So I was then in the small final (to decide places 5-8) I got into third position after the first turn but then missed timed the absorption of a jump resulting in me landing flat and losing all my speed. I got passed so was then in 4th. I managed to pass again near the bottom of the course back into 3rd again and went to overtake into 2nd but couldn’t quite manage it so crossed the line in 3rd in that heat meaning I placed 7th over all.

There were a few technical things I wish I had done better in the race but with all things considered I am very happy to finish 7th today.

I hope this result might help convince UK sport that I do have the potential to finish on the podium in the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and maybe reinstate my funding.

2 comments:

Rick said...

Zoe - very disappointed to hear about your funding situation, I'm afraid this is becoming all too common for our young athletes.
What can be done for the general public to support your training and development programme? Is there a fund that you can set up that we can contribute to?

Unknown said...

Hi Rick, I dont have a fund that people can donate to (thank you for the offer) but ill be launching sme businesses soon so if you find anything you like then great!
Thanks
Zoe