Mt Hutt, New Zealand – (26 August 2013) – New Zealand adaptive ski racer, Corey Peters (New Plymouth) enjoyed an exceptional day’s racing today, claiming first place in the men’s sitting category at the Snow Sports NZ IPC (International Paralympic Committee) Super Combined World Cup at Mt Hutt.
Today’s victory backs up impressive results claimed by Peters at last week’s IPC World Cup Slalom events staged at Coronet Peak as part of the Audi quattro Winter Games NZ. Peters claimed a second place and a fifth place finish over two days of racing at Coronet Peak.
Weather and snow conditions at Mt Hutt were absolutely perfect for today’s racing with clear skies, excellent visibility and fast snow. With the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games only months away the event represented an opportunity for athletes to gain valuable qualifying points and the world’s best adaptive skiers - including teams from Russia, USA, Australia, The Netherlands, Italy and Canada – were in attendance. That Peters - who only began ski racing three years ago – was able to claim victory against such a strong field bodes well for his Paralympic qualifying campaign.
“Things are really starting to come along this season and I’m really happy with the way my skiing is going,” says Peters. “There’s still a lot to work on but things are really starting to click now.”
The Super Combined event requires skiers to display both speed and technical skill. Skiers must complete one run of a Super-G course followed by one Slalom run with times from each run combined to give an overall total. Peters placed first in his Super-G event and although his second run in the Slalom wasn’t quite as polished it was enough to keep him at the top of the leader board.
“I’m stoked, really pleased, with how things went today,” says Peters. “I was especially happy with the Super-G run. The Slalom was a little sketchy at the top but I pulled it together as I got into the rhythm.”
The day brought mixed results for New Zealand Paralympic gold medallist, Adam Hall. A solid second place finish in the Super-G made for a good start to the day’s proceedings; however, a crash at the second to last gate of the Slalom course meant Hall finished in fifth place for the men’s Standing Super Combined.
“Unfortunately that’s how ski racing sometimes goes,” remarked a philosophical Hall. “We’ll move on from it and carry on training.”
Adam Hall claimed two gold medals at the IPC World Cup Slalom races at Coronet Peak last week and said he was looking forward to a good Slalom run today following “a pretty good Super-G this morning.”
Russia’s Alexey Bugaev, currently ranked second in the world for men’s Standing Super Combined, finished in first place. The men’s Visually Impaired Super-Combined was won by Italy’s Alessandro Daldoss.
The USA’s Stephani Victor continued her outstanding form in the women’s Super-Combined Sitting class, adding another gold medal to the two she claimed at last week’s World Cup Slalom events. Melissa Perrine of Australia won the women’s Visually Impaired Super Combined and Inga Medvedva the women’s Standing Super Combined.
Racing continues at Mt Hutt tomorrow with World Cup Super G scheduled to start at 9.30am and a forecast for more excellent weather conditions.
Official results will be available shortly, click here
Ends
11 years ago
IPC World Cup,
Mt Hutt