 |
Features | General | Team Reports |
|
|
|
Hinterzarten, Germany, January 25 - 31 Back to 2009/2010 Team Reports |
|
|
|
Features | General | Team Reports |
|
|
|
Hinterzarten, Germany, January 25 - 31 Back to 2009/2010 Team Reports |
|
Aussie WJC Reports
The Australian TeamAustralian Junior Team: Phillip Bellingham, Robert Jones
U23 Team: Aimee Watson, Ewan Watson, Callum Watson
Coaches: Fabian Mauz, Marc Frey
Support: Paul Kovacs, Dr. Olaf Schumacher
Full results at www.fis-ski.com
Date
Event
Australian Competitors
Results
January 25
Junior Men Sprint Freestyle
Phillip Bellingham, Robert Jones
90th, 95th/101 - Link
January 26
U23 Men Sprint Freesytle
Callum Watson
53rd/59 - Link
January 27
Junior Men 10km Classic
Phillip Bellingham, Robert Jones
98th, DNF (tendonitis)/107 - Link
January 28
U23 Women 10km Classic
Aimee Watson
29th/49 - Link
U23 Men 15km Classic
Ewan Watson, Callum Watson
51st, 62nd/66 - Link
January 29
Junior Men 20km Pursuit
Phillip Bellingham, Robert Jones
DNF (food poisoning), DNF (tendonitis)
January 30
U23 Women 15km Pursuit
Aimee Watson
29th/47 - Link
U23 Men 30km Pursuit
Ewan Watson
53rd/55 - Link
January 30 - Race Day SixAnother U23 top 30 for Aimee Watson with her 29th place in the 15km Pursuit today. Aimee was in 26th place in a pack after the classic leg, only one minute behind the leader. At the end of the 15km she was outsprinted by Jessica Mueller of Germany and Kate Brennan of Canada, both of whom are fairly handy sprinters. Ewan Watson had a good crack at finishing the 30km Pursuit but was pulled by officials under the overlapping rule just before starting the final 3.75km lap. Ewan was just under four minutes behind the leader after the 15km classic leg, which was comfortably under 10% behind and on track to go the distance, however with almost 7 laps of 8 completed the officials decided to pull Ewan along with two USA skiers and a Ukranian. The overlapping rule is actually not meant to apply at this level of competition and with the massively wide tracks at Hinterzarten it seems ridiculous for the Technical Delegate to apply it. Ewan reckoned he would have made it onto the final lap without being caught so there are definitely some questions to be asked about yet another seemingly poor application of this rule.
That's it for our team at Hinterzarten. The junior relays are on tomorrow but we would need four athletes for a team. The good news is that the boys are all out of hospital after a night on the drip and they seem to be doing well. Many thanks to Fabian Mauz, Marc Frey, Olaf Schumacher, and Paul Kovacs for their assistance throughout the championship!
January 29 - Race Day FiveUnfortun ately things didn't go quite to plan for the Australians at the races today. Robert Jones' elbow tendonitis flared up again, and Phillip Bellingham came down with food poisoning along with Callum Watson and Andy Pohl from New Zealand. Jones and Bellingham both started the race but were unable to continue even as far as the change-over box. The food poisoning became so bad that Bellingham, Callum Watson and Pohl have all ended up in hospital in Freiburg. All ate lasagne the night before at a restaurant in Freburg. Ewan Watson also had the same lasagne, but having been on anti-biotics for an upper respiratory infection he seems to have got off lightly, and is still planning to start the U23 30km Pursuit tomorrow. Aimee Watson didn't go out to dinner and is fine and looking forward to the 15km Pursuit.
Late addition - a short summary from team assistant Paul Kovacs:
Phil, Callum and Andy are in hospital but should be released tomorrow. We went to an Italian place last night and they had the same meal and got E-coli or something like that. Today was the pursuit and Phil made a lap before pulling out and heading home, where we tried to go to lunch and Phil completely blacked out and was unconscious for about 20 seconds, luckily I caught him before he hit something but while out he vomited violently. Callum never made it out of bed just chronic vomiting, diarea, and stomach pains. Andy has the same as Cal but not as bad. Around four we took them all to the hospital because it was getting worse, now they're fine, just on drips and a few other drugs.
January 28 - Race Day FourAimee Watson finished 29th today in the 10km Classic in Hinterzarten. This is the third year in a row that she has made the top 30 at the World U23 Championship. Watson was 2:32 behind the winner Kerttu Niskanen of Finland, and just 5 seconds out o f 25th place. In the men's 15km Classic Callum Watson and Ewan Watson were 51st and 62nd, 5:57 and 5:53 behind the winner Vladislav Skobelov of Russia. Callum said he pushed himself to the absolute limit, and except for a fall on a time critical part of the course was happy with the way he skied. Coach Fabian Mauz reckoned Callum lost about 30 seconds and maybe 5 places with the fall. Ewan wasn't so satisfied with his race, he felt that he didn't really gquite get into it.
Tomorrow are the junior pursuit events. Both Phillip Bellingham and Robert Jones are on the start list, though it's still uncertain with Robert's elbow and whether he will be able to race.
January 27 - Race Day ThreeToday was the 10km Classic for the Junior Men and Phillip Bellingham skied a solid race to finish 98th out of 107 starters. Bellingham was 5:20 or around 22% behind the winner Paal Golberg of Norway. Unfortunately Robert Jones had problems with an elbow injury and withdrew mid-race.
The Watson family takes on the U23 classic distance races tomorrow. Aimee starts number 25 in the field of 49 athletes, while Ewan and Callum have start numbers 14 and 27 in the field of 69 men. Andy Pohl from New Zealand is inbetween the two Aussies with bib number 17. The best ranked skiers start last. Aimee Watson holds the best result for an Australian female at the World U23 Championships with her 24th place from Malles in 1998.
January 26 - Race Day TwoCallum Watson finished 53rd today in the U23 Freestyle Sprint, 16 seconds behind the fastest qualifier Simeon Hamilton from the USA. Watson felt strong and thought he skied technically well. Normally a lot stronger in distance events, he is looking forward to the 15km Classic and 30km Pursuit coming up later in the week. The U23 Sprint champions were Ole-Marius Bach from Norway and Mari Laukkanen from Finland.
Tomorrow the junior guys take on the 10km Classic. There are 107 athletes on the start list and Phillip Bellingham and Robert Jones are seeded 95th and 96th. Classic waxing conditions have reportedly been tricky but the temperature is supposed to drop overnight and may become a bit more stable.
January 25 - Race Day OnePhillip Bellingham and Robert Jones made their World Junior Championship debut today in the Freestyle Sprint in Hinterzarten in Germany. The boys finished 90th and 95th out of 101 starters, approximately 25 and 29 seconds behind the fastest qualifier Pellegrino of Italy. Though they were hoping to be higher up the result list their results were consistant with their performances in sprints in recent weeks. The sprint A-finals were won by Tomas Northug of Norway and Hanna Brodin of Sweden.
The Australian Team in Hinterzarten is being looked after by two local German coaches, Fabian Mauz and Marc Frey. Mauz supported the Australian Team at the OPA Cup in Oberwiesenthal and the German Cup in Hinterzarten earlier this month. Australian junior skier Paul Kovacs is also helping with waxing and testing and will assist with split timing during the individual start distance races.
Tomorrow Callum Watson will be the only Australian starter in the U23 sprints. His older siblings Aimee and Ewan will wait until Thursday to begin racing at these championships in the distance classic events. Andy Pohl from New Zealand who is staying with the Aussies is also skipping the sprint.
Images...
Official Uniform Supplier For the Australian Cross Country Ski Team
XC is the official website of the Skiing Australia Cross Country Committee. It is produced with the assistance of the Australian Sports Commission, and the Kangaroo Hoppet. The editor can be contacted via info@hoppet.com.au.
