Katya Crema competed in her second skier cross World Cup in Kreishberg, Austria. Katya reports on her experience in training and qualifying: “After two training runs I felt very comfortable with the course. The jumps weren`t quite as large as Les Contamines, and the landings were much smoother and steeper.”
Katya Crema competed in her second skier cross World Cup in Kreishberg, Austria. Katya reports on her experience in training and qualifying:
“After two training runs I felt very comfortable with the course. The jumps weren`t quite as large as Les Contamines, and the landings were much smoother and steeper.”
“The course included lots of rollers, some large GS/super G-type turns, two medium-sized jumps and one large corner jump into a very steep finish.”
“I qualified in 14th position, less than two seconds behind current world champion Ophelie David of France. I was extremely happy to have qualified for the finals, as I have not yet experienced what it is like to ski the course with three girls right on your side (or, hopefully, on my tail!).”
After competing in her first ever ski cross World Cup final, Crema added:
“Unfortunately I was placed in the toughest heat, competing alongside the current World Cup leader Meryl Boulangeat of France, current world number five Hedda Berntsen of Norway, and current world number six Noriko Fukushima of Japan.”
“We were given a few training runs on the hill before our race. I was feeling quite confident, however, the track was beginning to get rough and bumpy so the risk of crashing was much greater. I definitely found it more difficult to keep my balance on some of the tougher turns and drop-offs. Prior to my heat, team mate Jenny Owens of Australia gave me a few last-minutes tips on how to start. Having no experience whatsoever with ski cross starts, I frantically tried to take on all that I could before my race. Leading up to my quarterfinal event, I was starting to get a bit nervous. Skiing the course with 3 girls by your side is obviously completely different to skiing a course by yourself. You not only have to concentrate on what you're doing, but where they are at the same time.”
“I managed to get out of the start reasonably fast, however because of my 14th place in qualifying, I was given the outside lane meaning that I had the furthest distance to travel to get around the first turn. The girls snuck out in front of me around the first bend, and I was forced to take the wider line. I finished fourth in the heat, and therefore missed out on a spot in the semi finals. I didn't ski quite as well as I could have, but I think that had a lot to do with a lack of experience in this environment. Rather than focusing on my skiing, I was concentrating too hard on what the other girls were doing around me. I think that with a little time and practise though, I will be able to improve vastly on my performance.”
“So all in all, I had a great day. It was a great experience to compete in my first World Cup finals event. The crowd, media, cameras were all a bit new for me, but definitely something I need to get used to in the near future. At the end of the day I was quite pleased with my 14th place finish, given that it is only the second ski cross event of my career.”