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Olympic qualification period kicks off for Aussie Speed Skaters

 

Olympic qualification period kicks off for Aussie Speed Skaters

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AOC
Olympic qualification period kicks off for Aussie Speed Skaters
Australia’s top Speed Skaters move one step closer to qualifying for PeyongChang 2018 this Friday as the World Cup season kicks off in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.

SPEED SKATING: Australia’s top Speed Skaters move one step closer to qualifying for PeyongChang 2018 this Friday as the World Cup season kicks off in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.

No one is more prepared for the Olympic qualification season to start than Sochi Olympian Daniel Greig.

After a challenging Olympic debut four years ago where he fell in his pet event, the 26-year-old has been putting in the hard yards for the chance to redeem himself at PyeongChang 2018.

“Dan is doing well, he is heading into this World Cup with his best pre-season stats to date so I'm looking forward to it,” said Grieg’s coach Desley Hill.

Fellow Aussie teammate and Greig’s housemate, Josh Capponi, is going into the 2017 World Cup season with the hopes of qualifying for his Olympic debut at PyeongChang.

With a recent personal best under his belt, coach Hill is confident the 22-year-old is ready to put his best skate forward in Heerenveen.

“Josh is also doing well, and last weekend he skated 0.1 off his PB for a 3k so that's a good sign,” she said.

“The World Cups are going to be tough and super competitive so everyone is excited of course.”

Greig and Capponi have five World Cup events between now and the Winter Olympic Games in February.

Qualification for the Games will be based on achieving quota places at the first four World Cup events, so Hill said she has developed a plan to provide the skaters with the best opportunity to secure places for Australia and for the athletes to peak at the right time.

“I see the next four World Cups as stepping stones to where we want to go and plan on seeing the boys do better every time with their best work coming in World Cup 3 and 4.

“World Cup 1 and 2 are important because you gain points for the World Cup classification, which can determine Olympic qualifying and so can times, but the times will usually be best in Calgary or Salt Lake City [in December].”

“World Cup 5 will most importantly be used for the Olympic prep and it's also qualification for the World Championships and gives us quotas for the following season.

“Of course if your ask [the athletes] they want to have an awesome result every race they go in so that's good too.”

Four-time World Champion Inline Skater Hill is confident in the teams’ strategy and preparations.

“We made a plan, we are on track right now and we are looking forward to executing that plan in the next few weeks.”

The first ISU Speed Skating World Cup runs 10-12 November. Live results will be shared on the events website HERE.

Learn more about Olympic Speed Skating HERE.

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

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