PB for van der Ploeg in Davos | Australian Olympic Committee

Mark van der Ploeg has skied to his best World Cup result, finishing in 80th place in the sprint in Davos, Switzerland. Van der Ploeg completed the qualification round in a time of four minutes 5.17 seconds, 11.73 seconds behind the fastest skier, Alexey Petukhov of Russia.

Mark van der Ploeg has skied to his best World Cup result, finishing in 80th place in the sprint in Davos, Switzerland.

Van der Ploeg completed the qualification round in a time of four minutes 5.17 seconds, 11.73 seconds behind the fastest skier, Alexey Petukhov of Russia.

“(It was a) long course for a sprint but I paced it well and am happy with the result,” van der Ploeg said. “It’s nice to have a good race for once, helps the confidence.”

Paul Murray had a disappointing day, finishing in 94th position in a time of 4:12.19.

In the women’s sprint, Esther Bottomley placed 62nd.

A day earlier, Ben Sim had finished in 67th place in the 15km freestyle, with Callum Watson in back in 87 position, while Aimee Watson was 77th in the women’s 10km freestyle.

“It was a hard race today in Davos,” Sim said. “I started hard and nearly lost my life after 7.5km but then finished the last 3km really well.”