Kiwi star gets up

Alice Robinson is about to add a ton of speed to her skiing. New Zealand’s teenage slalom star starts her World Cup season in Austria tomorrow night (NZ time) and is set to go a lot faster.

Robinson has so far made her mark as one of the new Giant Slalom sensations on the World Cup circuit, but is also aiming to feature in the Super G and Downhill disciplines as she works towards the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

‘‘Giant Slalom is kind of my speciality, what I’ve had all my success in really,’’ Robinson told Stuff yesterday.

‘‘Super G, which I’ve started to branch out into, is a speed discipline. It’s a lot faster, the distance between the gates is a lot further . . . you can get up to 130kmh, whereas with Giant Slalom, your top speed would be around 80.

‘‘I had one top-10 in the World Cup last season, so I’m starting to chip away at it, but the speed disciplines need a bit more time to crack into; it’s a lot about experience and learning the different hills.’’

Robinson said she was also aiming to compete in some Downhill events – the fastest discipline.

The 19-year-old feels she’s primed to build on what she’s already achieved in a short time, with three World Cup circuit GS victories; the most recent at the end of the 2020/21 season in Switzerland in March.

Robinson arrived home in New Zealand in April after being in Europe since August 2020 and spent much of her off-season getting stronger and fitter.

‘‘I did a lot of strength training in the gym, about three months of strength and conditioning and then about six weeks of on-snow training.

‘‘I was skiing from mid-august to end of September, but obviously missed a couple of weeks due to lockdown. It would have been good if we hadn’t missed those two-and-a-half weeks because of lockdown as that was a pretty incremental part of my buildup, so that was a shame.

‘‘I pushed a lot harder in the gym this year than I ever have so I’m in good physical shape. With what I have I’m feeling pretty good and hoping for some top results.’’

Robinson admitted it was hard saying goodbye to family and friends in Queenstown as she prepared to spend another lengthy stint overseas.

‘‘With the uncertainties of Covid it’s a lot harder because you’re so much further away than normal. I don’t know when or if

I’ll be able to get back – I’m hoping