Stay between the flags: Robinson gets early advantage in GS
For the first time in her blossoming career Kiwi ski racer Alice Robinson will head into her specialist discipline with a decisive advantage over her rivals this weekend.
After the disappointment of last weekend’s cancelled women’s World Cup Super G races in St Moritz because of blizzard conditions, the World Cup circuit turns its attention to the Giant Slalom with back-to-back races across the French border in Courchevel.
New Zealand have been chosen to set the course for an FIS World Cup Giant Slalom ski race for the first time, due to Robinson’s outstanding results over the past year. She won two of the six completed World Cup races and is ranked fifth in the world in the discipline.
Her co-coach, Kiwi Chris Knight, will set the course for the first run in both tomorrow and Sunday night’s races.
New Zealand have been awarded the course set because of a complex process which involves the significant World Cup points Robinson has contributed over the past couple of years. The advantages are clear for Robinson, who will have an inside knowledge of the course that otherwise won’t be seen until race day.
“It’s pretty exciting but even though you set it, you still have to take advantage of it,” Robinson said.
“Definitely knowing that Chris has set it with a specific idea and can tell me in this section you can do this and in this section do that and ‘in this section be cautious’ then it’s really good, because in ski racing that’s one hard part of it — except downhill you are going into every course without
knowing how it’s going to run.”
The 19-year-old finished 10th in Courchevel last year but was coming off an injury enforced-break and was racing on the hill for the first time.
“I think last year I skied pretty well
but it was a really tight race and I was only 0.5 seconds off and in 10th so I was just a bit behind. I had a couple of days training on the slope after the race last year which was good. It’s definitely one of the slopes I have had a bit more time on so it’s just about me skiing how I can ski, consistently and solid and that’s what I am aiming for this year,” Robinson said.
Both races will start with the first runs at 9.30pm NZT tomorrow and Sunday with the second runs a few hours later.
“I’m quite excited to have two races because most of our races are kind of like one race and then a month or a few weeks break until the next one so it can be quite good. If you have a good first day you can build on it and do the same and if you have a bad first day you can turn it around and go into the second day with a fresh slate.”
Robinson started the Giant Slalom season with a 12th place finish in Solden in Austria in October, the race that propelled her into the global spotlight with her maiden World Cup victory in 2019. — NZ Herald