Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Ryding: Snow joke! We’ve a big problem
DAVE RYDING fears Team GB’s hopes for the 2022 Winter Olympics will take a hit if our athletes don’t see any snow before September. In a typical summer, the 33-year-old slalom star would combine fitness work from his Lancashire home with technical training on glaciers in Switzerland and in ski halls in Germany. This summer will be anything but typical, though, and, while Ryding isn’t unduly worried just yet, he admits concern will grow if the coronavirus pandemic keeps him and his team-mates away from the white stuff for too long. He said: “We’ve just no idea when we’ll go skiing and where. I know the Austrians and Norwegians are training in their countries, they have the advantage of being able to do it. “We only have the indoor ski halls or dry slopes, which aren’t allowed to be open yet, so we’re at a disadvantage there. “There’s a long way to the season, so we can catch up — if we can go skiing towards the end of June, it won’t have an impact at all. “It becomes more of a negative impact if September rolls around and we’ve still not done any skiing. “Then you might start thinking it could have an impact on the coming season and that would have an effect on the following one, which is the Olympics.” Domestic plans have been affected too, since Ryding (below) will marry his fiancee Mandy next year – after they had to postpone their April wedding. He became the first Brit to win an alpine ski World Cup medal since Konrad Bartelski in 1981, when he finished second in Kitzbuhel in 2018. And this year’s 13th in the overall slalom standings made it four successive years in the top 15. He added: “I feel I’ve been there and done that with the top 15, but, at the same time, it shows consistency. “A lot of work goes in to stay at the level, so at least I know I’m doing the right things. “I was hoping I’d be in a position where I could push on, but I had a feeling in racing that I was fighting to survive and cling on to what I could rather than striving to be in the hunt for the top 10, five or podium. “There were some positives — top 10s in Madonna Di Campiglio and Schladming — but, compared to other seasons, it was possibly my worst. “But if you’re not satisfied it makes you double-down for next season – and I’m looking forward to getting going again.”