L a t e s t  n e w s ..... Rachel Adcock and Gerard Flahive win both races at Scottish Dry Slope Championships ...

'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams' (Eleanor Roosevelt).

Encouraging performances from Cruickshank and Thorburn

 After the nine months that he has had fighting back from a bad leg injury, which required major surgery and three months on crutches, Roger Cruickshank (23, Banchory/The British Land Alpine Ski Team) might have been forgiven for any extra cautionary measures today on account of it being Friday 13th, but as he skied to his best result of the season so far, fourth in an international FIS Super G in Semmering, Austria just 0.38 of second off the winning time set by Canada's Stefan Guay, he admitted that it was only afterwards that he realised the significance of the date.

 "It's probably as well, given my luck, but really it never crossed my mind."  Said Cruickshank who is looking to his current run of form to cement his Olympic selection,

 "It is just the same as thinking about results and selection. At the moment I am just thinking about my skiing and looking to just put down the best run each time. The feeling is really coming back and I definitely felt good today. It was a good solid run and a good result. I made a couple of small mistakes which probably cost me the win, and when I look at it like that then I know I could actually have won it with a margin, but like I say, at the moment it is about how I am skiing rather than the actual result, and I am just pleased at the way I am skiing."

 Cruickshank's result is not quite enough to book his ticket to the Olympic Winter Games, but after a seventh in the preceding international Super G yesterday (Thursday) then the Scot is only a fraction of a percentage off the required results and will certainly be giving the selectors food for thought.

 Another of Britain's up and coming talents Pam Thorburn (19, Strathaven/British Development Squad) scored her best Downhill result for two years yesterday when she finished 10th in an international FIS women's downhill.

 After finishing 19th on the same piste the previous day, Thorburn -who has a huge incentive to prove herself this season after being dropped from full status on the British Land Alpine Ski Team - skied to 1.84 seconds of the winner's time.

 "I was pretty pleased with the result. It was not an easy day because the course was chopped up and bumpy and the race was stopped a lot as girls were going into the safety nets. "  Explained Thorburn who is chasing qualification for The World Junior Alpine Ski Championships.