L a t e s t  n e w s ..... Heel wins Super G in Val Gardena with Defago and Jaerbyn on the podium ... Paerson wins Super combined from Hosp and Suter ... Walchhofer retains King of the Hill in Downhill, Miller 2 and Osborne Paradis 3 ... Gut wins Super G in St Moritz from Suter and Fanchini

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

The sun continued to shine at the British Land Junior Championships and as the next generation of British racers took to the slopes, the high tempo of the racing continued.  Ed Drake continued his excellent form in taking the British Junior Super G Title.  In the girls race Lynn Sharp took the British title and race.  The race had drawn a number of quality junior racers from Italy and France as well as a few individuals from Slovenia and Australia.

The boys tackled the hard conditions first and soon it was evident that the conditions were not going to be slow as the first runner, Jas Bruce, came to grief.  Drake was next down and was pleased with his run: "The top was good in terms of line and position, yet I was sucked down at the fall away," commented Drake afterwards.  Drake has made great strides this year, his first on the British Team, and this was his second outright win in races this year.  "The Super G has gone well this year," continued Drake as the former Slalom specialist continued showing great form as a four event skier. 

The young French racers that entered packed the leading positions and Tristan Glasse Davies was not particularly happy with slotting in in 7th place, second British racer.  Glasse Davies, from Edinburgh and also his first year on the British Team, felt that had other racers on the team been at the races, then he would not have placed second.  "I put some decent turns in at the top," he reflected, "but lost a lot of speed as I came through the first double delay gate half way down."  As Glasse Davies packed up after the race, he admitted that "it did not really happen for me today. Ed is skiing well at the moment but in Super G it should have been closer between us." 

Just under two seconds behind race winner, Scott Bryson took third place amongst the British (tenth place overall).  For Bryson this has been a frustrating season as the number of races that he has taken part in has been limited by poor snow conditions and restrictions on the number of racers Britain can enter in each race.  As a result this was his first Super G in two years and he was "pleased with third."  Bryson had skied a clean top section yet felt he had "held back on the lower section." Unlike many other racers, Bryson was totally relaxed and did not feel the pressure coming into the race.  Having taken second in the Senior slalom, Bryson is looking forward to renewing his rivalry with Drake in the Slalom!

In the girls race, the Italian Junior team caused an uproar after inspection by withdrawing their whole team.  With nine of the first fifteen in their team, this upset the start order meaning that winner of the race, Lynn Sharp, although bib number 12, started four!  Sharp was really happy to have secured the first title of these Championships yet had felt "nervous" before the race.  "It was a nice course but I was nervous about how turny the course would be on my Super G skis!"  While she knew that the Italians would not be racing before the race, she was disappointed they would not be racing as it "would have lowered the penalty."

Claire Robb, a member of the Scottish part time team was "surprised" to have taken third overall and second British racer, especially as she was ahead of British Team member Pam Thorburn.  "This is really good and totally unexpected," said a delighted Robb.  "I did not think that I would do too well today even though I am better at the faster events (Downhill and Super G)." Robb was delighted with her run despite having been a bit loose on the top yet when she came to the steep she felt that she was "quite fast."

Robb edged out Thorburn by seven hundredths of a second from the overall race podium and knocked her down to third amongst the British racers.  Thorburn was not too pleased with this and claimed afterwards to have been suffering from nerves: "The curse of the British Championships has struck me again," she rued afterwards.  "I was expecting something good yet it did not happen for me again this year."

Sophie Readman took top spot in the younger age category ahead of Emma Norton (both Scottish Development Team) and Gemma Harris from Wales.  In the Boys race, Greg Samuels took top spot just behind Scott Bryson in the overall race in 11th, ahead of Callum Campbell (Scottish Team) and Peter Whelan (English Team).  England team member Samuels started 72 and took 11th place in the overall results.