It has been a tough season for Dougie Crawford and yet he has answered the critics that said he did not make the criteria for the Olympics in the best way: By posting a time that was good enough for ... 8th place in the Europa Cup in Sarntal, Crawford demonstrated that he is good enough to have been selected to go to the Olympics. With 70% of the races that he had hoped to race in this season having been cancelled, Crawford and TJ Baldwin have had to face an uphill battle to qualify - and all this under their own steam and with out any official support from the governing body.
Talking after the St Moritz Downhill had been cancelled in early February, Crawford was very candid and rueful about how things had gone. It was tough he explained trying to be happy for his fiancee who had been selected yet he had not been. It was what he had been working for for the last four years plus. Crawford raced in the 2009 World Championships in Val d'Isere and took a huge amount of inspiration from racing in those Championships he explained. He now feels that he is skiing better than then and despite the criteria for major championships having been raised since then, believed that he could meet the criteria. With so many races cancelled it was not to be.
Silvan Zurbriggan won the two downhills in Sarntal, Crawford finished 24th in the second of the two races with his team-mate TJ Baldwin placing 44th and 59th in the two races.
While this result will not help with his FIS points, what it does do is that Crawford can now build on this and build his self-confidence that has taken a dent with chasing Olympics selection.
Downhill 1
Downhill 2