| 9th PLACE FOR ALCOTT |
20 January 2004 |
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It was the best result by a British woman for more than 30 years, after Gina Hathorn's ninth place finish in a slalom at Heavenly Valley in March 1972. The last time Alcott competed at Cortina, three
weeks before her departure for the Salt Lake City Winter Games in
2002, the 21-year-old from Twickenham had crashed out into the netting,
the accident requiring her eyelid to be re-stitched. Alcott said: "It was unbelievable. I'm really surprised, really happy. I was made a real fuss of on the podium as the highest climber [starting at 40th, reaching ninth], and had real support from people around me. Everyone has been telling me I can do it, because technically I am a really good skier, but I am still inexperienced and I'm still learning. I wasn't happy with 32nd on Saturday, was quite angry and decided to really go at the course. Thoughts of crashing here before were not on my mind." Alcott, who like many British skiers struggled
to find funding for years, has had eight top 30 finishes in the
World Cup this season, two of which have been in the top 16. Alcott,
will now return to the British team camp in Lofer, Austria, with
plans to go to the World Cup slalom and giant slalom races at Maribor
in Slovenia next weekend. [Article from The
Daily Telegraph] Mail
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Chemmy
Alcott, Britain's No 1 ski racer, announced herself at elite level
yesterday when she finished ninth in the World Cup downhill at Cortina
d'Ampezzo, a career-best result on one of the more testing courses
on the World Cup circuit.
