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24th August 2010

New Zealand ski racer Ben Griffin stormed into second place, and the countrys best world ranking position for twenty years, in day one of the Giant Slalom Air New Zealand Japanese FIS Southern Cup race at Coronet Peak today.

Ben Griffin (NZL) racing in last weeks Australia New Zealand Cup.  Photo: Michael Thomas

In an outstanding performance, Griffin fended off competition from top international ski racers Warner Nickerson (USA) and David Chodounsky (USA) who came third and fourth respectively - to bring home the second placing. Will Gregorak (USA) won first place. The second Kiwi home was Queenstowns Tim Cafe who finished in 19th place.

The podium spot is a record success for Griffin, vastly improving his FIS world ranking and propelling him into the top 125 alpine ski racers in the world.

Im very stoked with todays result, said Griffin.  I made a few mistakes up the top of the run but I carried a lot of speed into the bottom.

Ive been skiing really well; I always get a huge boost when were working alongside US and other top racers, we always up our game.

Snowsports New Zealand Alpine Manager James Lazor said Griffin skied fantastically today.

This result plus his Canadian Giant Slalom earlier in the season will bring down his FIS Giant Slalom points into the teens.  This lowering of points is a testament to his focus on his goals and his determination with training, he said.

Head of Race Richard Murphy said Griffins coup marked a new best in Kiwi world-ranking history since Simon Wi Rutene (NZL) achieved a similar result in 1990.

From Coronet Peaks point of view were delighted to see a Kiwi achieve such a great result weve been waiting for this for a long time, he said. The training thats going on here is really paying off for New Zealands alpine ski racers.

Race conditions were awesome today. Weve had a hard track underneath and its been a spectacular bluebird day.

He said conditions were looking fantastic for tomorrows (Tuesday) final event in the series.

It all steps up to another level tomorrow with the final Giant Slalom races bringing the five-day event to a huge climax. Weve got the top US Mens technical and speed teams as well as the Russian and German Womens technical teams.

In the Womens Giant Slalom race, also today at Coronet Peak, Christina Geiger (GER) won first place, while Fanny Chmelar (GER) came second and Elena Prosteva (RUS) took third. First New Zealander home was Sarah Jarvis with a creditable 6th placing.