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30th August 2010

Norways Didrik Bastian Juell and Switzerlands Fanny Smith were crowned ski cross champions today as the action continued at the 2010 FIS Junior World Championships at Cardrona.

Todays competition was the first ever FIS ski cross race held in New Zealand and gave Kiwi racers exposure to an international field on a world-class course.

The battle in the womens final was fierce, with Smith demonstrating how she earned her top five ranking. After a bad start, she soon took the lead but had Katrin Ofner (AUT) hot on her heals.  A mistake on the second-to-last jump saw her lose her lead with Ofner taking advantage of the opportunity.

Smiths experience kicked in though, and she reined in Ofner, taking a smart line on the last berm, putting her across the finish line in first.

 Junior World Champion, Fanny Smith (SUI) flys high over competition Katrin Ofner (AUT)    image: Bel Jones

Meanwhile, the battle for second and third was taking place behind her with Ofner just taking silver ahead of Yulia Livinskaya (RUS) with Violetta Kovalskaya (RUS) just behind in fourth.

 It was a great race and very tough, said Smith. I didnt start as well as I could have but I came here to win and I knew that I must win so I did everything I could and it worked!

Five of the six member womens kiwi team made it through to the quarterfinals.  Wanakas Mikayla Austin was the highest placing NZ woman finishing 11th.

The mens race was equally competitive with Norwegian Juell taking the title after qualifying in third. After a physical top third of the course where he worked his way up from fourth to first, his team mate, Morten Ring Christensen, and Georgy Kornilov (RUS) were always close behind.

By the second half of the course he had extended his lead slightly to give him a comfortable finish and the world championship title. Anton Grimus of Australia took fourth.

Anton Grimus leads in the men's final ahead of final winner, Didrik Bastian Juell (far right)     image: Bel Jones

My day didnt start out as well as it could have and thats why Im so surprised to have won, said Juell. But I got a few good starts in the heats which helps a lot. In the final, there was a bit of contact at the start but I came out of that OK and for the rest of the final I kept waiting for someone to overtake me but they never did! Its amazing and I never expected this its quite a shock!

New Zealanders Benjamin Jamieson and Richard Stevens were the top placing Kiwis on the mens side, making it through to the quarterfinals in 12th and 13th respectively.

It was great to see Kiwi ski racers transferring their alpine skills to the ski cross course, said Snow Sports New Zealand Chief Executive Ross Palmer.  Its an exciting sport and seeing it live helps you appreciate how challenging it can be.

The events crew at Cardrona did a fantastic job. Everyone was raving about the course, he added.

The course was adapted slightly from last Sundays snowboard cross, taking into account the skiers were travelling at higher speeds. The angles were decreased on the take-offs so the skiers flew longer rather than higher.

Joe Fitzgerald, FIS Freestyle Coordinator, said it was an excellent world championship course. Its very nice, smooth, exciting course and it was noted by one of the Olympic skiers that it is very similar to the Olympic course with the banks and flow.

The freestyle ski action continues tomorrow in Cardronas 22ft superpipe starting at 10.00am. For further information and full results, please visit www.juniorworldsnz.co.nz.