Skiing: Koreans dominate cross country

Andy Pohl, of Wanaka, competes in the individual start 10km cross country skiing event at  Snow...
Andy Pohl, of Wanaka, competes in the individual start 10km cross country skiing event at Snow Farm yesterday. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.
Korean skiers dominated the podium in the men's cross country ANC mass start classic at Snow Farm on Saturday.

Jun Ho Hwang led the 15km race, which consisted of four 3.75km laps, from start to finish. Fellow countryman Seong Beom Park was hot on his heels after the first lap, before Hwang started building a lead.

Hwang won the race in 44min 1sec, while Park was 23 seconds back on his way to silver. Eun Ho Kim, who won the sprint race on Friday, was third in 44min 38sec.

All three were part of the Korean contingent which has been training at Snow Farm the past six weeks.

Leading Kiwi cross country skier Andrew Pohl, who hails from Dunedin, was in third place after the first lap, before eventually finishing in fourth place in 46min 4.37sec.

''Little bit disappointed, to be honest,'' he said immediately after the race.

''I really wanted to be on the podium today. The Koreans had jet fuel on their skis today, I just couldn't keep up with them. On the long downhill section, they were making a lot of time. They should be really happy with that effort.''

Chae Won Lee continued the Korean dominance in the women's race, romping home to win the 10km race in 36min 06sec.

Slovenian Barbara Jezersek stopped the clock in 37min 22sec to finish second, while Canadian Olivia Bouffard Nesbitt was third in 38min 31sec.

It was Austrians who filled the podium in the women's alpine slalom (Australia New Zealand Cup) at Coronet Peak.

In a field of 53 women, Katharina Truppe, who is ranked 34th in the world, won the event in 1min 25.06sec. She had the second fastest time in the first run (44.06sec), before blitzing the course with the fastest time (41.54sec) in her second run.

''I found the course tough and the snow conditions quite difficult, but am very happy to win the gold medal,'' she said.

Truppe was chased by team mate and world No 53 Ricarda Haaser, who won silver in 1min 26.07sec, while Elisabeth Kappaurer won bronze in 1min 26.59sec.

The first placed Kiwi was 19 year old Piera Hudson, of Hawkes Bay, who finished 17th in 1min 30.26sec.

In an 84 strong men's field, Slovakian Adam Zampa won gold on the back of his first run, which took him just 39.17sec.

His second run of 41.75sec gave him a winning time of 1min 20.19sec. Marco Schwarz, of Austria, was second in 1min 21.48sec, while Marc Gini, of Switzerland, clinched bronze in 1min 21.73sec.

 

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