New Zealand has been chosen to set the course for a FIS world cup giant slalom Alpine race for the first time due to Alice Robinson’s outstanding results over the past year.
Robinson’s coach, Chris Knight, of Christchurch, will set the course for the first run at the FIS world cup giant slalom in Courchevel, France this weekend.
New Zealand has been awarded the honour of setting the course because of a complex process which recognises the significant world cup points the Queenstown skier has accumulated over the past couple of years.
There are potential advantages to the nation which sets the course. The course can be set to suit the strengths of that nation’s athlete and also allows an advanced knowledge of the course that otherwise would not be seen until race day.
Robinson is excited her coach has the job of setting the course.
"It’s a first for me to have my own coach setting a course at a world cup.
"The sets are very biased to the larger teams so it’s normally the likes of the Austrians, Swiss, Italians or Norwegians who get the course sets. It’s a nice feeling [to have Chris setting the course] because I can have confidence going into the race knowing that the course is set to my advantage.
"However, I still have to ski my best to take advantage of it," she said.
Knight is looking forward to it.
"It’s quite exciting for New Zealand in the sport of ski racing, all done by Alice's results over the last couple of years, that she has us in a position up the rankings where we were selected to set the course — so it's very exciting,"he said.
"We know she’s a very good technical skier so we will set to her advantages in that respect and base training off it as well and we should be in good shape".
The Courchevel world cup giant slalom is a double-up event.
Two separate races will be held, one on Saturday night and one on Sunday night, both starting at 9.30pm.
