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After a career-best 25th in the Val d’Isere World
Cup downhill Finlay Mickel was robbed of his 2002 Olympic debut by a
cruel knee injury, but since then the Edinburgh bred downhiller has
set about making an impact on the very top ranks of the World Cup
downhill racing. The Olympics happen every fourth year but for the
downhill racer the World Cup is his or her stock in trade – the
weekly arena that really counts.
For a ski racer who has had a voracious appetite for speed and
danger since a very young age, Mickel, 24 has been particularly
patient when it is has come to establishing the solid technical
foundations for his downhill and Super G races.
Now after two or three years of intensive work on his giant slalom
he has been progressively learning the World Cup circuit’s tougher
courses and starting to make some very promising results.
The 2002/3 season not only marked Mickel’s first big attempt at
Kitzbuehel’s infamous Hahnenkamm, but produced one of TV Sport’s
most dramatic moments when Finlay staged a huge recovery near the
bottom of Bormio’s highly demanding Stelvio downhill. He pulled it
back from the edge and went on to his world cup season’s best 26th.
Finlay also ‘enjoyed the moment’ when he saw his name up among the
best in the world when he finished 5th in the World Championships
Combined Downhill in St Moritz.
That afternoon he may have rued his inevitable lack of time on his
Slalom skis – as a downhiller – which resulted in a 24th overall
across the two races of the Combined, but the experience is one that
has carried Mickel through a heavy summer training schedule.
His task through the early summer was to “beef up” as he puts it,
first building his endurance and then putting on some serious
muscle, looking to go from 89 kilos up to 93 or 94 kilos.
“Even seeing myself on TV I have looked skinnier than most of the
other guys so I have been really concentrating on building up but
maintaining the same strength to weight ratio which is vitally
important,” explains Finlay, who started skiing with his family and
went on to train on the local dry slope in Edinburgh. “I have never
had any problems with my endurance, and for example have been one of
the quickest on the lower sections at Wengen which is a testament to
my good gliding which I have always known I have and my endurance.”
While there has been a lot of heavy lifting in the gym for Finlay,
so too there has been a concentrated effort to add some variation to
the summer programme, so that means a diet of gymnastics, yoga and
judo has been added to the core mix by new conditioning coach Ross
Gardner.
The photos of 6 foot 4 inch Mickel in his leotard may be classified
‘confidential’ but he redresses the balance with a growing passion
for downhill mountain biking training every week on the downhill
track at Innerleithen in the Borders of Scotland, and racing his
Ford XR2 at Knockhill in Fife. This summer he has also just passed
his high speed bike test.
“It’s vital to stay sharp and continue to seek the speed and element
of danger through the summer as well and these things really help,”
says Finlay.
With his long time coach Mark Tilston now promoted to the role of
Performance Director in the Snowsport GB national team set up there
will be a big change for Mickel this winter as he starts work with
Australian Mick Branch, a move that ties in well as he already works
alongside the Australian speed disciplines skiers Craig Branch and
A.J. Bear. “Mark has been a huge influence over the last four years
and I think the programme will be the better for his move but I am
very comfortable moving on.”
Another breakthrough in equipment terms, Finlay will also share an
appointed top level World Cup serviceman from his ski manufacturer
Atomic for the first time with the Australians.
His targets for 2003/4 are to ascend the World Cup field, aiming for
regular Top 30’s and Top 25’s each week, with a view to a Top 25
ranking which would qualify him for his first-ever World Cup Finals
at the end of the season.
“I learnt so much last year I can’t wait to get going and get racing
again,” says Mickel.
Lesley is our only Olympian snowboarder and recently was the first
British woman to win a Snowboard World Cup.
Lesley has always loved the thrill of snowsports and in the past has
achieved great success in skiing as well as snowboarding. She
originally started skiing at just 5 years old in Aviemore and by the
age of 15 had earned a place on the Scottish Ski Team, and then
several years later, the British Ski Team. Lesley’s ambition and
hard work paid off in 1994, when she won the British Ski
Championships.
It was during her time on the British Ski Team that Lesley took up
snowboarding. While on a well-earned break at home in Aviemore, she
decided to take up a new challenge and try out a new sport. Lesley
inevitably became hooked and she soon permanently replaced her skis
with a board. She may have been “a late starter” but this proved to
be no obstacle to her as she took on the World with her skill and
perseverance.
Since then she has dominated the British scene and scaled the
rankings on the FIS World Cup Tour. As such she was the only British
competitor to qualify for the Halfpipe at the 2002 Winter Olympics
in Salt Lake City. However, due to a concussion and shoulder injury
prior to the Games, her progress was hampered and it left her with a
17th place – her worst result of the season. Despite being
disappointed, Lesley characteristically bounced back and went on to
finish the season with two more top 10 World Cup results.
Since then in the 2003/2004 season Lesley has been working with a
new coach, Andreas Avilk, and has had some good top 10 World Cup
results. However these were overshadowed by a win at the Halfpipe
World Cup in Sapporo, Japan – Britain’s first ever female World Cup
Gold. She is now looking forward to the 2004/2005 season where she
hopes to continue this success and is aiming towards the 2006 Winter
Olympics in Turin. |