World Championships Diary
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| Saturday February 16th 2013 |
After a long, tiring week it was an unwelcome 6.20 alarm call this morning but, for my last day of racing, I got up and started to prepare myself for the slalom race - I was now aching as a result of my fall in the GS; my neck is sore as is my right leg. Anyway, having arrived late for course inspection because our van got stuck, I went straight up and found that the course was challenging, as anticipated, very turney with little room for mistakes so I took my time to take it in. After inspection there was plenty of time for warm up runs which aggravated my right leg even more. At first I was worried that my slalom start might be compromised but after my dad came to the rescue with some pain killers the pain became a dull ache and I went back to warming up.  The atmosphere in the start was noticeably different today; whether it was to do with the dull weather or being faced with a challenging course I am not sure. Either way, it was still an incredibly professional area with television screens set up to allow the athletes to watch current racers on course. My run with bib 96 started well but I began to get into trouble about 15 gates down. A small mistake which resulted in a late line cost me dearly as the difficult course made it almost impossible to retrieve it. Through a verticale on the flat, I managed to get a better line but I was now suffering from a loss of speed on the steep. However, after my short GS experience I was determined to finish by whatever means necessary and so, after a tough fight with the course, I made it through the finish. Unsurprisingly my time wasn't what I had hoped for, going into the race, but it is a great experience for me to finish in a race of this standard. With a tough qualifying criteria for the girls second run I didn't make the cut and so my World Champs are now over.  What a fantastic experience it has been and a week that I will remember as being one of the most significant of my racing career.  . |