Another day, another Gold for Australian Team member Nicole Harris. In extremely testing conditions she narrowly took out the Giant Slalom event at the 2012 INAS World Championships for the Intellectually Disabled, fractions of a second ahead of Austrian Team Member Heidi Mackowitz. Teammate Olivia Sayers finished in a gutsy ninth position in the Turkish blizzard.

Strong winds and heavy snowfall were the order of the day, which are never a particularly good combination for ski racing. However the two girls representing Australia took it in their stride and competed strongly again. Nicole paid tribute to her coaching team in Kimberley, Canada where she has been based for the past few Northern winters and has credited them with the improvements that have led to her success.

Merely completing both runs in such poor weather is a fantastic achievement, and Olivia is to be strongly congratulated for doing so with the added pressure of competing at a world level in skiing for the first time.

Regrettably Olivia’s mother and gun photographer Fiona was not able to repeat yesterday’s fantastic shots due to the blizzard, but at least they do convey just how foul the weather was!

Our final race is a Super G which will be held tomorrow morning and hopefully in better weather. Following this will be a closing ceremony during which the medals for all the events will be presented. Naturally we are hoping for a ‘clean sweep’ of Gold for Nicole and another strong performance from Olivia.

The official results will be available on the event website at https://erzurum2012iwsc.com and photos/other information will be available on the event’s Facebook Page

Australian Skiers Nicole Harris and Olivia Sayers have placed First and Fifth respectively in the Slalom at the 6th INAS World Championships for the Intellectually Disabled held at the Palandoken Resort in Erzurum, Turkey.

After a day’s delay due to poor weather we headed out into fresh snow and more clear skies and the racing conditions were fair for all competitors.

Nicole is a multiple World Champion in events previously held in France and Italy, but until today had not completed a World Champ Slalom race so her result was both a thrill and a relief for herself and her coach & mother Sharyn. Nicole said after the completion of her two runs “I was really happy with my result!”. Nicole took the lead after the first run and maintained it through her second run to be ranked first overall and World Champion for 2012.

This is Olivia’s first appearance on the skiing world stage being a multiple World Champion and World Record holder in Swimming. She skied with skill and composure to improve her Sixth place after the first run to finish Fifth overall. Olivia said after the race “I had fun and enjoyed myself!”

The official results will be available on the event website at https://erzurum2012iwsc.com and photos/other information will be available on the event’s Facebook Page

The Giant Slalom event is held tomorrow and the Super Giant Slalom (Super G) on Saturday. To keep updated with the latest results please ‘Like’ aussieskier.com on Facebook.

Firstly thanks to all who read and commented on the first Training Update (link here) – Olivia enjoyed reading every single comment and very much appreciates them. It’s great to know she has so much support out there and it is very motivating.

We are now in Istanbul on our way to Erzurum. Our 3 days of training since the last report were all excellent, the weather in Flaine was perfect as were the training conditions on and off the race course. We worked hard on our GS and Slalom technique and feel well prepared for the competition. Although Flaine was well recommended by a trusted friend it was a relief to arrive and find that everything fit the bill. The race hill and organisation with Gilles and Rene from Flaine Super Ski was excellent, and Flaine itself was a fantastic training venue thanks to its well organised slopes, excellent grooming and perfect snowfall and aspect. Also as a Chamonix fan the view of the Mont Blanc Massif from the top is unparalelled. Until we experience the competition itself and also find out the next venue we cannot plan too far ahead, but we agreed that Flaine ticked all the boxes and it is likely we would return if the other circumstances fell into place.

We arrived in Istanbul at approx 7pm local time and leave again 24 hours later which will give us almost a full day to explore before continuing on to Erzurum which is the competition venue. We will have 2 days for familiarisation and training before the first race on Tuesday. If you are interested the competition schedule is here.

We are eagerly anticipating training on the competition venues to see how the races will compare with our training, and also have a sneak peek at the other competitors.

Please see some more photos below, and again you can leave your comments, well wishes and support below. Olivia reads every single one and they are truly appreciated.

I will update again from Erzurum.

This is a report on the first week of training for Olivia Sayers, who will be representing Australia at the 2012 INAS World Championships for the Intellectually Disabled to be held in Erzurum, Turkey from Feb 27th to March 24th. I am fortunate to have been selected as the volunteer coach for the team. Olivia has Down Syndrome and is a remarkable athlete, holding many World Championships and World Records as a swimmer, she has been a lifelong skier at Mt Buller and this year has chosen to add competitive skiing to her repertoire.

Myself, Olivia and her mother Fiona left Melbourne on Feb 14th and flew to Geneva via Abu Dhabi on Etihad, and after a long and uneventful journey we caught a shuttle to Chamonix. We arrived in poor weather so it was not until the morning that the majestic peaks that tower over the town revealed themselves, and I was able to share what is a very special place for me with Olivia and Fiona. According to the Chamonix Tourist Office the snow is the best in the last 40 years and we found the skiing superb. We stayed at the lovely Hotel Faucigny and skied 3 days at Brevent & Flegere. The weather was perfect as was the snow and we used our time in Chamonix as a warm up for Olivia and also a chance to try out her new race skis.

We then caught a taxi over to Flaine for a week of race training. I was introduced to the Flaine Super Ski program by a former Buller colleague of mine Lynne Stainbrook who has taught at Flaine for over 40 years. Flaine Super Ski provides daily Slalom and GS courses and training on a dedicated race hill with its own poma lift, and has been most welcoming and accommodating to us.

We have spent 3 days so far in Flaine training Slalom and GS in the mornings, and free skiing in the afternoon. Flaine is a purpose built ski resort with superb groomed slopes for our race training. We could not have wished for a more appropriate training base and we are making excellent progress.

We have 3 further days training here before we fly to Turkey for the competition. Naturally we are very excited but there is also the element of the unknown as Erzurum is in quite a remote location and is not well known to Western skiers so it has been hard to find out information on the resort. But we are training on a steep and technical course so we will be well covered for all outcomes.

Please enjoy the photos below, and also use the comments below to pass on your well wishes to Olivia for her training and races.

I will update again in the next few days.