PyeongChang: Winter sport leaders making no medal guarantees

A year before the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Australia has three world-leading athletes preparing for the Games.

Australian freestyle skiers Samantha Wells, David Morris, Laura Peel, Danielle Scott and Lydia Lassila at Phoenix Park in PyeongChang yesterday.

With one year to go before the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Australia has three world-leading athletes preparing for the Games and a dozen who have won World Cup medals.

But Australia’s winter sport leaders, having observed the slide in fortunes of the summer team at the Rio Olympics, will make no medal guarantees.

Winter chef de mission Ian Chesterman said the Australian team, which has won between two and four medals at the past four Games, was “exactly where you would want to be in terms of our development, with the range of athletes who are demonstrating they are world-class across a wide range of disciplines and across both genders’’.

Moguls skier Britt Cox, aerial skier Danielle Scott and snowboard cross rider Belle Brockhoff each sit on top of the World Cup standings for their respective disciplines, while Lydia Lassila (aer­ials) and Matt Graham (moguls) have won individual World Cup events this year and world champion Scotty James (half-pipe) won the X Games crown, defeating the previous two Olympic champions.

Other proven performers include Olympic aerials silver medallist David Morris, world aerials champion Laura Peel and former world snowboard cross champion Alex “Chumpy” Pullin, while Jarryd Hughes (snowboard cross), Samantha Wells (aerials) and Brodie Summers (moguls) have also won World Cup medals.

The freestyle events have been Australia’s strength for the past 20 years but there has also been a resurgence in the short-track speed skating ranks, where Deanna Lockett finished fourth in the 1000m at the most recent World Cup in Dresden.

However, despite unprecedented depth in Australia’s winter ranks, Chesterman strikes a cautionary note in predicting how the team might perform a year from now.

“Nobody is assuming that what we have now is what we will get in PyeongChang,’’ he said.

“No one is getting complacent. The Olympics is a one-off event so it’s all about having your best day on the right day and that is even harder in winter sports than it is in a more predictable environment.

“Dani Scott was hit by wind on her jump in Deer Valley last weekend and that cost her a place in the final, so no one is getting carried away. But it’s great to have contenders.

“What we have to do now is keep focusing on the basics. If we keep getting those right and we have some luck on the day then we will get the reward.’’

Olympic Winter Institute boss Geoff Lipshut said the aerial, moguls and snowboard cross teams were “very much on track if not ahead of where we thought they would be’’.

“We have much bigger depth than we have had before and that’s what we have been working on. If we go in to the Games next year in the position we’re in now, that will be great.

“We have a few athletes who are well-placed now but a lot can happen in the next year. People rise for the Olympic season so we have to make sure our people rise too.’’

The world-class aerial and moguls teams will get their first taste of PyeongChang this week when they compete in Olympic test events on the Games site at Bokwang in South Korea.

Lassila, 35, returned to the top of the World Cup podium last weekend after a three-year break from the sport and is aiming for her fifth Games.

She said she had been inspired by her potential teammates this season.

“I think we are in the best position we’ve ever been in,’’ she said.

“We may not be a large team but we have a broad range of high-quality athletes.’’

The Australian Olympic Committee estimates that about 60 athletes will be selected for the Games, the same number who competed in Sochi three years ago.