Aerials Skiers postponed

Australia’s aerial skiers will have to wait until tomorrow before qualifying commences a day late due to the competition venue at Saux d’Oulx being snowed out on day ten of competition at the Winter Olympics.

The quartet of Alisa Camplin, Jacqui Cooper, Elizabeth Gardiner and Lydia Ieradiaconou were not prepared to compete due to the possibility of having to change their respective inruns.

Cooper, competing at her fourth Winter Olympics, said there were a number of factors contributing towards the decision made by her and her team mates not to compete.

“A lot of aspects contributed to the postponement, including the heavy snow fall,” Cooper told the AOC website.

“It was difficult to see and that would make it difficult to get an accurate speed off the jump."

There was a 90 minute delay prior to the start competition, with officials hoping that heavy snow would disappear and visibility would improve, but this failed to eventuate and a reschedule of competition was required.

Cooper believes that those skiers attempting jumps with a high degree of difficulty would have prevented them from performing at their best.

“For the girls on the double jumps they need to reach speeds of 50-60kph, but I was going from the top of the inrun and was using the maximum distance I could," the four time Olympics said.

“I was still 3kph too slow under the conditions to have enough speed to get off the jump to do my easiest single twisting triple somersault – which is just my warm-up jump.

"To do my double-twisting triple somersault or triple- twisting triple somersault I would have needed at least another 15 metres of inrun with that amount of snowfall."

The pairing of Jeremy Rolleston and Shane McKenzie were at it again in the men’s two man bobsleigh competition, equalling an Australian record for the best finish at a Winter Olympics.

Rolleston and McKenzie finished 22nd overall after completing both rounds of two runs to finish with a combined time of 2:58.58 seconds.

They equalled the best placing by an Australian pairing of 22nd placing in two man bobsleigh, set by Jason Giobbi and Adam Barclay at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.

German pair of Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske recorded a time of 3:43.38 seconds to take the Gold medal, ahead of Canadians Pierre Lueders and Lascelles Brown (silver) and Swiss pairing Martin Annen and Beat Hefti (bronze).

Australians in action in day ten of competition are skier Bradley Wall in giant slalom and the pairing of Astrid Loch-Wilkinson and Kylie Reed in two man women’s bobsleigh.

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