Matt Thompson
I know some of you have been following my results this winter but I thought I would give you all an update on the season so far:
In the summer I spent four weeks in Les Deux Alpes with the England Team and Saas Fee with the British Juniors. After Easter I decided to change to Head skis and boots (thanks Matt, Colin and Phil). In September I collected the skis and bindings and took them up to Nottingham for Jon to fit the bindings. The Slalom and GS skis got their first run out in Saas Fee in October and they felt really good.
Racing started in November with ten days in Norway with Phil Brown with a couple of solid Slaloms and a good GS shaving off 4 FIS points We moved on to my favourite Super G hill in Hemsedal where I slipped up in the Super-G but managed to put in a good run in the Super-G leg of the Super-Combined to score 87.78, 20 better than my previous best. I managed to hold it together in the Slalom Leg despite breaking a pole on the third gate to score 108 - 60 better than my only previous S-C finish!
It was then back to school for a week and the Racer Ready Golf Evening before heading out to Colorado to join up with the BSS Junior team for two weeks training before a couple of disappointing slaloms. Things went better at Winter Park where I managed two PBs, 87 in GS and 82.25 in Super-G.
I was home for Christmas Day - only the second time in ten years, then off to Oppdal on Boxing Day for two weeks training with Team England and six tech races. The first GS was good: in the first run I skied into 15th place from bib 37, it was great to hear the Norwegians clapping after my run. I managed to pick up two more places in the second run, crashing in the finish and scored 54.48. the best so far by a British Junior this winter. I followed this with a 79 in GS and an 81 in Slalom, a new personal best. These last two results are especially important to me due to the steep course and icy conditions that I managed to get to grips with well.
I came home in early January and headed back to school for exams. I am looking forward to heading out to Meribel next Saturday for the Inter-services Championships. I will be chasing Roger Cruikshank, a former Olympian, in the Downhill. This is an important period ahead of some speed races in Tignes and Megeve before the English Champs.
Thank you all for your help and support, without that I would not be getting these results.
Matt
