Athletes heading to New Zealand for Winter Games
August 3, 2009 by jane
Filed under Ski, Skiercross, Snowboard, ski jump
Winter Games New Zealand
In North America, we’re still feeling the summer heat but south of the equator, it’s the dead of winter and that means snow in a lot of places. So if you’re a winter sports athlete, you may well be heading to NZ to hit the slopes.
A quality field of top international athletes has already been confirmed for the inaugural ‘100% Pure’ New Zealand Winter Games, including a host of Olympians, world champions and national champions.
More than 800 competitors from over 20 different countries will descend on the South Island August 21-30 to take on New Zealand’s best winter sports athletes.
Among the stars confirmed so far are five-time Olympic medalist and current Olympic slalom champion Anja Paerson from Sweden, 2006 Olympic cross-country sprint gold medal winner Chandra Crawford from Canada plus Australian halfpipe snowboarder Holly Crawford who finished runner-up in this year’s World Championships in Korea.
“The strength and depth of competitors heading to New Zealand highlights the importance of the Games for athletes ahead of next year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver,”
said Winter Games NZ CEO, Arthur Klap. “For some it’s about sharpening their competitive edge during the northern hemisphere summer, whereas others will be going all out to gain World Cup points and qualify for their national squads.”
Other world class athletes competing at the games include Canada’s top-ranked female skiers in slalom, giant slalom and Super G.
China is sending a large snowboard halfpipe contingent that includes current women’s world number one, Jiayu Liu.
The inaugural ‘100% Pure’ New Zealand Winter Games will take place at Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Cardrona Alpine Resort, Snow Farm, Naseby and Dunedin from 21-30 August 2009.
The Games will feature alpine skiing, free skiing, x-country skiing, snowboarding, curling, ice skating and adaptive snow sports.
In fact, the Games claim to be a new concept in high performance competition where all athletes come together to compete regardless of whether they are able bodied or have a disability.. In contrast to existing premiere events such as the Winter and Summer Olympics, organizers believe that no distinction should be made between any athletes that perform at the highest possible level, against the best in the world.
Sounds like a great mission and a great event.
