Little under a year ago, Cara Brown’s season was brought to a grinding halt through injury but the skier showed she’s well and truly back to her best as she was crowned British Super G champion in Tignes.
Last April saw Brown rupture the ACL ligament in her left knee while forerunning a race in Courchevel, but after putting her skis back on at the end of 2016, there’s nothing stopping the 23-year-old now.
Taking place from March 25 to April 7, the Delancey British National Alpine Ski Championships will welcome more than 300 of Britain’s most talented skiers to the French Alps.
Brown blew away the rest of the competition on Monday, taking the women’s Super G title in a time of 1:24.60 minutes, more than a second quicker than her nearest British competitor.
But while the statistics suggest a comfortable win for the former Thomas’s Battersea student, she admits it wasn’t all that simple.
“It feels so good, I’m so happy that I can come back a year after having a big injury and win a national title,” she said.
“The girls who finished behind me were really not that far behind, so it was nice to see that the younger girls are pushing on, especially in the speed events because a lot of girls tend to shy away.
“I definitely had a lot of hope that I could be on the top of the podium coming into today, but I haven’t really done much speed this year so I had no idea how it was going to go.
“I’m really happy that I came through the finish and the time matched up with how I felt.
“I was really worried about my knee on the course because it was really bumpy out there, but it felt completely fine and I had no pain.
“I love how the British Championships bring all the home athletes together. Because we all train separately, it means we don’t get to see each other that often throughout the year.
“It’s good to be able to see how each other is doing and compare our performances, and work out who you need to chase.”
The 2016/17 season has marked the best ever campaign for British skiers and snowboarders, with 15 World Cup and three World Championship podiums among athletes’ achievements.
And with plenty more action yet to come this week in Tignes, Brown is already eyeing her next podium finish.
“I’d love to be on the top of the podium again,” she said. “The Slalom will be interesting, because I don’t do it very often so I just want to have fun and try to ski to my best. I can’t do much more than that.
“For the Giant Slalom, I’ve been working so hard on it even though my level isn’t back to what it was before my injury, but I want to be on that podium.”
To follow the Delancey British Alpine Ski Team visit www.teambss.org.uk or follow @teambss on Twitter.
As Principal Sponsor of British Ski and Snowboard, specialist real estate investment and advisory company Delancey is proud to be able to support British athletes – visit www.delancey.com
