Wimbledon ski star Alicja Krahelski hailed a job well done after departing the Delancey British Alpine Ski Championships with medals aplenty jangling from her neck, as Battersea’s Cara Brown also featured regularly on the podium.
With more than 300 of Britain’s best skiers descending on the French Alps for last week’s Senior and Junior Championships, Krahelski got her campaign off to a sterling start, paving the way for further success throughout the week.
On Monday, the 17-year-old secured her first medal of the 2017 Championships with a silver medal in the Under-18 Super G, crossing the line in a combined time of 1:33.57 to finish behind Abigail Bruce in the standings.
But Krahelski, a pupil at The London Oratory School, wasn’t about to settle for second place, going on to secure two titles over the weekend.
The first came in the Under-18 Giant Slalom on Saturday, pushing Bruce into second by just 0.13 seconds, before adding Under-18 Slalom success to her collection the following day.
The latter was made even more of a feat given the heavy snowfall that plagued the course throughout Sunday’s competition, and Krahelsji couldn’t have been happier with her performances throughout the week.
“I’m so happy to get another podium place, and it has definitely reassured me that I can still achieve because I haven’t been skiing much throughout the season,” she said.
“It’s motivated me to keep on working hard too.
“Summer training is next for me, I haven’t got any more races planned for this season so that is me done until next year.
“I want to work forward to next season, but I don’t have any aims in place yet for the new campaign.
“It’s been quite a good Championships for me, I’ve enjoyed it a lot and I’ve managed to claim some titles, so I’m a happy girl.”
It proved to be a successful week too for 23-year-old Brown, after laying down her marker with Super G victory on the opening day of action.
Brown, who suffered a serious knee injury little under a year ago, went on to add Downhill silver on Wednesday, before sealing a medal of the same colour in the Giant Slalom two days later.
Her results across all disciplines were enough to see her lift the Overall Ladies’ Combined title, following a week in which, she admits, she relished every second as she begins to set her sights on bigger things.
“I’m really happy with how the week has gone, because I had no idea what to expect, but it’s probably gone better that I would have expected,” she said.
“I got the Ladies’ Overall title so it’s nice to think that I have defended it for four years in a row now.
“I want to come back next season feeling even more ready. I really want to qualify for the Olympics.
“I don’t even know how I would feel if I got to PyeongChang. It’s a big deal and ‘Olympics’ is a big word.
“It’s always been the dream, but when my knee injury happened, it set me back a bit but now I’m gearing myself up to tell myself that I can do it.”
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
Featured image courtesy of Vanessa Fry, with thanks
