It was the battle of the Londoners as the Delancey British National Alpine Ski Championships continued on Wednesday, with skiers from Battersea and Kingston going head-to-head to be crowned women’s Downhill champion in Tignes.
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 slopes of the French Alps.
In the end, it was Kingston’s Darcie Mead who climbed atop the podium, with Battersea’s Cara Brown forced to settle for silver, finishing 0.16 seconds behind Mead’s time of 1:15.83 minutes.
And while 20-year-old Mead was thrilled to beat her British teammate to the top of the standings, she insists she expected much more from her performance on the course.
“It wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be, particularly in the second run,” said the former Surbiton High pupil.
“The first run was much better, I got a lot of confidence from my performances in training yesterday after I had got two DNFs in the Super G on Monday.
“I wasn’t feeling too great going into it, but I’m happy. It’s my first British Championships back from injury, so it’s good to return and pick up a title.
“I’m really struggling with confidence at the moment so it has been quite difficult since coming back.
“I’m getting closer and closer to the top, but at the moment there are just too many little silly errors that I am making in the same positions each time.
“It’s good because I know where I need to improve, but I couldn’t have done anymore today.
“I am loving seeing everyone again at the British Championships. So many of us train in different countries so it’s nice to have everyone together in the same resort.”
Having won the British title in the Super G on Monday, Brown was inevitably disappointed not to have take top spot once more in the Downhill.
But her confidence has not suffered, and the 23-year-old is determined to add more silverware to her collection as the week goes on.
“Today was my first and last downhill of the season, so having not done it for 12 months, I was still happy to be up there and amongst it,” she said.
“Unfortunately, right at the top, there was a hole in one of the gates and I went straight into it and I was kicked back a bit, so I was a bit annoyed about that but I was actually really happy with my skiing at the bottom.
“I was quite happy with my skiing, obviously a win is always nicer than second place but Darcie was faster so that’s just the way it is.
“In Thursday’s Slalom, I just want to have fun. I haven’t done much Slalom training this year.
“In the Giant Slalom, I’m hoping to defend my title if I can, but I’d love to just be up on the podium, especially with Alex Tilley competing as well so it would be good to be close to her.”
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
