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Katharine is based in Wanaka and is in the New Zealand skeleton racing team, one of the high speed Olympic ice sports along with the Bobsleigh and Luge. |
| To follow Katharine on her journey check out www.skeleton-racer.com |
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New Zealand Skeleton Athletes qualified for World Championships. |
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10th Jan 2012, Calgary, Canada. |
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Ben Sandford, Rotorua and Katharine Eustace, Wanaka, raced in the last of 8 World Cup races in Calgary yesterday. Sandford placing 11th and Eustace 12th. This was the last chance to earn qualifying points for the World Championships and with FIBT World Rankings of 15th and 14th respectively they have now secured places in the FIBT World Championships in Lake Placid in 2 weeks time.
Eustace raced in the afternoon placing 15th after the first run due to a poor start but followed up with the 10th fastest down time in the 2nd heat to move up into 12th place. ‘I’m not quite sure what happened in my first push but it definitely let me down. The 2nd run showed that I can slide within the top 10 of the fastest girls in the World so I will have to take that knowledge with me to World Champs next week. My 2nd push was the 7th fastest too so I know that it is there I just have to produce it on race day.’
2 time Olympian Sandford was lying 9th after the first run but a slower push time meant that he slipped back into 11th place being over taken by a fast finishing Canadian racing on his home track. Sandford had the highest speeds at the exit corner showing that on a true drivers track he can be competitive with the best men in the field.
World Championships is raced over 4 runs between the 23rd -25th of February. Sandford and Eustace continue their preparation in Calgary over the next few days in the build up to the pinnacle event. |
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New Zealand Skeleton Athletes achieve New Zealand’s best ever World Cup results at St Moritz, Switzerland. |
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21st Jan 2012, St Moritz, Switzerland. |
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Ben Sandford, Rotorua races to 2nd place and Katharine Eustace, Wanaka places 5th at St Moritz Skeleton World Cup race. Both achieving career best results and New Zealand’s best ever World Cup results this weekend on the Worlds only natural track and the birth place of skeleton.
Ben Sanford, 2 time Olympian, was the 2nd fastest after the first heat and maintained his 2nd place with 2 solid runs. His previous World Cup best was on this track last year with a 3rd place. ‘It was a relief to put down 2 good runs and am very happy to have finished in 2nd.’
The race was won by World Cup Leader Martins Durkurs of Latvia and in 3rd was Matt Antoine of the USA.
Katharine Eustace, a Wanaka Physiotherapist, also superseded her result from last year by placing 5th in a snow affected race that meant the 2nd of the 2 heat race was cancelled. ‘I was just warming up and getting prepared for the 2nd heat but the snow was getting heavier ,when they announced that the first heat of the race would be the final race result it took me a while to realise that I had placed 5th but it is a great result, although still room for improvement.’
The race was won by Lizzie Yarnold of Great Britain with Shelley Rudman of Great Britain in 2nd and Katharina Heinz in 3rd.
Both Sandford and Eustace saying ‘it is great to be on the podium ahead of other athletes who have more support staff and financial assistance, we are a small nation with limited coaching and no home track. It feels that we punch well above our weight. It is a good day for New Zealand skeleton and Winter Sport.
The best New Zealand skeleton result comes from Bruce Sandford who was the 1992 World Champion. Next year’s World Championships are to be held at the St Moritz track so Sandford and Eustace will be hoping they can improve on their results from this year to put them on the top of the podium in 2013. |
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