SKI CROSS. NAKISKA, CAN, 7 DEC 2012 – The qualifications are over and the first Audi FIS Freestyle World Cup ski cross race of the season is set to go here in Nakiska, Alberta, Canada.

Even at its most sedate, ski cross is a sport where the unexpected should be expected and nothing should be declared over before before the fat lady opens her mouth. On a day like Friday, however, the competition on Nakiska's “Mighty Peace” slope was as unpredictable as it gets.
 
Perhaps the biggest shocker was that both the men's and ladies' reigning overall champions, Filip Flisar and Marielle Thompson, failed to qualify for Saturday's finals. Then there were athletes like the powerhouse Andreas Matt (AUS) and hometown favourite David Duncan (CAN) for the men, and the explosive Swiss Sanna Luedi and Austrian national champion Katrin Ofner, for the ladies, who all also found themselves outside of the top grouping.
 
However, the disappointment for some spelled opportunity for others. For the women, Swiss skier Fanny Smith announced that she is back in a big way, sweeping through the Snowdown course to a first-place qualification despite not skiing on the World Cup SX circuit in nearly a year. Smith was followed closely by reigning world champion Kelsey Serwa from Canada, and, just down the list in 7th, Sweden's Anna Holmlund. Unbelievably, all three ladies are returning to racing after career-threatening knee injuries that kept them out for most of the 2011-12 season, and all three are looking fit and dangerous.
 
The big story on the men's side was racers coming from the back of the pack to cement spots in the top 32 for Saturday. The fastest men's qualifier was Sweden's Victor Oehling Norberg, a 22 year old skier wearing bib number 38 whose previous best WC result was 22nd. Then there were names like Jonas Lenherr (NOR) and Louie-Pierre Helie (CAN), both SX World Cup rookies who qualified in positions 10 and 12 respectively, despite both starting well into the 50's. Morten Ring Christiansen, a young Norwegian who spent nearly two years away from ski racing as he battled Hodgkin's Lymphoma, qualified 9th. While some might argue that these inexperience racers benefited from a track that quickened as the sun set, it will be for Saturday's result list to tell the whole story.

FISfreestyle.com
Saturday 8 December 2012

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