New Zealand Winter Games begin with parallel night slalom
The fifth biannual Audi Quattro Winter Games NZ officially opened at Coronet Peak on Thursday night by New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English.
English said it was the beauty of the Southern Lakes region which gave the Games their magic, and he acknowledged the 920 athletes from around the world who are competing in the Games for their professionalism, athleticism, and commitment to their sport.
The highlight of the opening was the Coronet Peak parallel night slalom raced on the Shirt Front slope under the lights and featured top international and Kiwi ski racers including a slew of World Cup stars from around the globe.
The challenging and nail biting competition saw skiers go head-to-head before a huge crowd gathered on the ski area deck.
Swedish Olympian Andre Myhrer proved too strong for the rest of the field when he toppled Reto Schmidiger of Switzerland in the final to take the 2017 title. David Chodounsky of the U.S. Ski Team was third and Sweden’s Mattias Hargin took fourth.
“It was a great race and qualification was tough,” said Myhrer. “While the course was difficult, it was a good finish for me.”
The women’s title went to Martina Dubovska of Czech Republic who beat the U.S. Ski Team’s Patricia Mangan in a dramatic second run after their first run was declared invalid due to a start malfunction.
“It was a lot of fun to be part of the Coronet Peak night slalom,” said Dubovska, who has been training in the region and is ranked 40th in the world in slalom.
Third place went to Barbara Kantorova of Slovakia with New Zealand’s national team member Piera Hudson in fourth.
“It was class racing from an international field and it is exciting for the Games to stage the Coronet Peak night slalom for the second time,” said Winter Games NZ CEO Arthur Klap. “The big numbers of people it has attracted to watch reinforces that this is a showcase event of a very high calibre.”
To mark the official opening young skiers from the Queenstown Alpine Ski Team skied down Coronet Peak carrying flags representing the 39 countries participating in the Games. A Maori welcome was followed by a kapa haka performance by Arrowtown school children while a stunning fireworks display closed the ceremony.
Winter Games NZ Trust Chairman Eion Edgar thanked the government through its Major Events Development Fund, Audi Germany and Audi New Zealand, along with other sponsors, for their support in making the Games a reality.
Queenstown Lakes mayor Jim Boult said the Games are a spectacular event.
“When we stage something like this and it warrants our Prime Minister Bill English coming here to open it we know we have hit top level.”
Competition at the Audi Quattro Winter Games NZ will run until September 9 with alpine events taking place early next week.
Release and cover photo courtesy of Winter Games NZ
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