Medal joy for ski ace Kieran Woolley in Bormio
Hednesford ski ace Kieran Woolley is on the hunt for more medals after bagging giant slalom bronze at the English Alpine Skiing Championships in Bormio, Italy.
The 13-year-old’s assured run of 45.10 seconds was the third-best down Stella Alpina piste, earning him bronze behind Alex Ogden and Luca Carrick-Smith.
Woolley, who also clocked 46.56s to stay in touch with the leaders throughout, was delighted with his display in the Dolomites.
“They were both nice runs, I was happy with my speed and accuracy in general,” said the Chase Grammar School pupil. “The snow has been excellent this week. I think it was an easy course, but I got a bit late on my line at the very top.
“It was great to get on the podium and it’ll give me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.”
The Championships, one of the biggest annual events in the skiing calendar, was the launchpad for Dave Ryding’s career before he went on to World Cups.
Woolley is one of 440 athletes have descended on the Dolomites for six days of riveting racing in pitch-perfect piste conditions across super-G, giant slalom and slalom disciplines.
And having started the week by crashing out of the super-G, Woolley was happy to respond with a medal.
“I feel quite confident on the skis at the moment,” he said. “I’ve been good on first runs and not so good on second runs so my aim is to be more consistent in the slalom.”
Snowsport England is the national governing body for skiing and snowboarding in England, aiming to inspire as many people as possible to try snow sports. Find out more about Snowsport England’s affiliated clubs, athletes, competitions, coaching and campaigns here: http://www.snowsportengland.org.uk
