NZsnowboard.com

19th August 2008

By: Hannah Tatton

Watching the current summer Olympics in full frenzied swing, it kind of makes one wish they ran the Winter Olympics around the same time. Now halfway to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, I took a look into some Olympic history, the support forces behind our top athletes and some recent controversial changes to the event. 

 
Snowboarding made its first debut in the Winter Olympics as an official sport only ten years ago in 1998 at Nagano, Japan, featuring the disciplines Halfpipe and Giant Slalom. After the request of the International Ski Federation (FIS) to have snowboarding introduced as an FIS sport, snowboarding became eligible for the Winter Olympics. Now there are 3 events per gender in total, Halfpipe, Parallel Slalom and Snowboard Cross.
 
New Zealand sent a first single snowboarder to the 1998 games and no team in 2002.  At the 2006 games a team of three who competed against some of the worlds best with Julianne Bray coming 16th in halfpipe and 20th in snowboard cross, Kendall Brown 24th in halfpipe, and Mitchell Brown 25th in halfpipe.
 
While New Zealand has never won a medal in Snowboarding (only one medal has been won by New Zealand at the Winter Olympics ever), New Zealand's performance is stepping up with more and more riders taking advantage of the world class alpine environment on offer.
 
New Zealand head coach Tom Willmott said he is hoping to have at least five riders qualify for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and for some of those riders to reach finals.

Kiwi Ju Bray at the 2006 Torino Olympics

 
The Winter Performance Programme (WPP) provides a bulk of services for elite riders with Olympic dreams through coaching, training, physio, travel and competition support.
 
"Given that the Winter Performance Programme is not yet three years old, we are seeing significant improvement at the elite level, and expect that will continue in years to come," said Willmott.
But who are those support forces?
 
Another support force that gets in behind our athletes and helps to propel them towards their Olympic goals is Snow Sports New Zealand (SSNZ), the national sports organization representing snow sports, which according to CEO Ross Palmer, provides a range of behind-the-scenes services for athletes and teams. They cover services relating to administration, athlete funding, qualification criteria, FIS licensing, athlete insurance and travel.
 
Palmer states that while both WPP and SSNZ are separate organizations, they work closely together and are anticipating the integration of the two organizations after the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Mitch Brown mid spin representing NZ

 
Snow Sports New Zealand also helps top New Zealand athletes onto the world stage by securing events on home turf. Upcoming FIS competitions the LG World Cup Half Pipe and the LG Continental Cup Slopestyle will both be hosted by Cardrona Alpine Resort. As Palmers points out, this is is a huge plus for both the riders and the industry in general.
 
"The benefits of hosting these and similar events are enormous. They raise New Zealand's profile as a host of world-class competitions; as the host nation, they give New Zealand snowboarders additional opportunities to compete at home and gain valuable FIS points; and they showcase New Zealand as one of the leading snowboarding nations in the world. These events have and will receive worldwide media coverage," he said.
 
And it is this coverage and exposure which has and can lead to financial support for riders and is undoubtedly a critical component of their success.
 
"Because we have demonstrated that we can successfully host events such as the LG World Cup Halfpipe provides the foundation for hosting even larger events such as the 2009 Winter Games," he said.
 
However, there has been recent change in the requirements for Olympic qualification for snowboarders for Vancouver 2010.
 
In 2006, each nation had a maximum of four spots per gender for each discipline with a maximum team size of 16 riders. To qualify, each individual needed one top-25 World Cup result and 120 FIS points. In 2010 the maximum of spots per gender and discipline are still four but nations are now allowed a maximum team size of 18 riders. To meet the new individual criteria it is now easier than in 2006, with riders requiring a top-30 World Cup result and 100 FIS points.
 
However, as Willmott points out, the new changes mean that for a nation to get a quota spot, riders need to be ranked in top 40 for men and top 30 for women in the world ranking list, which runs from January 2009 to January 2010.
 
In effect, this means that riders will have to compete successfully in more FIS events than previously required in order to qualify.
 
Many teams have questioned the motives and need for such a change, with many teams such as the US assuming that the main motive is for more participation of riders and better coverage for sponsors of FIS events. However, Willmott doesn't believe it will effect or hinder the New Zealand team or have much impact on the Olympic performances in general.
 
"It seems to us that the main motivation for this is to boost participation in FIS World Cup events. We didn't see anything wrong with the old criteria. Now there are more hoops to jump through, but in the end we have to focus on performing in the events we enter and moving forward with our campaign," he said.
 
In response, the NZ Snowboard team will be planning a competition schedule aimed at meeting the new criteria and their peak performance in Vancouver he said.
 
So now it is up to the hard slog, determination and training of the athletes and all those involved to reach towards their individual Olympic pinnacles.
 
However, one dogma not to be overlooked when in comes to such competitions and journeys as the Olympics is the Olympic Creed itself which states:
 
The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."
- Olympic Creed.
 
 
 
 
Links:
www.vancouver2010.com
www.snowsports.co.nz