Alpine Ski Stars To Storm Winter Games NZ (16-Aug-09)

Lake Wanaka, New Zealand, August 16, 2009 - The best field of alpine skiers ever assembled

The best field of alpine skiers ever assembled in the Southern Hemisphere has pulses racing ahead of 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games which begins next week.

An array of exceptional international athletes including Olympic medallists, World Cup winners and national champions is descending on Queenstown’s Coronet Peak for the super G, giant slalom and slalom events on Tuesday 25th, Friday 28th and Sunday 30th August.

Anja Paerson from Sweden, the reigning Olympic ladies slalom champion, races alongside Kajsa Kling, current Swedish national champion in giant slalom, super G and downhill. They join other top female competitors including Fabienne Suter from Switzerland, ranked third in the world for super G, and four-time Olympian Jenny Owens from Australia.

New Zealand’s women’s team of teenage racers Taylor Rapley, Harriet Miller-Brown and Alexandra McGlinn will want to impress on home turf and build form ahead of the 2010 FIS Junior World Ski Championships in France.

In the men’s events, New Zealand’s top racers Tim Cafe and Ben Griffin both come off strong showings in the 2009 European winter season and will be looking to push for podium finishes and qualification for the Vancouver Olympics.

They face stiff competition from Sweden’s top three ranked giant slalom skiers Markus Larsson, Andre Myhrer and Matts Olsson plus 2007 French national junior champion, Arnaud Favre.

Other nations competing in the three alpine events include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway and the USA.

Coronet Peak will also host the Winter Games closing ceremony on Sunday 30th August following the slalom race and ski/snowboard Big Air events on what should be a memorable final day.

100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games will take place at Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Cardrona Alpine Resort, Snow Farm, Naseby and Dunedin from 21-30 August 2009 and will feature disciplines of alpine skiing, free skiing, x-country skiing, snowboarding, curling, ice skating and adaptive snow sports as well as the demonstration sports of winter triathlon and natural luge. For further information visit www.wintergamesnz.com.