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Drake Takes First Podium of the 09/10 Season
Britain’s top male skier, Ed Drake (23, Kingston-Upon-Thames) has started the winter season with a bang today (9 November), finishing 3rd in the opening event of the 09/10 Europa Cup Tour in Reiteralm, Austria.
The result is a personal best for the Kingston-Upon-Thames based skier and is a sign of his growing potential. British Alpine Ski Team coach, Mike Pilarski, commented “Ed took the lead after his run, beating the 2009 Europa Cup Super G Champion in the process. He skied well today - his run was clean and technically good. There were a couple of key gates on the course which he handled well and that helped him over the flat sections”.
Pilarski continued “The result is especially good when you consider he has been suffering with a bug all week and missed a lot of training in the lead up to today’s race. It puts him in a good position for the second race tomorrow”.
Drake commented “The first race of the season is always tough, it's the first opportunity to race against your peers and to really find out how the summer training has gone. Third in the first race of the season feels fantastic! Bring on the second race tomorrow."
Three other British athletes were in action in Reiteralm: Dougie Crawford (22, Glasgow) finished in 53rd position, Noel Baxter (28, Aviemore) finished in 67th position and TJ Baldwin (19, Norfolk) did not finish.
The second Europa Cup Super G of the season continues tomorrow (10 November) where Drake will be looking for another strong result. Jan Kochalski (23, Torphins) will also start tomorrow with Noel Baxter resting ahead of the opening World Cup Slalom event of the season which takes place 14/15 November in Levi, Finland.
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