Last week we reported that Zoe Gillings, the UK’s number one snowboardcross rider, was getting ready for the opening World Cup competition of the season in Argentina.
Well, we’ve just had the match report in, and it turns out the girl done good. Ms Gillings finished in an impressive 10th position, earning herself 290 valuable world cup points. She was on course to do even better, tucking herself into a qualification position behind Lindsey Jacobellis, the early leader of her quarter-final heat, but a fall by Jacobellis forced Zoe to put the brakes on suddenly and lose all her speed. She ended up finishing third in that race, and tenth overall.
While Zoe, currently ranked 5th in the world, may have been disappointed that she didn’t make it past the quarter-finals in the Chapelco-based contest, she is maintaining a positive attitude ahead of this year’s Olympics. She said: “There wasn’t much I could do, Lindsey fell in front of me and I had all on just trying to avoid her, I tried to catch the other two up but I had lost all my speed. Overall I’m happy though, the focus this season is on the Olympics so I’m using each competition as preparation for this and I’m taking away some valuable experience from today.” You can watch the men’s and women’s finals – sans Zoe – here.
Nice one Zoe!