WINTER OLYMPICS BOUND!

New Zealand will be represented by three alpine skiers at the Winter Olympics in Torino in February.   Nicola Campbell      Super G, Giant Slalom and Slalom Erika McLeod           Giant Slalom and Slalom Mickey Ross              Slalom All three have been training and racing in the Northern Hemisphere with the Volkswagen National Men's and Women's teams in the build up to the Olympics. They will head to the Olympic Village with their coaches Eric Rolland (womens) and Nils Coberger (mens) in time to take part in the opening ceremony on February 10. Alpine skiing events officially start on February 12th. The women's Super G is scheduled for the 19th while the women's giant slalom is on February 24th and the men's slalom February 25. The events will all be televised showing the Kiwis in action on the world stage.

NICOLA CAMPBELL

Twenty-year-old Nicola Campbell began skiing when she was just three taking her first runs at Cardrona. Her passion for the sport led her into ski racing and her long term goal has always been to compete at an Olympics as well as World Cup events.

Nicola is currently national slalom and giant slalom champion and had an outstanding start to her Northern Hemisphere campaign scoring a 37 point giant slalom result at Winter Park in a World Cup studded field. But the best was yet to come when she clocked

a personal best in Europe - a 17 point GS result and third place at Ancelle in France.

"I had no idea what points I would make I was just so happy to finish and be on the podium," she says. " It wasn't until prizegiving that I found out I made a 17 point result."

The result is seen as the best giant slalom result for a New Zealand woman in the modern era and will put her on a world ranking around the 200 mark.

Nicola also had a personal best 32 point slalom result and a couple of other excellent giant slalom results in the Northern Hemisphere. She also achieved two second placings in Super G at the Winter Park speed series which ranked her at 318 in the world and qualified her to ski in the Olympic Super G.

She is excited about competing at the Olympics and the day her selection was announced is a day she will never forget.

"I have been working towards this goal for several years and to be selected is the best possible news I could get."

ERIKA MCLEOD

Twenty-four-year-old Erika McLeod narrowly missed selection for the 2002 Winter Olympics and says that representing New Zealand at Torino will be the pinnacle of her career.

"This would have to be the best thing that’s happened since I began doing back to back winters 22 winters ago!"

Erika was first on skis at the age of three at Whakapapa and the highlight of her career to date has been representing New Zealand at the 2003 World Championships in St Moritz in Switzerland.

Erika was injured during the 2005 New Zealand winter but returned to form during the Northern Hemisphere season. She clocked a first place in a Super G race at Winter Park followed by two solid GS results at Steamboat Springs where she was placed second and fourth respectively.

In January in Europe she continued to consolidate with a notable 41 point result in slalom in France.

MICKEY ROSS

Mickey Ross, aged 25, is New Zealand's top male slalom skier and his Olympic selection has always been a long term goal.

Mickey was named 2005 New Zealand Snowsports Athlete of the Year after an outstanding New Zealand winter in which he won an international FIS race at the Air New Zealand Southern Cup at Coronet Peak. He blitzed a field which included American ace Bode Miller to finish with a personal best 12 point result.

Mickey has worked hard to come back to form after a serious knee injury in 2004 and now has a world slalom ranking of 180.

During his Northern Hemisphere campaign he has scored a 30 point result at Hunter Mountain to give him 14th place in a strong international field. In Chamonix in France he achieved a 35 point result.

Mickey has been competing at World Cup events as part of his warm up to the Olympics which he says is giving him a taste of what to expect at Torino.

The men's Olympic slalom is a night event, skied under lights, which he is looking forward to.

"Having skied in World Cup events which attract huge crowds I am not feeling too daunted.