Britain’s only Downhill ski racer, self-funded Chemmy Alcott, finished 19th in the Ladies downhill at Sochi and declared herself, “swelling with pride” and “on a buzz,” after finishing the race in the top 20 this morning
Alcott was competing at her fourth Olympics following a long fitness battle after two broken legs in the last four years and having to raise all the money required to train and compete herself after funding for Alpine ski racers was withdrawn.
“After what I’ve been through, it’s amazing justice. When I made the commitment to come here it was about personal goals. I never put any statistics on it, if I had then top 20 would have been massively over superseding what I expected. I’ve done this against all odds and I’m very proud,” said Chemmy, adding,
“I know it sounds crazy to some people, especially when we have such a strong team here in Sochi, but 19th is a gold for me. Anyone who has followed what I’ve been through will understand that.”
On the race itself, which was jointly won by Swiss racer Dominique Gisin and Slovenian downhiller Tina Maze with identical times (the first time it had happened since it occurred in the men’s race at Nagano 16 years ago), Chemmy said,
“It was messy skiing and I didn’t ski as technically well as I wanted and I wasn’t on line. I normally ski quite controlled but I was loose as a goose down there.”