| |
|
|
|
|
Australian Breaks 100m World Record
MEDIA RELEASE
\r\n
\r\nSeptember 24, 2004
\r\n
\r\nAustralian Breaks 100m World Record
\r\n
\r\n
\r\nAustralian Cross Country Skiing Sprint Champion Paul Murray has broken
\r\nthe cross country skiing 100m world record. Murray set a new world best
\r\ntime of 12.48 seconds at approximately 8:15AM this morning at Falls
\r\nCreek in north-eastern Victoria. The previous record of 12.76 seconds
\r\nwas held by Andrew Newell of the USA.
\r\n
\r\nThe world record attempt was prompted by extremely fast snow conditions
\r\nat Falls Creek over the past few weeks. "Spring snow", that melts in
\r\nthe sun during the day and freezes overnight is rock solid early in the
\r\nmorning. The snow reaches its peak speed just as it starts to lose that
\r\nhard edge.
\r\n
\r\n"This was our first attempt at the 100m record so we weren't really
\r\nsure how close we would go," said National Team Coach Finn Marsland.
\r\n"However when we got up to Falls Creek just before
\r\n7 AM this morning and saw how fast the snow was, we knew we would be in
\r\nwith a chance."
\r\n
\r\nInterest in the cross country skiing 100m record has risen greatly in
\r\nthe last few years with the growth of sprint racing. In the past year
\r\nteams from the USA, Norway, and Finland have all made attempts, with
\r\nthe
\r\nUS Ski Team setting the previous benchmarks at Soldier Hollow in Utah
\r\nlast December. Performed using a standing start on a straight 100m
\r\ntrack, the record is likely to drop further in the near future as other
\r\nnations make attempts in fast snow conditions.
\r\n
\r\nMurray broke Newell's time by 4 hundredths of a second on his first
\r\nattempt, but it was his second attempt 10 minutes later that smashed it
\r\nby nearly 3 tenths. Other members of the Australian team also made
\r\nattempts, with the next best time 12.92 seconds by Australian Junior
\r\nSprint Champion Ian Bottomley.
\r\n
\r\n"That was the fastest snow I've ever skied on," said Murray. "I
\r\nknow that there are other guys around the world who could have gone
\r\nfaster in these conditions, but I'm stoked. My time is now on the
\r\nboard and it's up to them to get out there and beat it."
\r\n
\r\nThe 27-year-old lives in Mt Beauty during the Australian winter but
\r\nspends most of the year training with his Swedish racing club in
\r\nBorlange in Sweden. His best World Cup result in the last season was
\r\nonly 38th, however he showed glimpses of this world record form in
\r\nSweden in March this year in similar fast conditions. On that occasion
\r\nMurray qualified 4th fastest in a Sweden Cup 1km time trial, ahead of
\r\nthe previous weekend's World Cup winner Harvaard Bjerkeli of Norway.
\r\n
\r\nThe course distance, gradient and the timing procedure was verified by
\r\na qualified Technical Delegate with the International Ski Federation.
\r\nWhile everything was in order, (the track had a slight uphill gradient
\r\nand there was a very slight head-wind), there may be some conjecture
\r\nabout the starting procedure used.
\r\n
\r\n"The USA may dispute our claim because we used a timing wand, while
\r\nthey used a timing gun as used in running track events," said
\r\nMarsland. "However other countries have also used timing wands for
\r\ntheir 100m attempts, and it is used for all time trial events on World
\r\nCup. The fact that the record was broken by nearly 3 tenths of a second
\r\nleaves no doubt in my mind that this is the fastest recorded 100m
\r\neffort."
\r\n
\r\nOther skiers involved in the 100m attempt included Leon Spiller and
\r\nSimon Flower, both from Mt Beauty. Murray and other Australian Team
\r\nmembers will continue to train in Falls Creek and for the next month or
\r\nso, before heading to Europe in November for the start of the 2004-2005
\r\ninternational season.
\r\n
Written By: petevDate Posted: 9/24/2004Number of Views: 269
Return |
|
|
|
|
|
|