YOUNG GB SKIERS AT WORLD NORDIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

24th February 2020

Last modified on May 15th, 2021

A team of 6 will represent GB Snowsport at the FIS Nordic Junior & under-23 Cross-Country World Ski Championships which start later this week.

The event gets under way in Oberwiesenthal in Germany this Friday 28th February with competition starting on Saturday.

The British contingent is competing in Cross-Country, Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined.

The competition is split between the juniors (under-20s) and the under-23s.

Many of the GB competitors are teenagers.

Three GB Snowsport athletes who competed at the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games will take part in the junior category – Mani Cooper (16), Sam Bolton (17) and James Slimon (17).

Mani Cooper (main picture) made sporting history at Lausanne 2020 when she became the first female Briton ever to compete in a Ski Jumping event at an Olympic Games.

She finished 19th.

She recently achieved the first podium finishes of her career in the Nordic Combined discipline at the FIS Youth Cup, at which she was competing for the first time.

She picked up 3^rd and 2^nd overall results at the competition.

Sam Bolton became the first male to compete in Ski Jumping at the Youth Olympic Games since Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards.

He finished 18th.

Also competing in the junior Cross-Country squad is Cameron Cruickshank.

He was to have been joined by 18-year-old Alexander Franks Penty who has been withdrawn from the Squad at the last minute after suffering an injury.

Hamish Wolfe and Oliver Newman will compete in Cross-Country in the U23 category.

“The Nordic Junior World Championship is a fantastic platform for developing stars, providing a unique opportunity to experience a multi-discipline event alongside GB Snowsport athletes,” said the GB Snowsport Chief Executive Vicky Gosling.

“We are excited to take six athletes, who have trained hard to be in a position to represent GB Snowsport in Germany and I hope the event will act as vital competitive experience for them.”

The young athletes say they’re thrilled to be representing their country at the event.

Mani Cooper will compete in both Ski jumping and Nordic combined:

“I am excited about competing in the World Junior Championships and hope to keep the progress going.”

Ski Jumper Sam Bolton:

“I am thrilled and excited to be named to the GB Snowsports team for World Juniors. I am looking forward to the opportunity to compete in my first World Junior Championships and to doing my best for GB.”

James Slimon:

“I’m really looking forward to FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships and representing GB Snowsport and my country.”

U23 cross-country skier Hamish Wolfe:

“I am very pleased and honoured to be representing GB Snowsport at U23 World Junior Championships in Germany in the coming weeks.”

Oliver Newman, who competed for Team GB in cross country skiing at the Erzurum 2017 European Youth Olympic Festival:

“I am really looking forward to competing at these Championships for the third time, first time as an under 23. These races have been my main motivation for training over the last year so it will be exciting to see if the hard work has paid off.”

Cameron Cruickshank:

“I am really looking forward to my first Nordic World Junior Championships in Oberwiesenthal. Qualifying for FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships has been a long-term aim of mine, so to be selected is a brilliant feeling, and knowing these next few weeks are the most important in my career so far is a huge motivation boost.”

The competition starts on Saturday 29th February and end on the 8th March.