Japan and Great Britain smile their way to ski cross gold

It was a spectacular day at Gore Mountain on Monday for the ski cross competition of the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games.

Following qualification and semifinal rounds, Lin Nakanishi of Japan and Nikola Fricova of Slovakia quickly broke away in the four-racer women’s final, with Nakanishi prevailing in the end.

Elizabeth Filiatrault of Canada was third on the finish line.

“It was a big surprise for me to win because I didn’t expect it at all, I was really very nervous,” said Lin laughing. “What’s more, this morning I dreamed that I wasn’t on the podium.

“But during the last race I felt really good and I was able to do it. Above all, my focus was on the start.”

In the men’s race, Scott Johns from Great Britain won the gold medal, managing to get a comfortable lead over his opponents. Silver and bronze, however, were hard fought as Germany’s Tim-Ole Mietz edged teammate Niklas Illig.

“I’m very happy and relieved that it’s over. I just put a lot of pressure on myself to perform. I’m thankful it went well,” said Johns. “I had a setback in the semi-final but was able to qualify for the final and take the first place.”

The ski cross has that special something that makes it so attractive. It is a very exciting sport to watch and is
really unpredictable. Anything can happen, crashes, surprises over the last few meters, even a bad movement can alter the race of an athlete.

All this was experienced on Monday at the FISU Games.

The celebrations and fun moments were felt in the atmosphere of Gore Mountain, as spectators waited expectantly near the finish line.

“I can see the athletes coming down,” shouted excited children.

And, of course, the athletes celebrated too. As they crossed the finish line, they raised their arms while receiving applauses and showed bright smiles for the thousands of cameras capturing the moment.

The next freestyle skiing competition takes place on Tuesday with women’s and men’s freeski slopestyle qualification runs.

Written by Julieta Boschiazzo

We warmly thank FISU Official Partner Qiaodan Ltd. which provides remarkable uniforms to FISU Family and International Technical Officials since 2015. Qiaodan is a valuable partner for FISU as it continued to provide its support during the postponement of events due to the global pandemic, and recently extended the relationship with FISU up to and including 2025.