Top cross-country skiers confirm for Winter Games NZ

Top cross-country skiers confirm for Winter Games NZ

LAKE WANAKA, New Zealand (July 20, 2011) ¬ A strong field is shaping up for the cross country competition at 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games with the confirmation of Olympic gold, silver and bronze medallist, Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland in the women¹s event and a world class Canadian men¹s team.

Kowalczyk earned three of her medals in last year¹s Winter Olympics at Whistler, together with a bronze at the 2006 Olympics in Italy. She also has 15 World Cup victories to her name, along with 38 World Cup podiums and is currently ranked number one in the world.

Among her rivals will be New Zealand¹s Sarah Murphy who trains at Snow Farm near Wanaka where the Winter Games NZ cross country competition is held. Murphy made history in 2010 when she became New Zealand¹s first biathlete to compete at the Winter OIympics. With her goal of placing top 10 at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, the high level of competition on her home ground will provide Murphy with valuable competition experience during Winter Games NZ.

The four-strong Canadian men¹s team is made up three Olympians, including national number one, Devon Kershaw, together with national sprint champion, Lenny Valjas. The Canadians dominated the 2009 Winter Games NZ, taking home 14 of the available 16 cross country medals, including a gold and silver for Kershaw.

Adaptive and able-bodied athletes will race together in a series of multi-discipline races at Snow Farm near Lake Wanaka from 13-16 August.

Athletes competing in the adaptive category include Japan¹s Yoshihiro Nitta who took out two gold medals for cross-country sprint and classic in the 2010 Winter Paralympics. He is joined by teammate Shoko Ota who won silver at the Paralympics in the sprint discipline.

Other competing nations include Australia, Brazil, Korea, Peru, Switzerland and the USA. Race disciplines are 10km/15km classic interval start, sprint and 5km/10km freestyle interval start.

100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games takes place from 12- 28 August 2011 featuring 22 snow and ice sports over 38 events and involving 1,000 elite athletes from 50 nations. The 16-day long Games also include a full Downtown Sessions festival programme featuring films, live music and entertainment and rail jam extravaganzas in Queenstown, Lake Wanaka, Dunedin and Methven. The on-snow competition will take place at Coronet Peak, Cardrona Alpine Resort, Snow Park NZ, Snow Farm and Mt Hutt with the ice sports taking place at Naseby and Dunedin. For further information, visit www.wintergamesnz.com

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