Olympics in sights for young Ohakune skier

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 602, 5 September 1995, Page 5 (Supplement)

Olympics in sights for young Ohakune skier

Ohakune skier Daniel Richards continued his winning way with first place the J2 male sec tion of the New Zealand National Championships at Mt. Hutt last week. The J2 section is for 1 5 and 1 6 year old males, which makes Daniel the fastest in the country for that age group. Daniel' s win is the result of a lot of hard work and serious training over the past four years. During the August school holidays the 15-year-old Ruapehu College student won'tbe sleeping in. He is up the mountain by 7.30am to train with the Turoa Team until 3pm. On a closed day the team works on strength and fitness. The requirements for being in the Turoa Team are: fitness, a desire to race, and sound skiing technique which is what Daniel concentrates on in training. "Mileage and the experience that comes with it is very important. The person, who wins is the one with the most of these three attributes," says Daniel' s coach Robin Gilyeard. He said Daniel has these three attributes, plus talent. Daniel knows his team mates really well, as most of them have been on the racing scene for the past four years. Scot Nation is the other local who's on the Turoa Team. The other six team members come from around the North Island. Most of the Turoa Team, including Daniel spent the summer training at Banff Mountain Academy, Canada which Daniel says really improved his skiing. Daniel says his social life doesn't suffer from the strict

training schedule. "I hang out with other skiers and we' ve all got the same pressures." And when it comes to the crunch he says at the moment he can handle a few days off (skiing). In the long term Daniel would like to be in the National A Ski Team, but stops short of committing himself to the Olympics, but says they're definitely a possibility. Daniel says he has no career ambitions other than to ski. "It gets more fun every time, and I just love it when I win". Coach Robin Gilyeard thinks the Salt Lake City Olympics in the year 2002 are a realistic goal for Daniel. "He's got what it takes" says Robin. This season Daniel has 12 races which he will compete in. The Turoa Team uniforms are sponsored by Rossignol and Daniel is also sponored by K2 who supply his skis. Travel and accommodation costs are met by the indi vidual team member. "Mum and Dad have been a real help," says Daniel, "especially if I go to Europe this summer to train." Daniel says it's great living at the base of a mountain, but is envious of his South Island competitors who can train on the slopes before school each morning and who get more mileage in each season because of the more favourable weather conditions. He says he'd love to move to W anaka and go to Mt Aspiring High School and go flatting next year. But at the moment Ohakune' s rising young star is quite happy living at home, in Ohakune.