Winter Olympics: Late clamour for Olympic selection

Ben Sandford. Photo / Tracey Robinson

It's literally a testing time for New Zealand's aspiring Winter Olympians. A number are frantically taking part in late competitions to boost their ranking points with just over two weeks until the team is selected for Vancouver 2010.

It's then only another three weeks or so before the start of the Games on February 12.

Quota spots are not finalised by each winter sport's international federation until January 18. Hopefuls have to do all they can until then, when New Zealand winter sport governing bodies nominate qualified athletes to the New Zealand Olympic Committee. Selections will be announced that week.

It seems a strange approach. Athletes can toil for almost four years, then have their dreams swept away when an arbitrary list comes down from on high.

Summer Olympic sports tend to have a greater build-up, allowing the opportunity for athletes to know they're going well in advance - so they can prepare and taper accordingly.

Rowing, New Zealand's most successful sport at the Beijing Games in August 2008, knew almost every crew that was going by March, although there was a last chance 'regatta of death' for some in July.

Winter Sports Programme high performance director Ashley Light says as long as the selection policy is consistent, it's fine. He says if an athlete knows his or her ranking is likely to be high enough, there's no threat.

"For instance, snowboarder Juliane Bray is in that position, she should be in the top echelon. It's a case of 'welcome to high performance, you've got to be comfortable being uncomfortable.' You don't want them putting their feet up," Light says.

"We're starting to see most are on track, so we're confident of a reasonable allocation of spots. We've known for a couple of years that our numbers should be in the vicinity of nine to 19. Add support staff to that and you've got up to 40 people booked."

Kiwi skeleton racer Ben Sandford went to the last Games in Torino, where he finished a creditable 10th.

The 30-year-old looks guaranteed of selection this time with his current world ranking of 12. He says there's not much he can do about the system, so he works within it.

"I think the qualification process is a lot better now than four years ago. We now have a tiered race system which everyone is ranked on. Every season starts essentially as a clean sheet, so you have to fit in enough races in the season of the Olympics to work out who qualifies."

Sandford's form has been sound of late. He's finished from eighth to 19th in his last five World Cup events, with a couple more races scheduled for ranking points before selection is confirmed.

Much like the Summer Games, athletes can meet A or B qualifying marks.

Snow Sports New Zealand alpine director James Lazor says the decision is then left to the selectors as to an athlete's current - or future - potential.

"Take two of our alpine skiers Ben Griffin [23] and Tim Cafe [22]. If they're tracking as they are today, they'd get what are expected to be two spots under the discretionary criteria," says Lazor. "If they get picked, it means the NZOC also probably sees them as athletes who could go on to 2014 using this as a building block.

"If you send someone who's a young athlete into an opening ceremony, they can be left going 'Oh my God'. That means that even though you may have competed with athletes elsewhere in the world, the experience of competing at the Olympics can be daunting.

"But the second time you go enables you to react by saying 'Now, I've done this'. And it's not always your world's best athletes that take out the Olympics, sometimes there can be a dark horse."