Wednesday, February 8, 2017

@Ski #Portugal to compete with 4 athletes at the @WorldAlpine Ski Championships


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Competition will take place in Saint Moritz, Switzerland.

Portugal participates with four athletes, the largest representation ever, at the World Alpine Ski Championships, which take place in Saint Moritz, Switzerland, from 6 to 19 February.


Arthur Hanse is the most vocal name of the Portuguese team, with Catarina Carvalho, Samuel Almeida and Ricardo Brancal, the only team to have played in World Cups in Schladming, Austria in 2013.

The four Portuguese skiers will participate in the slalom and giant slalom races between February 13 and 18.

Sérgio Figueiredo, the national technical director, says the goal is to "find a skier for the finals" and Arthur Hanse, a 23-year-old Portuguese-born Frenchman who wore national colors at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi , Is the main hope.

"Due to his individual 'ranking', Arthur is clearly the runner with more possibilities to reach the goals," says Sérgio Figueiredo.

Catarina Carvalho, 20, a national champion, is the first to compete on the 13th in the 'giant slalom' race, and on the 17th, in the 'super giant' race.

"I want to have the best possible performance of a Portuguese female athlete in this type of competition", stresses the Caldas da Rainha skier.

Getting to the final is your goal, although admit it is difficult to achieve.

"The goal is to be cleared for the final, but it is unlikely due to the requirement of proof and the excellence of the  skiers, who are professional skiers," he says.

20-year-old Covilha  national champion Ricardo Brancal goes to St. Moritz with the intention of improving his performance and eyes on the next year's Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

"At this competitive level, my goal is to reduce the time difference for the first one, in order to gain access to the Olympic Games. It is a difficult task because in these competitions they are always the best in the world, which makes it difficult Even more the task, "he says.

The men's events are scheduled for February 16 and 18, first the 'giant slalom' and then the 'slalom'.

The Portuguese delegation is composed of Pedro Farromba, president of the Portuguese Winter Sports Federation, Sérgio Figueiredo, national technical director, and Maximino de Almeida, a material preparation technician.

The group departs for Switzerland next Saturday, 11, and has a dinner marked with the Portuguese community of the Engadine region.

The Alpine Ski World Championships take place between 6 and 19 February in St. Moritz. In the last edition of the competition, in Vail, in the United States, in 2015, Portugal was not represented.

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