Drakes Secures His Highest Finish Yet of Vancouver 2010
Team GB Alpine skier
Ed Drake secured his highest finish yet of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games with 29th in the super combined today (Sunday).
The 24-year-old from Kingston-Upon-Thames climbed from 33rd after the downhill to finish 29th with an impressive run on a demanding slalom course.
"I can't complain about that, it's by best finish of the Games,” he said after his slalom. “I would have settled for a top-30 before. I would have liked to get into the top-30 on the speed run, but I missed that by twelve hundredths of a second.
“I didn't expect too much from the slalom. It was my first competitive slalom of the season and I'm not a slalom skier, but I put in a half decent performance,” he said.
Drake was competing in his third event at his first Olympic Winter Games – he finished 38th in the downhill on Monday and 32nd in the Super-G on Friday – and is clearly enjoying his first taste of Olympic action.
"I'm loving every moment of it here. It's great to start around these guys. They're the pinnacle of the sport and that’s where I’m aiming to be.
“This is the top of the top. This is where the best skiers are, so how could I not love it?” he added.
“The feedback from the coaches has been that what they’ve seen is good. It’s not easy to get to the top, it doesn’t just happen overnight. It’s all pointing in the right direction.
“My performances here have been pretty good. I’ve improved on my bib number in every race and I think I’ve put up a good showing.”
Drake’s 33rd after the downhill element of today’s super combined put him in touching distance of his highest finish at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
His time of 1:56.63 was 3.48 seconds behind leader Aksel Lund Svindal from Norway. "I gave it as much as I could. It felt like I've been skiing well, but I just haven't been that quick. It was pretty cool though,” said Drake after the downhill.
He clocked a time of 54.28 for the slalom for a combined time of two minutes 50.91 seconds, 5.99 seconds off the gold medalling winning time set by Bode Miller of the USA.
Drake said he is 95 per cent certain he will compete in Tuesday’s giant slalom, where he will be joined by fellow Team GB skiers Andrew Noble and David Ryding.
Notes to editors:
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