General News

Sean Rose on winning form in the World Cup Sestriere Downhill

Hot on the heels of a British Disabled Ski Team pre-season training camp in Hintertux in November, British number one sit skier Sean Rose was turning heads at Europa Cup races in Piztal and Kuhtai in December before powering on to the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup circuit in January and February.

Racing across the alpine disciplines, Rose secured three World Cup medals including a British first gold medal in the Downhill in Sestriere. “I had an awesome run, pushed the line, got massive air into the finish few gates and ran over a second ahead of 2nd place and took my first Gold World Cup medal” commented Rose.

Further medals followed in Aspen in February - silver in the Downhill and a Super G bronze – and then it was on to the Winter Paralympic Games at Whistler. Following a shoulder injury in training early on and difficult conditions throughout the competition, Rose sadly failed to achieve a podium place, posting 8th in the Slalom and 7th in the Downhill.

Despite his disappointment, Rose was thrilled to be selected as the flag bearer for Great Britain at the Winter Paralympic Games closing ceremony. “The final show was awesome and ended with a presentation by the Sochi 2014 games” commented Rose, adding that competing in four years time “could be pretty cool”.

In the more immediate future Rose is looking forward to “family time” with his 18 month old son Thomas and wide Leana over the summer. Keeping on form is never far from the racer’s mind however and he has pledged to “keep training hard” and spend “time on snow indoors” in preparation for next season.

Looking ahead to the coming winter Rose is keen to “bring it on” in Sestriere in 2011, a resort that has become a happy hunting ground after a World Cup medal in 2009 and 2010. Rose is also aiming to become the 2011 World Cup downhill champion.

In the meantime the racer has aspirations to learn to fly a plane, complete an expedition in April 2011 including potentially kite skiing across the Greenland Ice Cap as well as whatever else the racer can think of. It’s all in a day’s work for the unstoppable Sean Rose!