On Saturday May 28 and Sunday May 29, Snow Australia held the 2022 Melbourne FIS Roller ski International at the Teardrop Loop, Yarra Bend Park, Melbourne. On Saturday, the competitors completed in a women’s, men’s, and U16 men’s 1km freestyle sprint time trial. The competitors then progressed to two semi final heats for each category. The final was then decided from this, with the best 4 times progressing through.

In the women’s freestyle final, Damika Morton finished second, with a time of 2.35, only 3 seconds off first place. Congratulations Damika on a fantastic race result. In the male final, Boris Stanish finished 3rd and Jack Hirst followed 3 seconds behind, coming 4th. Both development team athletes had strong performances against tough opponents. In the U16 men’s race, Samuel Johnson finished first, Edward Johnson third and Lachlan Hales fourth with Matthew Wilby performing strong in the initial time-trial to finish 4th.

Sunday’s races were a test of endurance. The open men’s race was 10km, while the open women’s and junior men’s races were 5km. In a race of 13 strong competitors, Boris Stanish finished in 4^th position, and Jack Hirst finished in 6^th. Well done Boris and Jack for these great results.

In the Women’s Open race, Damika Morton completed the 5 laps in 14.56, which secured her the bronze medal. Olivia Schubert followed 12 seconds behind Damika, placing her 4^th overall. Excellent results from both girls in the Open category given both are still Juniors! Finally, congratulations to Samuel Johnson, a 2022 development team athlete, for winning first place in the U16 men’s race. Samuel Johnson showed great skill throughout the race, pacing himself at the start to provide him with the strength to push for a strong finish. Except of 2^nd place, biathletes filled all remaining places, including Matthew Wilby 3^rd , Edward Johnson, 4^th, Seb Packer-Smith 5^th and Lachlan Hales, 6^th.

The results are a testament to the focus and determination of our biathletes over the past two years of COVID to have continued to train strongly. It was wonderful to see so much representation from the Australian Biathlon family racing over the weekend. Thank you, Snow Australia, Swix and Alpine timing, for such an exciting and successful weekend of roller skiing. Thank you also to the volunteers who facilitated the races.

Click here for the full results of the Sprint Races

Click here for the full results of the Distance Races