A successful weekend of racing for the FIS Rollerski International
Published Mon 15 Feb 2021
The first ever FIS Rollerski races were successfully held in Canberra over the weekend. Despite the introduction of travel restrictions due to the latest COVID-19 outbreak in Melbourne on Friday, only a few athletes ended up missing the event and the FIS Rollerski International turned out to be a competitive and very successful weekend of racing, with the 1.2km criterium loop providing plenty of action at Stromlo Forest Park.
The weekend started with sprint events on Saturday. In the women's races it was a close tussle between 2020 Youth Winter Olympians Zana Evans and Rosie Fordham, with Evans making a late move in the A-final to take the win. U23 national team member Ella Jackson finished 3rd. The men's sprint was also tightly contested. Eventually, it was 2020 Junior Skier of the Year Bentley Walker-Broose who took the win in a close finish ahead of team-mate Nic Blackwell and ex pro-cyclist John Walker.
Walker-Broose praised the organisation of the event and was grateful for the opportunity to finally get back to racing.
“The atmosphere was super great and it felt awesome to be back in action again after such a long hiatus.
“Everything was well managed and safe and we all had a blast,” he said.
Distance events were scheduled on Sunday, with athletes racing individually against the clock. Evans opened the women’s race strongly, taking a 6” lead over Fordham after the first lap and progressively extending her advantage to make it back-to-back wins. Fordham was second again, with two-time Winter Olympian Aimee Watson in third.
After taking both women's titles, Zana Evans said she was happy to finally be reunited with the team. "It was awesome to be able to race again and to see how the training is paying off," she said.
In the men’s 10km Freestyle John Walker came from behind to take the win ahead of Blackwell and Walker-Broose. Blackwell built an early advantage before Walker started to hit consistent lap splits to steadily close the gap, eventually taking the lead in the second part of the race and never relinquishing it until the finish.
"It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend," said the winner of the men's distance event. "The racing was very competitive and extremely challenging. It was also a really fun environment to be in and great to meet many people from the Cross-country community. I am very much looking forward to the next events."
Rollerski racing returns to Canberra with the FIS Australian Championships on April 10/11.