Chemmy Alcott

Chemmy Alcott

Alcott at London Youth Games in 2009
Personal information
Full name Chimene Mary Alcott
Nickname(s) Chemmy
Born (1982-07-10) 10 July 1982
Hove, Brighton and Hove,
East Sussex, England, U.K.[1]
Residence England
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)
Website chemmyalcott.com
Sport
Sport Alpine skiing
Retired March 2014
Medal record
Representing United Kingdom
Women's Alpine skiing
Senior British National Alpine Ski Championship Titles
2009, 2008, 2007, 2005, 2003, 2002 Overall
2009, 2008, 2007, 2005, 2003, 2002 Downhill
2009, 2008, 2007, 2003, 2002, 2001 Super G
2009, 2007, 2005, 2003, 2002 Combined/S. Combined
2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 2002 Giant Slalom
2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003 Slalom
Junior British National Alpine Ski Championship Titles
2002 Downhill
2002 Super G
2002, 2001 Giant Slalom
2002, 2001 Slalom
European Youth Winter Olympic Festival
1999 Super G
1999 Giant Slalom

Chimene "Chemmy" Mary Alcott (born 10 July 1982)[1] is a former British World Cup alpine ski racer. She competed in all five disciplines: downhill, super G, giant slalom, slalom, and combined.[2]

Alcott competed in four Winter Olympic Games and seven FIS World Championships and been overall Senior British National Champion five times (2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008). She retired from international competition following the 2014 season.[3]

Early life

Born in Hove, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England,[1] Alcott was named after Sophia Loren's character in the 1961 film El Cid. She started skiing at 18 months old on a family holiday in Flaine, France, and first raced at the age of three.[4][5]

In 1993 Alcott won the Etoile D'Or French Village Ski Championship, becoming a member of the British Junior Alpine team in 1994 and won the 1995 Sunday Times Junior Sportswoman of the Year award.[6] Every British summer from the age of eleven to nineteen, Alcott travelled to New Zealand to train in the antipodean winter.[5]

She was a talented athlete as a youngster, not only representing Richmond in dry slope skiing, but also in tennis at the London Youth Games. Her achievements as a junior and senior were recognised when she was inducted into the London Youth Games Hall of Fame in 2011.[7]

Aged twelve, Alcott broke her neck in a skiing accident, recovering with two of her vertebrae fused together. She still carries X-rays of the injury so that if she is ever in an accident, the hospital will know not to prise the vertebrae apart.[8]

Career

Alcott made her FIS race debut in August 1997 in a Giant Slalom event at Coronet Peak, New Zealand.[9] By the end of the 1997/1998 season, she had made her debuts in both the FIS Junior World Championships (Chamonix) and the British National Championships (Tignes), where she won a Silver medal in the Giant Slalom.[10]

She returned to the Australia/New Zealand Cup during the 1998 European summer, winning the overall championship. The following winter Alcott won Silver (super G) and Bronze (giant slalom) medals at the 1999 European Youth Olympics in Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia. In December 1999, Alcott made her World Cup debut in a giant slalom race in Lienz, Austria.[11] The winter of 1999 also saw her crowned World Schools Champion, before adding the World Artificial[12] and Australian Overall Championships to her name in 2000.

At the 2001 Junior World Championships, Alcott finished 8th in the slalom event on her way to 5th in the overall classification.[13] The season also saw Alcott capture the 2001 British Junior title and the Senior British super G title in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria.[14][15]

2002 and the Salt Lake City Winter Games

At 19 years of age, Alcott was ranked in the Top 10 in the world for her age group, whilst also rising from 683rd to 126th in the downhill rankings over the course of the season.[6][16]

Her Olympic debut[17] followed in Salt Lake City, Utah. She competed in all of the Alpine disciplines with a best result of 14th position in the combined event.[18]

Later in the season, Alcott returned to the Junior World Championships, finishing in 4th place based on overall championship points.[19] In her final British Junior Championships, Alcott won all the titles on offer. She also won British Senior tiles in the Giant Slalom, Super G and Downhill – claiming the Overall Senior crown for the first time.[20]

2003

In March 2003, Alcott scored her first World Cup points by finishing 27th in a GS event in Innsbruck, Austria.[21]

At the British National Championships in Tignes, France, she won the slalom title for the first time on her way to a clean sweep of all the disciplines title.[22]

2004

Throughout the 2004 World Cup season, Alcott consistently finished in the top-30, including an 11th-place finish in the Lake Louise super G – less than 1.5 seconds behind Renate Goetschl's winning time.[23]

In January 2004, Alcott achieved her first top-10 result, a 9th-place finish in the Cortina dDownhill.[24] It was the best result by a British woman for more than 30 years, after Gina Hathorn's 9th-place finish in a Slalom at Heavenly Valley in March 1972.[25]

However a knee ligament injury meant that Alcott was unable to defend her British titles.[5][26]

2005

At the 2005 World Championships (Santa Caterina, Italy), Alcott finished 19th in the Downhill, 22nd in the Super G and 35th place in the Giant Slalom.

At the British National Championships (Meribel, France), Alcott again won the Downhill, Super G, and Slalom), also winning the Victrix Ludorum trophy for the Overall Championship for the third time.[27]

2006 and the Torino Winter Games

The Torino Winter Olympics Games saw Alcott finish 11th in the downhill, the best Olympic performance by a British female skier since 1968.[6] Alcott was however disqualified from the combined event following the first run of the slalom, where her skis were found to be 0.2 mm narrower than the FIS regulations allowed.[28] She recorded 19th and 22nd-place finishes in the super G and giant slalom events, respectively.

In the World Cup, Alcott achieved seven top-30 results, with a best finish of 12th place in the super G at Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria.[29]

In a weather disrupted British Championships (Meribel, France), Alcott won the slalom and giant slalom titles. The super G was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, as was the Senior downhill. However it was decided to award the Senior downhill title using the results of the previous day's Junior race, in which Alcott did not compete. This meant that Katrina Head pipped her to the Overall British title, ending Alcott's stranglehold on the Victrix Ludorum trophy.[30]

Post-Torino and 2007

A few weeks after the Olympics, Alcott's mother Eve died suddenly, and consequently Alcott decided to take some time away from the sport.[31]

During her break from racing, Alcott underwent surgery on her feet to remove the bunionettes that had been troubling her for years. Alcott's recovery period was extended by two months to five months following a fall during rehabilitation where she re-broke her left foot.[31]

Alcott began the 2007 season with two 13th-place finishes in the first two downhills of the season at Lake Louise and an 11th-place finish in the super G at the Canadian resort.[32] This was followed by a 7th-place finish in the next event in Reiteralm, Austria, in a Super Combined competition,[33] the best result of her career to date. Alcott also finished 9th in the Tarvisio Downhill and had four top-20 results in Giant Slalom, qualifying Alcott for her first World Cup Finals (Lenzerheide, Switzerland), where she placed 15th in the Giant Slalom.[34]

At the British Alpine Championships in Meribel, Alcott won all four titles on offer: the downhill, super G, giant slalom, and slalom events.

2008

Alcott had a relatively poor 2008 World Cup season, except for 16th and 17th-place finishes in the downhill and super combined events at St. Anton and a 16th-place finish in the GS race in Maribor, Slovenia.[35]

At the British Championships in Meribel, France, Alcott won the downhill, super G, giant slalom, and slalom titles. She also finished second to 19-year-old Louise Thomas in the super combined.[36] The Championships also saw Alcott take the Overall title for the fifth time.

2009

Alcott finished 10th in the opening giant slalom of the season in Sölden, Austria. However, she broke her ankle during training for the next race in Canada, resulting in three months on the sidelines.[37] On her return to action, Alcott finished 15th in the GS at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and then 21st in the super G at Garmisch the following weekend.

At the 2009 World Championships, Alcott finished 21st in the super G. In the following event, the super combined, Alcott had to restart her downhill run after approximately one minute due to a fall from the previous competitor, Frida Hansdotter. On her re-reun, she finished 13th on her way to 19th overall.[38][39] In the actual Downhill race, Alcott finished 15th,[40][41] whilst she finished 29th in the giant slalom – the result of a fall during the second run.[42][43]

Alcott won all five races at the British National Championships (Meribel, France), downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and super combined titles.[44]

2011

Alcott sustained a double fracture of her right leg when she crashed training for the World Cup downhill race at Lake Louise, Canada, on 2 December 2010, and consequently missed the entire 2011 skiing season.[45]

2012

In Winter/Spring 2012, Alcott competed in ITV1's Dancing on Ice alongside professional skater Sean Rice. They finished 5th place in the competition and were eliminated on 11 March 2012.

Broadcasting

During her injury lay-off at the start of the 2009 World Cup season, Alcott joined Matt Chilton in the British Eurosport commentary box as guest commentator for several of the women's World Cup events.

Alcott has previously appeared on Channel 4's World Cup Skiing programme, with a regular feature called Fit to Ski,[46] in which she demonstrated different exercise techniques.

In January 2012 it was announced that Alcott would take part in the ITV programme Dancing on Ice. There was some concern that this would put at risk her rehabilitation from the fractured leg she sustained in December 2010.[47]

Personal life

In June 2008, Alcott climbed Mount Kilimanjaro along with fellow ski racers Julia Mancuso and Laurenne Ross, and Alcott's then boyfriend Mark Weaver. The climb raised US$30,000 for international humanitarian organisation Right to Play.[48][49]

As of January 2009, she lives in Hampton Court, England.[50] Chemmy is also a motor sport fan; has an MSA Competition Licence and is competing in the 2012 Silverstone Classic Celebrity Challenge race.

In October 2013, the BBC reported that Alcott was to marry her current boyfriend, and fellow alpine ski racer, Dougie Crawford.[3][51] They married at Syon House on 6 June 2014;[52] she now uses the name Chemmy Crawford-Alcott.[53]

Results

World Cup Top-10 finishes

Season Date Location Discipline Result Notes
2010 18 December 2009 Val-d'Isère, France Super Combined 9th
2009 25 October 2008 Sölden, Austria Giant Slalom 10th
2007 3 March 2007 Tarvisio, Italy Downhill 9th
15 December 2006 Reiteralm, Austria Super Combined 7th
2004 18 January 2004 Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Downhill 9th

World Cup Season standings

Season Overall Downhill Slalom Giant Slalom Super G Combined
Rank (Pts) Rank (Pts) Rank (Pts) Rank (Pts) Rank (Pts) Rank (Pts)
2011* injured 2 Dec 2010, out for season
2010 32 (175) 41 (10) − (−) 26 (44) 18 (68) 8 (53)
2009 55 (117) 38 (20) − (−) 28 (50) 36 (25) 25 (22)
2008 63 (76) 39 (26) − (−) 28 (25) 42 (9) 28 (16)
2007 32 (249) 27 (84) − (−) 21 (76) 33 (37) 13 (52)
2006 60 (82) 51 (11) − (−) − (−) 29 (66) 38 (5)
2005 78 (30) 42 (12) − (−) − (−) 43 (16) − (-)
2004 51 (139) 27 (68) − (−) 39 (21) 39 (50) − (-)
2003 115 (4) − (−) − (−) − (−) 50 (4) − (-)

Source:[2]

Major championships

Event Date Location Discipline Result
XXI Olympic Winter Games 26 February 2010 Whistler Creekside, Canada Slalom 27
24 February 2010 Giant Slalom DNF
20 February 2010 Super G 20
18 February 2010 Super Combined 11
17 February 2010 Downhill 13
2009 World Championships 12 February 2009 Val-d'Isère, France Giant Slalom 29
9 February 2009 Downhill 15
6 February 2009 Super Combined 17
3 February 2009 Super G 20
2007 World Championships 13 February 2007 Åre, Sweden Giant Slalom 27
11 February 2007 Downhill DNF
9 February 2007 Super Combined DNF
6 February 2007 Super G 28
XX Olympic Winter Games 24 February 2006 Sestriere, Italy Giant Slalom 22
20 February 2006 San Sicario, Italy Super G 19
18 February 2006 Sestriere, Italy Combined DSQ
15 February 2006 San Sicario, Italy Downhill 11
2005 World Championships 11 February 2005 Santa Caterina, Italy Slalom DNS
8 February 2005 Giant Slalom 35
6 February 2005 Downhill 19
4 February 2005 Combined DNF
30 January 2005 Super G 22
2003 World Championships 13 February 2003 St. Moritz, Switzerland Giant Slalom 25
9 February 2003 Downhill 33
XIX Olympic Winter Games 22 February 2002 Park City, US Giant Slalom 30
20 February 2002 Deer Valley, USA Slalom DNF
17 February 2002 Snowbasin, USA Super G 28
14 February 2002 Combined 14
12 February 2002 Downhill 32
2001 World Championships 19 January 2001 St. Anton, Austria Super G 36
1999 World Championships 13 February 1999 Vail, USA Slalom DNF
11 February 1999 Giant Slalom 33

Junior World championships

Event Date Location Discipline Result
2002 Junior World Championships February/March 2002 Sella Nevea, Italy Overall (Points) 4
3 March 2002 Ravascletto, Italy Giant Slalom 13
1 March 2002 Sella Nevea, Italy Slalom 22
28 February 2002 Tarvisio, Italy Super G DNF
29 February 2002 Downhill 12
2001 Junior World Championships February 2001 Verbier, Switzerland Overall (Points) 5
10 February 2001 Giant Slalom 19
10 February 2001 Slalom 8
7 February 2001 Super G 21
6 February 2001 Downhill 18
2000 Junior World Championships 26 February 2000 Lac Beauport, Canada Slalom DNF
25 February 2000 Stoneham, Canada Giant Slalom 21
22 February 2000 Mt. St. Anne, Canada Super G 26
1998 Junior World Championships 1 March 1998 Chamonix, France Giant Slalom 72
28 February 1998 Slalom 56
27 February 1998 Super G DNS

Other achievements

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Chemmy Alcott". Team Great Britain. Olympic athlete profile. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Chemmy Alcott". FIS. World Cup season standings. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Mintz, Geoff (March 25, 2014). "Chemmy Alcott retires from ski racing". Ski Racing. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  4. ↑ Anstead, Mark (5 November 2006). "On the move: Chemmy Alcott". timesonline. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 Wilkinson, Carl (3 October 2004). "'I never get sick of seeing snow'". London: Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 "Chimene Alcott". British Olympic Association. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  7. 1 2 Richards, Joshua (7 October 2011). "Dalton Grant joins Hall of Fame and vows to inspire next generation". London: London 24. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  8. ↑ "Chemmy Alcott bio". NBC Olympics. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  9. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  10. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  11. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. 28 December 1999. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  12. ↑ "World Artificial Ski Slope Championships". Lsersa.org. 28 May 2000. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  13. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  14. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110718070409/http://www.witanwealthbuilder.com/chemmy/results/frameset.html. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ↑ "biographie". FIS-Ski. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  16. ↑ "BBC SPORT | Winter Olympics 2002 | Features | Alcott's all-round altitude test". BBC News. 9 February 2002. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  17. ↑ "Chemmy Alcott". Team GB. BBC Sport. 21 January 2002. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  18. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. 14 February 2002. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  19. ↑ Let go of your conscious self and act on instinct. "Chemmy Alcott 5th in World Juniors, 2002". Natives.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  20. ↑ Let go of your conscious self and act on instinct (18 January 2002). "British Ski Alpine Champs 2002, Day 3: The British Land Downhill Championship". Natives.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  21. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  22. ↑ Let go of your conscious self and act on instinct. "Alcott goes from strength to strength". Natives.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  23. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  24. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. 18 January 2004. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  25. ↑ Let go of your conscious self and act on instinct (20 January 2004). "9th Place for Chemmy Alcott". Natives.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  26. ↑ Let go of your conscious self and act on instinct (21 March 2004). "The British Land National Ski Championships Meribel". Natives.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  27. ↑ "Mickel and Alcott win Downhill". www.natives.co.uk. 26 March 2005. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  28. ↑ "Alcott disqualified for ski error". BBC News. 17 February 2006. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  29. ↑ "biographie". FIS-Ski. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  30. ↑ Let go of your conscious self and act on instinct (28 March 2006). "British Land British Downhill title decided by weather in Meribel". Natives.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  31. 1 2 Hart, Simon (15 October 2006). "Sadness that drives snow queen". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  32. ↑ Let go of your conscious self and act on instinct (8 December 2006). "Chemmy Alcott recovers from surgery to place in top 15". Natives.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  33. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. 15 December 2006. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  34. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. 18 March 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  35. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  36. ↑ "biographie". FIS-Ski. 30 March 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  37. ↑ Thompson, Anna (26 November 2008). "BBC SPORT Alcott sidelined by broken ankle". BBC News. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  38. ↑ https://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gRSIkStpRq5AUzBkDmjzfRvItbeg. Retrieved 6 February 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  39. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  40. ↑ "BBC SPORT | Other sport... | Winter Sports | Women's downhill race postponed". BBC News. 8 February 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  41. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  42. ↑ http://www.fis-ski.com/pdf/2009/AL/5616/2009AL5616RLR1.pdf
  43. ↑ "resultats". FIS-Ski. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  44. ↑ Benammar, Emily (4 April 2009). "Chemmy Alcott wins women's overall title; Ed Drake and Dave Ryding share men's". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  45. ↑ "Chemmy Alcott ruled out of entire season". The Telegraph. 5 December 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  46. ↑ "World Cup Skiing – Fit to Ski". CHANNEL 4. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  47. ↑ "Chemmy Alcott Dancing on Ice a risk, says ski boss". BBC web-site. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  48. ↑ Archived 3 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  49. ↑ "Chemmy Alcott climbs Killimanjaro for Right To Play". YouTube. 28 December 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  50. ↑ "Alcott pulls out of comeback race". BBC. 12 January 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  51. ↑ "Chemmy Alcott targets December comeback after fund-raising bid". BBC. 10 October 2013.
  52. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2651773/Here-comes-slide-British-slalom-star-Chemmy-Alcott-weds-complete-pair-skis.html
  53. ↑ http://data.fis-ski.com/dynamic/athlete-biography.html?sector=AL&competitorid=655&type=result

External links


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