EYOWF: Gower proves Jack of all trades

From Ben Baker, Sportsbeat, in Liberec

WORLD champion Jack Gower believes he has proved he is far from a one trick pony after impressing in the slalom at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Liberec.

ALL-ROUND TALENT: Jack Gower moved more than 30 places up his ranking to record a top-20 finish in the slalom event in Liberec

The 16-year old brushed off the disappointment of finishing the giant slalom, his strongest event, down in 22nd with a successful slalom run just 48 hours later.

Despite being seeded 50th prior to taking to the piste Gower quickly climbed more than 30 places in the rankings to finish 17th in a time of 1:29.61 minutes.

And Gower - who was crowned world giant slalom under-17 world champion in Switzerland last month - is now predicting big things in both disciplines for the remainder of 2011.

"I am pleased with how the slalom went, especially after the disappointment of the giant slalom which I was hoping to do really well in," said Gower

"It was a tricky event for me as slalom is not my strong point but it looks like I might do better in the slalom than the giant slalom which is a bit of a worry but it was good to do well.

"It is definitely nice to show that I do have ability in the slalom as well as the giant slalom though so that isn't a bad thing I suppose.

"It was one of my first slalom races of the year so to get a good result is great and hopefully there is more to come this year and I can build on this."

However there was disappointment for the three other British skiers in action in the slalom as Nick Moynihan, Paul Henderson and Sam Clissold all failed to complete the first run.

However in stark contrast the alpine skiers' cross-country counterparts were all smiles with Katy Homyer, Michael May and Ruaridh Newman all recording personal bests.

Homyer, who had earlier finished 65th and 68th in the 7.5km individual classic and 1km sprints respectively, clocked a time of 13:53.6 in the 5km free technique to finish 59th.

Just over 24 seconds separated May and Newman in the 7km free technique with the former crossing home in 80th and the latter just three places behind in 83rd.

Also in action was Calum Irvine and having already secured a top-25 finish in the 12.5km biathlon race he displayed his all-round talent ending 60th in a personal best of 18:03.4.

"The cross-country was better than I expected and although I went into the start gate with tired legs after two biathlon races I picked it up as I started racing so I'm pleased with that," said Irvine.

"Training starts now to try and qualify for the Youth Winter Olympics next year in Innsbruck which will be a lot of hard work but I am feeling confident off the back of a successful time in Liberec."

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