Stawell Gift competitor Sarah Blizzard will start training to drive a mono bobsleigh before heading back to Australia to compete at the iconic running event.
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Blizzard was offered an opportunity from Bobsleigh and Skeleton Australia, the governing body for bobsledding, to undergo mono bob training and enter a race.
"It's something different and exciting," she said.
"Before I came over here I had to do testing to be eligible to compete at the World Cup in the sport.
"Because I hit the elite standard in the testing, I was offered to do a mono bob training week and race."
Blizzard will travel from Germany to La Plagne, France and compete on March 7, the first time she will go down the track solo.
"I am nervous and excited and don't really know what to expect," she said.
"I have four days to learn the track which will involve eight runs and then two days of racing. I won't have time to get too nervous though.
"Our pilot Bree Walker is going to be a massive help for this. Now that the season is over and we can relax a bit - she hasn't slid in La Plagne for a few years now but she's doing quite well in mono bob events as well so it will be good to have her on my side."
Blizzard's was part of the Australia bobsleigh team which competed at the World Championships in Altenburg, Germany on February 22-23.
"It was a two-person sleigh and the other brake-woman was pushing a little faster than me in the training runs leading up to it so I didn't get to actually race," she said.
"I was a spare in case anything happened.
"It's the first season for me and I have a lot of room to improve. Missing out has definitely motivated me for my off-season training to get ready for next season.
"It's all part of team sport. Every weekend we're racing and one of us brakeman has to miss out and moving of the sled and equipment."
Blizzard's training for the Stawell Gift has taken an usual twist compared to previous year's preparation.
"I've done two block sessions on an indoor 60m tract and unfortunately getting access to suitable training facilities for track running is hard," she said.
"Otherwise it's just been training in the gym.
"I haven't run further than 50m since July so that's something I will have to work on in the next six weeks."
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Cassandra Langley
Rural and regional story-telling is where my passion lies. Email: cassandra.langley@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Rural and regional story-telling is where my passion lies. Email: cassandra.langley@austcommunitymedia.com.au
