Huddersfield’s Fiona Hughes frustrated with 68th place finish in Winter Olympics cross-country skiing

Feb 16 2010 by Mel Booth, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HUDDERSFIELD cross-country skier Fiona Hughes battled to 68th on her Winter Olympic debut in the ladies’ 10km freestyle but couldn’t hide her frustration that it wasn’t higher.

The 19-year-old from Lindley was the 68th athlete out of the starting gate at the Whistler Olympic Park and looked set for a near perfect run coming into the last corner.

However, Hughes got caught behind Bulgarian Teodora Malcheva and tripped and fell over her ski before battling valiantly to come home in the same position she started.

Hughes – Britain’s only female cross-country skier in Canada – clocked a time of 30min 29.80sec but was left kicking her heels it wasn’t quicker.

“I felt I skied pretty well, I felt really strong out on the course especially on the flatter sections and I worked hard on the uphill parts,” said Hughes. “I was just a bit annoyed because I got caught behind a girl coming on the last corner down into the stadium. I was going a lot faster than she was at that point and she slowed down a lot, more than I thought she was going to do going into it, and I managed to trip on the back of her ski.

“I fell over and that cost me maybe five or 10 seconds but I got up quickly and finished strongly – but it is a little bit annoying after feeling so good out on the course.