Nicole Begg

Timaru Herald Story

2011-08-15T00:03:00.000-07:00

Charity Behind Auction

Skater makes cheeky contribution

CHEEKY ART: Timaru artist Marita Bool is making a ceramic of world champion speedskater Nicole Begg's bottom, which will be sold at the Rotary Charity Auction. Photo - JOHN BISSET/ The Timaru Herald

Former world champion speed skater Nicole Begg is not shy when it comes to charity.

The 24-year-old had no hesitation when it came to having a ceramic cast made of one of her better assets for the annual Rotary Timaru auction next month.

The South Canterbury Roller Skating Club is one of the two big organisations to benefit from the auction as it works to complete its world-class track on Caroline Bay, along with the St John defribrillator project promoted by Timaru surgeon Steve Earnshaw.

Begg said she wanted to do something different, having donated, skates, skating lessons and photographs for other charity auctions.

"Skating will benefit so I was certainly keen to help," she said.

So she mentioned the idea to arty friend Liz Le Roy, who thought artist Marita Bool would be perfect for the task.

The plaster cast was made, making good use of cling film and the good weather, with the ceramic almost completed for the September 3 auction.

Bool said she had produced unusual things before, but this was certainly different.

"Liz really talked me into it and Nicole took it her stride."

Begg is not shy when it comes to publicity.

In 2007 she courted controversy as she strove to lift her international profile and that of her sport by undressing.

A world champion skater at that time, she had a series of racy shots done for overseas magazines and websites and appeared on The Herald's front page. Her motivation was simply to increase her profile in the hope of luring a sponsor and also to increase the promotion of inline skating.

It certainly worked and even Playboy magazine ran her in its sportsperson section in its international edition.

Since then Begg has let her skating do her talking.

She heads to Korea today to compete in the world championships, so will miss the auction, and also looks a shoo-in to take out the World Inline Cup marathon series in October.

STU PIDDINGTON

Ostrava World Inline Cup

2011-06-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I won the World Inline Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic. It was a repeat of last year on the start line, humming and harring over what wheels to wear. I think I made a wiser choice this year as the majority of the race was dry once again. There were a couple of light threatening showers during the race but nothing heavy enough to completely saturate the road. After two laps I broke away with three other skaters and by the end there were only two of us left. It came down to a sprint between myself and short track ice skater Katerina Novotna. Katerina is a European Champion and placed 6th at the last Olympic games. Winning in Ostrava now puts me well ahead on the overall points tally for the World Inline Cup with only two races left. Below is a video from both the men's and women's races in Ostrava.

Dijon World Inline Cup

2011-06-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

I didn't really get a chance to celebrate my birthday on Saturday because I had a 5.44am train to catch to Dijon on Sunday. I spent the day cleaning my bearings, changing wheels and packing my bag. But crossing the line on Sunday definitely made up for that.

For once there was absolutely no sign of rain on Sunday. I can recall frantically changing wheels on the start line previous years in Dijon. The course is always tough because the road is a little uneven and one straight is a false flat, which after 19 laps can take its toll.

Since I've had successful breakaway attempts this season and won Dijon in 2007 in a breakaway I thought I would give it another go. Early on I attacked and even though I created gaps and had a good mix of skaters away with me no one was ready to commit themselves quite that early. So nothing ever look like staying away, at least for the first quarter of the race. But I kept persisting and at one stage was away solo for a whole lap, but everyone still had enough energy left to work together and chase me down. There were a few other attacks made by Laetitia Le Bihan, Mareike Thum and Melissa Chouleysko but nothing ever got to the stage of looking dangerous.

Photo - Vincent Buin rollerenligne.com

I just kept attacking and with about seven or eight laps to go I saw an opportunity. I attacked around the top roundabout and coming off of the pack with speed I went full. No one followed me and after a quick glance back I stuck my head down and committed myself. After a couple of laps I had a lead of about 500 metres and then it started to grow. In the end I won by over a minute and a half. The spectators were amazing, every time I went past they would clap and cheer me on. I could also see the chasing group which can sometimes be a disadvantage because they can see you too, but on Sunday it was an advantage because I could see the gap grow lap by lap which kept me going.

Photo - © WIC - Alexander Pfiffner

It felt a little bit like deja vu crossing the finishing line alone. The French skater Justine Halbout had a strong sprint finish and won the pack sprint followed by her younger sister Clemence Halbout.

The men's race was also won in a breakaway by Bart Swings and coming in second was Yann Guyader. Peter Michael also racing for X-Tech MPC International missed getting on the nine man breakaway which escaped after only 7.5 km. However he did win the pack sprint and ended up finishing 10th.

Thanks to Alexandre Chartier and rollerenligne.com for the lift back to the train station. The trophy I won is big and made out of thick glass so it's heavy too. It may have to travel back to New Zealand with me as carry on luggage, literally being carried in my hand.

Update

2011-06-03T08:37:00.000-07:00

Here's an update of what I've been up to over the last few weeks and what's coming up.

Worgl
At the Europa Cup event in Worgl I finished 2nd in the 5km points, 5th in the elimination, 500m and the 300m time trial.

World Inline Cup Incheon
I finished 4th in the World Inline Cup in Incheon, Korea. It was a tough race with nearly all of the top Korean and Chinese skaters present. I attacked early on and just kept attacking until one of the breakaways was successful. I had no energy left for the final sprint after all my attempts to escape, but by creating the breakaway I secured myself a top five position. I'm now leading the World Inline Cup competition.

Photo - Tiger Kim

New Track Project
The work on the new 200m bank track in Timaru, New Zealand is now well underway. The weather in Timaru last month wasn't very good which halted progress but now the rains gone and things are full steam ahead. Here are a few recent pictures.

Coming Up
The next race for me will be the World Inline Cup in Dijon, France which is on the 12th of June. Then the week after I will be racing in Ostrava which is also a World Inline Cup event. The final event before I head back home will be the Gigathlon in Switzerland.

WIC Rennes

2011-05-18T06:47:00.000-07:00

The dilemma in Rennes is usually what wheels to wear. Nearly every year it rains or at least threatens to rain. This year there was absolutely no rain in sight and I could step on the start line with no doubt in my mind that I had the right wheel on.

Unfortunately the fields weren’t as large as previous years; there have been a lot of races clash with one another this year. The course was 2.8 km a lap and had a bit of variety. There was a right hand corner leading into the finish straight and after the finish line there was a small section of tiles and then a small uphill. Around the other side of the course there were some nice straight stretches and just a few rough spots.

I attacked early after the first prime sprint which was on lap one, but no one was really keen to try lead with me. Cecilia was stuck to me like super glue the entire race but wasn’t keen to hit the lead whenever we formed a gap. It was clear from the start she just wanted to wait for the sprint finish.

Just before half way there were five of us left in the leading group which included Cecilia Baena, Justine Halbout, Melissa Chouleysko, Jessica Gaudesaboos and myself. Jessica dropped off early on and when I picked up the pace Melissa would yo-yo on and off the group. The only one that even attempted to lead was Melissa and apart from a few efforts at the front from her I lead the rest of the way.

Photo - Francois & Marie

Justine tried to get a jump about 1km out from the finish but wasn’t able to. I passed her leading into the right hand corner and Cecilia passed me about half way down the finishing straight to win the race. I finished 2^nd, Justine 3^rd and Melissa 4^th. Samantha Michael skating for X-Tech Wheelz New Zealand finished up 9^th again.

Photos - Francois & Marie

Bart Swings and Yann Guyader just caught Nicolas on the finishing straight and Bart took the victory.

I’m now in Worgl, Austria for the track racing this coming weekend. In Rennes I hurt my ankle a little by catching my skate in a rivet or bit of uneven road while on an outside edge. I saw a doctor today and it’s nothing too serious and I shouldn’t cause any more damage by skating but it will still be uncomfortable. So fingers crossed it’s a bit better by race time.

Happy Mothers Day

2011-05-09T00:16:00.001-07:00

I know I'm a day late but I didn't have time over the weekend to pop this up.

Happy Mothers Day

Skate Off Heerde

2011-05-03T01:16:00.000-07:00

I had another successful year at the Unive Skate Off Heerde, taking out the overall long distance title. The event was bigger than ever, with two new grades and a lot of European clubs supporting the event this year.

Racing started on Saturday morning with the 300 meter time trial qualifications. Even though a 300 isn't my forte I started anyway and finished up 9th with a time of 30.01. The cut off for qualification was 6th place with a time of 29.92, so I wasn't disappointing with my time. Next up we had the heats for the 500 meter race. Both the 500m and 300m counted towards the overall sprint title. I drew a tough heat and finished 3rd but qualified on time to the next round.

Photo - Jannes Wolff
www.skeelerhuss.nl

On Saturday night we had the first of the long distance events, 10km points race. Last year it rained and this event had to be held on the road, this year it was chilly but absolutely no rain in sight. I had a tactic sorted out and decided that I would go for wheels with more roll over grip for this event. I wore 3 x 110mm MPC Ex Firm Road Wars and 1 x 100mm MPC Firm Road War on each skate.

The Cado Motus team started out strong dominating the front of the race with 6 skaters. I just sat in the pack and relaxed at the start of the race and let a few point laps go by before I challenged any. When I decided to go I then attacked off the front. Gaining a small gap on the group I stayed out in front alone for 5 laps, picking up 4 points. Once the pack caught back up I just sat in and recovered. Once I regained my breath and saw an opportunity I attacked again, picking up another 4 points. I done this another two times and finished up with a total of 16 points. Laetitia Le Bihan attacked over top of my last stint at the front and was able to pick up a few points at the end, finishing up with a total of 10 points. Elma de Vries also finished with 10 points but seeing Laetitia crossed the line first she took 2nd place and Elma 3rd.

Photo - Jannes Wolff
www.skeelerhuss.nl

Sunday morning racing commenced with the 500 meter quarter finals. Even though 3 of the competitors who qualified didn't show up the heats weren't re drawn. So one of the quarter finals had 2 skaters who automatically qualified and another 3 skaters. Everyone fronted that was in my quarter final so no easy run for me. Jana Gegner took off straight from the gun and not being the quickest person off the line I didn't even have a chance to get on them. Erica Zanetti and Jana qualified for the semi's and Jana went on to win the final as well.

Jana Gegner won the sprint overall, Erika Zanetti 2nd and Paola Segura 3rd. I ended up finishing 8th overall in the sprint. Full results from the sprints over all the grades can be found online, click here to view.

Leading up to the 10km elimination race there was still a bit of sun on the track making it slicker than the night before. So I decided I would go for more grip than the previous night. I wore MPC Firm Road War for the front and back wheels and MPC Ex Firm Road Wars for the two middle wheels. I was concerned leading into the race that without team mates I would struggle against a team with 6 skaters.

The race began and Cado Motus hit the lead. I got in behind their last skater in the train and just held that position for a while. But once eliminations began it started getting a bit messy. With skaters able to swoop off the banking I found myself suddenly going from a really good position to a bad one instantly. I was also using too much energy just trying to hold the position. So with about 30 laps to go I went right to the front. I lead for the rest of the race and was never really challenged for the lead. Francesca Lollobrigida held my wheel for most the race and wasn't going to give it up that easily. Coming around with 1 lap to go I accelerated off the bend and no one was able to come past. Francesca finished 2nd and Elma 3rd.

Click here to view the video of the final 7 laps from bildimpressionen.de
(Yes with about 3 laps to go there was a shoe on the top corner of the track)

I won the overall distance title, Elma de Vries 2nd and Laetitia Le Bihan 3rd. Full results from the distance races over all the grades can be found online, click here to view.

Photo - Jannes Wolff
www.skeelerhuss.nl

The final event was a team skate off. This involved each team of 3 skaters completing 3 laps with the time being taken off the final skater from the team to cross the line. I joined up with Francesca Lollobrigida and Nele Armee to form a team. Our time was the 2nd fastest so we made it to the final run off with Cado Motus which was only about 5 minutes later. We decided I would lead 2 1/2 of the 3 laps, unfortunately Francesca didn't quite have the legs for the final and we finished 2nd. It was a good effort though seeing it was the first time we had ever skated together in a team situation with absolutely no preparation for the event.

It was a weekend full of great racing in all the grades. Big fields and a parabolic bank track made for some exciting passes and close finishes. In the senior men's grade Nicolas Pelloquin was flying and won both of the sprint events and Bart Swings dominated the points race, winning the distance overall.

There are plenty of pictures online from the weekend.

Update

2011-04-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

I'm currently in Holland and staying in a town called Vaassen. I have yet to meet a person outside of the town that knows where it actually is, but maybe I'm just pronouncing it wrong. This weekend I'm racing here in Holland at the Unive Skate Off in Heerde. More information about the event can be found here, skeelerhuss.nl.

Back home in Timaru, New Zealand progress on the new 200 meter bank track is well underway. The builders, Le Roy Construction have already laid the footings and on Monday the block laying begins.

The next World Inline Cup event is on the 15th of May in Rennes, France.

WIC Valencia

2011-04-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the first World Inline Cup of the year was held in Valencia, Spain. The race course was absolutely spectacular, 3.2 km lap around the formula one circuit. We skated in amongst the Americas Cup village and alongside the harbor which was scattered with super yachts. The stretch leading to the finish was slightly down hill and really fast, while the opposite side gradually rose and the head wind made it more of a challenge. Valencia turned on the good weather also, clear skies and a mild temperature of around 24 degrees.

There was a fun skate for the masses to start with and it was great to see so many people on skates. There would have been at least 3000 - 4000 people participating in the fun skate alone.

I was sick with the flu leading up to the marathon and still felt under the weather on the day so my tactic was to try breakaway with a few skaters so I could at least secure a reasonable position and salvage what I could with how I was feeling.

I started attacking on the second lap and of course I was being watched very closely. Every time I even looked like attacking Giovanna Turchiarelli was right there on my wheel. I had a few reasonable gaps on a couple of occasions but the pack didn't want to let me get away that easily and kept chasing hard. A group of Spanish skaters had a go early on but weren't strong enough to stay away and Melissa Chouleysko also made a couple of attempts. I just kept attacking and on about my 1oth attempt I finally got away.

Coming around with about 8 laps to go I accelerated around the bend coming off of the bridge and took off down the long, fast straight stretch with Giovanna on my wheel. Sara Bak then quickly bridged the gap across to us. Taking short, sharp leads the pack wasn't able to gain any ground on us and then the gap rapidly grew once we were out of sight.

Once we were down to about 3 laps to go and safely away I tried to attack again as I didn't like my chances in a sprint finish. I wasn't feeling great, my throat was croaky and dry and my nose was blocked along with my ears but I had nothing to loose as I didn't have a sprint in me. At times during the marathon I was unsure of my footing and feeling like the ground was moving from under me. I didn't manage to get away, my body just wasn't able to do what my mind wanted it to.

Giovanna won the sprint, I came in 2nd and Sara Bak 3rd. After the race I was struggling to breathe and my throat was really raspy so I was pretty happy with 2nd. Samantha Michael racing for X-Tech Wheelz came in 6th in the bunch sprint, finishing up 9th overall in her first WIC event.

The men's race was dominated by the strong Swiss Skate Team. They took out the top 4 places after nearly their whole team broke away from the rest of the field.

I've Landed

2011-04-13T07:47:00.000-07:00

I have arrived safely in Europe and am currently in Paris awaiting a connecting flight to Valencia, Spain. The World Inline Cup marathon in Valencia around the F1 street circuit will be my first event in Europe this season.

Currently I'm looking forward to arriving at the hotel and hitting the bed as I have currently been travelling for about two days. I thought I was seeing things at the airport in Paris when a mouse ran around my bags, but I'm not delirious just yet it was real and alive unfortunately.

New Skates

2011-04-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

My new X-Tech Rollergirl skates arrived a few days ago.
Check them out!

Retro Roller Disco

2011-03-22T00:35:00.000-07:00

Timaru Herald Story

2011-03-08T00:27:00.000-08:00

Big Plans for New Track

STU PIDDINGTON/The Timaru Herald

ON TRACK: Mark Lowen and Nicole Begg at the South Canterbury Rollerskating Club.

Timaru will soon have another international sporting venue with confirmation the South Canterbury Roller Skating Club will start work on an international 200 metre track at Caroline Bay in April.

The club has raised $312,000 and is confident it will be able to add the further $90,000 needed over the next six months.

Stage one of the project is to demolish the outdated and badly cracked 166-metre track and lay a bitumen banked track.

The new track will cost just under $330,000 and the balance of the money will be used to move the club rooms and brick wall at the western end to make way for the extension of the track.

Development co-ordinator Mark Lowen said it was great to think work would start just over a year from when they started fundraising.

"The state of the track is dangerous for speed skating so it will be great to have a new facility next season."

Major donors to the project are the Community Trust of Mid and South Canterbury ($100,000), Timaru District Council ($50,000), Southern Trust ($50,000), Pub Charities ($20,000) and Trust Aoraki ($11,000), plus donations from service clubs and other supporters.

The club has also raised about $50,000 from such events as raffles, firewood and garage sales, and sausage sizzles.

Lowen said they had launched a raffle which they hoped would raise a further $20,000. He said there had been a lot of enthusiasm for the project.

Inline skating in Timaru has long been synonymous with the Begg family and for years they flew the flag alone.

But the South Canterbury Roller Skating Club has been revitalised over the past two years, with a hardworking committee and a speedskating team that has produced two age-group New Zealand representatives. The club now boasts more than 120 members.

The dramatic change came two years ago after 21-year-old former world champion, Nicole Begg, offered free lessons at the almost forgotten track, along with her mother, Cheryl, who also won world titles.

Since then, new life has been breathed into the facility and the revival is almost complete with up to 100 casual users skating on Sunday afternoons, and Friday night club skating.

A serious speed skating group has also been training hard with the Beggs and some of that group appear to have the potential to represent New Zealand over the next few years.

A Tour of Timaru event has also been re-introduced and has drawn large numbers of competitors, including top skaters from the North Island.

Bill Begg, Nicole's father and a renowned international coach, said it would be superb to see a world-class facility in Timaru.

"It will be the best in Australasia and we will be able to offer all sorts of events, as well as an off-season training facility for those in the northern hemisphere."

Begg is working on his global contacts in the sport in the hope Timaru could host the World Inline Speed Skating Championships in 2015.

He has already had informal talks with International Federation of Roller Sports secretary Roberto Marotta and he believes the time is right to bring the championships back to New Zealand, after Hastings in 1989.

With over 50 countries competing and each country allowed up to eight skaters in each division, there would be real benefits for Timaru, he said.

Timaru's original speed skating track was built alongside the memorial walkway in 1963 but had to be relocated with the construction of the Port Loop Rd.

After much debate a location was finally accepted by the club and the council and in 1974 the bank track facility was built.

New Track

2011-02-16T15:18:00.000-08:00

Last week the South Canterbury Roller Skating Club received a $50,000 grant from the Southern Trust to go towards our new track. This has boosted our funding meter and the way things are going in less than a year I could be skating on a brand new 200m bank track in my home town. This would replace a small 166m bank track that's over 25 years old that we currently train on.

Tour of Timaru A Ladies 2 lap Time Trial

2011-01-22T02:27:00.001-08:00

Photo's thanks to Raph Preston

Timaru Herald Story

2011-01-20T13:42:00.000-08:00

Begg, Michael put in world-class displays

STU PIDDINGTON

Nicole Begg and Peter Michael continue to lead inline skating's Tour of Timaru after stages five and six.

Both remained unbeaten after the pursuit and 10,000m points finals at the Caroline Bay rink last night.

Begg and Michael put in world-class displays collecting the maximum 41 points by winning the sprints on each of the three laps, leaving the other skaters to fight for the minor places.

Wayne Begg destroyed the men's field after he started at break-neck speed before pulling out after three of the 60 laps.

As the others chased his start, the field blew apart and only Upper Hutt's Anthony Nalder stayed with Michael picking up early points.

As Michael cruised ahead, lapping the field at the halfway mark, 14-year-old Ollie Jones battled with Kapiti's Josh Whyte for second after reeling in Nalder.

Jones looked to have it wrapped up but Whyte scored a point on each of the final four sprints to tie with Jones on nine points.

Whyte was then awarded second as he finished ahead of Jones across the finish with Nalder fourth as the only other competitor to have scored points.

Begg was just as dominant in the women's A-grade, leaving Upper Hutt's Stephanie Challis to fight with Samantha Michael, of Palmerston North, for the minor placings.

Challis did enough to finish second with 12 points, two ahead of Michael after a great battle.

The pursuit final was also one-way traffic with Michael catching Nalder in the 1000m race.

Jones and Whyte had a excellent race for third with Whyte getting up late to win.

Begg all but caught Michael in the women's final but again the race for third was an exciting one, with commentator Bill Begg almost losing his voice as the tension grew.

Waimate rising star Emily van der Heyden qualified fourth but sneaked home ahead of Palmerston North's Tegan Roffe for third.

The 14-year-old van der Heyden was spurred home by an enthusiastic crowd.

The action returns to the rink tonight with 1000m and 12,000m finals before shifting to Waimate tomorrow for a flying 400m time trial, the 800m and 8000m.

National Champs & Tour of Timaru

2011-01-16T21:45:00.000-08:00

On the 1st of January the New Zealand National Championships got underway up in Auckland. I competed for the South Canterbury Club and won all Senior Ladies and Open Ladies national titles.

Tomorrow the Tour of Timaru starts and is in my home town. The tour runs over 5 days with racing at 4 different venues around South Canterbury. On Sunday we also have the New Zealand Marathon Championships in Timaru. The weather forecast isn't looking great so fingers crossed it's wrong.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

League Day, Timaru

2010-12-20T12:30:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pictures from the League Day we had a few weeks ago in Timaru.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Otago Daily Times

2010-12-20T00:05:00.000-08:00

Begg keen to see more getting their skates on

Former inline speed skating world champion Nicole Begg hopes the sport, with a little help, will regenerate in the South.

The diminutive 22-year-old caused a media maelstrom when she posed nude in 2007 to help raise the profile of her sport.

Now, the Timaru skater is using that profile to help start the sport in Dunedin. She was in Dunedin over the weekend to compete at an event and told the Otago Daily Times an attempt to revive the sport was under way.

Roller skating had been in the doldrums for the past 20 years but former competitive skater Brett McCormack was leading an effort to get it running in the city again, she said.

"They've got a club started up again and they have been travelling to Timaru to train with us," Begg explained.

"So we decided, since they are supporting us, we'd come down and support the club and try to get something happening down here, because then the whole of the South Island gets stronger."

Begg moved home to Timaru from Auckland in 2004 and helped re-established a skating club in the city.

From humble beginnings of three skaters the club has expanded to have a membership of more than 200 skaters.

"A lot of those are speed skaters, so that's another 40 or so speed skaters in the country, which is huge," she said.

"It's still hard for minor sports in New Zealand to get things, but a few years ago I did the nude pictures and people still ask me about that now. That really did bring a lot of coverage to the sport and suddenly people knew it existed and soon they were interested in it."

Begg has had a mixed year in terms of results.

She missed out on a medal at the World Championships for the first time in six years but won "two of the biggest marathon events" in the world.

Begg competes on the professional circuit in Europe and Asia for six months of the year and races under a sponsor's name, rather than under the New Zealand banner.

She makes a modest living but it is a lifestyle she enjoys immensely.

"I definitely don't do it for the money. When I started, I had to sleep in cars and on hotel floors of other people's rooms. I really had to scrimp to get by. But then you make a name for yourself and you start getting sponsored. But I do it because I love it and if I really wanted to make money I would have been down here at university."

Girls at League Day, Timaru

2010-12-17T23:08:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we had a League Day in Timaru with some great racing between the South Canterbury, Dunedin and Christchurch clubs. Here are some of the girls just having fun. Photos thanks to Raph.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Timaru Christmas Parade 2010

2010-12-10T14:51:00.000-08:00

Here is a slide show from the Timaru Christmas Parade 2010 congradulations to the SC Club for 3rd best float. Pictures thanks to Raph.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Live Streaming

2010-10-21T09:01:00.001-07:00

There should be live streaming on Rollersports TV, www.guarne2010.rollersports.tv It looks like they will just be showing the finals. The streaming schedule is below.

GUARNE 2010
DIRECTLY FROM GUARNE (COLOMBIA)
THE 2010 WORLD ROLLER SPEED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS
STREAMING SCHEDULE

Time Zone: Medellin
UTC/GMT -5 hours
http://guarne2010.rollersports.tv

TRACK - FRIDAY 22TH OCTOBER

18:00 Junior Ladies 15000m Elimination Final
18:30 Junior Men 15000m Elimination Final
19:00 Presentation 15000m Elimination Junior Ladies & Junior Men

19:20 Senior Ladies 10000m Points/Elimination Final
19:45 Senior Men 10000m Points/Elimination Final
20:20 Presentation 10000m Points/Elimination Senior Ladies & Senior Men

20:40 Junior Ladies 300m Time Trial Final
21:00 Junior Men 300m Time Trial Final
21:20 Presentation 300m Time Trial Junior Ladies & Junior Men

21:40 Senior Ladies 300m Time Trial Final
22:00 Senior Men 300m Time Trial Final

TRACK - SATURDAY 23TH OCTOBER

17:40 Presentation 300m Time Trial Senior Ladies & Senior Men

18:00 Junior Ladies 10000m Points/Elimination Final
18:25 Junior Men 10000m Points/Elimination Final
18:50 Presentation 10000m Points/Elimination Junior Ladies & Junior Men

19:10 Senior Ladies 15000m Elimination Final
19:40 Senior Men 15000m Elimination Final
20:10 Presentation 15000m Elimination Senior Ladies & Senior Men

20:30 Junior Ladies 1000m Line Final
20:40 Junior Men 1000m Line Final
20:50 Presentation 1000m Line Junior Ladies & Junior Men

21:10 Senior Ladies 500m Sprint Final
21:20 Senior Men 500m Sprint Final

TRACK - SUNDAY 24TH OCTOBER

18:40 Presentation 500m Sprint Senior Ladies & Senior Men

19:00 Junior Ladies 500m Sprint Final
19:10 Junior Men 500m Sprint Final
19:20 Presentation 500m Sprint Junior Ladies & Junior Men

19:40 Senior Ladies 1000m Line Final
19:50 Senior Men 1000m Line Final
20:00 Presentation 1000m Line Senior Ladies & Senior Men

20:20 Junior Ladies 3000m Relays Final
20:35 Junior Men 3000m Relays Final
20:50 Senior Ladies 3000m Relays Final
21:05 Senior Men 3000m Relays Final
21:20 Presentation 3000m Relays (All Categories)

ROAD - TUESDAY 26TH OCTOBER

18:00 Junior Ladies 200m Time Trial Final
18:20 Junior Men 200m Time Trial Final
18:40 Presentation 200m Time Trial Junior Ladies & Junior Men

19:00 Senior Ladies 200m Time Trial Final
19:20 Senior Men 200m Time Trial Final
19:40 Presentation 200m Time Trial Senior Ladies & Senior Men

20:00 Junior Ladies 10000m Points Final
20:30 Junior Men 10000m Points Final
21:00 Presentation 10000m Points Junior Ladies & Junior Men

21:20 Senior Ladies 20000m Elimination Final
22:00 Senior Men 20000m Elimination Final

ROAD - WEDNESDAY 27TH OCTOBER

17:40 Presentation 20000m Elimination Senior Ladies & Senior Men

18:00 Junior Ladies 20000m Elimination Final
18:40 Junior Men 20000m Elimination Final
19:20 Presentation 20000m Elimination Junior Ladies & Junior Men

19:35 Senior Ladies 10000m Points Final
19:55 Senior Men 10000m Points Final
20:15 Presentation 10000m Points Senior Ladies & Senior Men

20:30 Junior Ladies 500m Sprint Final
20:40 Junior Men 500m Sprint Final

ROAD - THURSDAY 28TH OCTOBER

17:40 Presentation 500m Sprint Junior Ladies & Junior Men

18:00 Senior Ladies 500m Sprint Final
18:10 Senior Men 500m Sprint Final
18:20 Presentation 500m Sprint Senior Ladies & Senior Men

18:40 Junior Ladies 5000m Relays Final
19:00 Junior Men 5000m Relays Final
19:20 Senior Ladies 5000m Relays Final
19:40 Senior Men 5000m Relays Final
20:00 Presentations 5000m Relays (All Categories)

Worlds 2010 Resources

2010-10-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

Here are a few sites and resources that you will be able to find information on from this years World Championships in Guarne, Colombia which start in two days time on the 22nd.

Official Worlds site: www.guarne2010.jimdo.com/english

X-Tech Skates blog: www.xtechskates.wordpress.com

Patin Carrera: www.patincarrera.com/guarne2010/index.html

Mundo Patin: www.mundopatin.com/guarne2010

Spagatta: www.spagatta.com/especiales/guarne-2010.html

Race Programme: click here to view

Time Zone: click here to view local time in Guarne

Bill Begg Twitter: www.twitter.com/billbegg

X-Tech/Bill Begg Twitter: www.twitter.com/XTECHbillbegg

Speed Skate World: www.speedskateworld.com

Teleantioquia may have some coverage, refer to the previous post below.

Worlds Coverage

2010-10-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

There may be live coverage of some of the racing on a local Colombian television channel called Teleantioquia. I have found a website were you can watch this channel online. I'm not sure if it will show the racing but it's worth a shot for those of you that can't be here. There is a tv programme listed each day so closer to the time you will be able to see if racing is aired and at what time. The channel is free to watch although you do have to register but it only takes a few minutes.

First you have to go to http://jumptvlatino.com/en/video-player/teleantioquia then click the orange "watch free" button in order to register. Once you register, confirm your registration and log in you are all set to go and can start watching Teleantioquia and hopefully some racing by the end of the week.

Training Pictures

2010-10-16T08:31:00.001-07:00

It's now less than a week to go until "the day" and most of the teams are here now. The facility has been transformed from a muddy mess into something that now resembles a World's venue. There are still workers down there all day and into the night but at least the road circuit is now complete.

Here are a few pictures from training, photos thanks to Mrs Wenger.

2010-10-13T21:22:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!

Today it's my mum's birthday (NZ time). My mum has been a great inspiration in my life. She is the glue of our family and brings out the best in all of us. She is a supermum and a superwomen. Plus I love her to bits. Happy Birthday Mum!

Bill's World Chronicles

2010-10-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

Bill is writting a series of "World Chronicles" on the X-Tech site. There are three up already and they are great reads. They tell the stories behind the results and the journeys behind the skaters.

World Chronicles 1, Joe Askew
Click here to view

"Six months prior to the 1986 Adelaide World Championships Joe arrived and told me he had come to train to win the World 20,000 meter road title. The Adelaide road circuit was tight with bends the other way, I told Joe he may win a World title but it wouldn’t be over 20,000 meters."

"Ten days later I told Joe he could win a medal, he bellowed back at me that he was going to win the gold."

World Chronicles 2, Lee Hollis
Click here to view

"Lee Hollis was the 14 year old Oak Flats club skater from Wollongong N.S.W, Australia who caused one of the biggest upsets at a World senior champs."

"At 16 years of age she decided to retire to a normal teenage life with a full set of world senior medals. Lee Hollis was a great sportsperson and also a great young lady."

World Chronicles 3, Nicole Begg
Click here to view

"Some say she was born to be a World speed skating champion."

"Shaun Thompson, brother Wayne and Nicole were admiring the podium Shaun’s father Greg had built. As the boys were clambering over it Nicole went and shoved them off the top spot, threw her arms in the air and self-declared herself Nicole Begg champion of the World at 8 years of age."

Guarne

2010-10-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

The World Champs are fast approaching, 13 more days till the gun fires. The last couple of days we have been training on the Worlds track in Guarne, yesterday was officially the first day we were allowed to be on there. Prior to that we had been travelling down to Medellin to train. The road circuit is still not complete and I would say mainly due to all the rain up here. But in the last two weeks they have made big progress and there seem to be plenty of hands on deck to get it finished.

Here are a few pictures from Wednesday’s training, photos thanks to Eileen Hughes.

X-Tech Blog

2010-10-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

X-Tech has a new blog and you can check it out by clicking here.

World's Update

2010-10-01T19:55:00.001-07:00

Nothing to new has happened here since my last update. There’s still plenty of rain, can’t skate on the track and we are still making trips down to Medellin to train. Some more teams are starting to arrive now and for sure they will encounter similar problems. My main aim is to stay positive, focused and make do with what we have.

The famous saying “make hay while the sun shines” was something I heard a million times from my dad as a child and it’s probably the perfect quote for the situation we are in. The sun doesn’t shine a lot here but I’ve still been able to make hay.

Here are a few pictures from my 2010 Worlds journey so far. Photo’s thanks to Eileen.

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Colombia Update

2010-09-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

I've been in Colombia for a few days now and last night we finally managed to dodge the showers and get a skate in after a few failed attempts. The New Zealand team is staying just outside of Guarne (the city to host the Championships) but unfortunately no one apart from the Colombian team has access to the actual worlds track until the 7^th of October. So last night we skated at a track in Medellin which is about a 45 minute drive down from Guarne.

At the moment it’s the “rainy season” here which is a pain, ever day it has rained. The annoying thing is it doesn’t just rain once, there are several heavy downpours throughout the day and it seems to rain all through the night as well. Apparently the road circuit is far from finished and all this rain isn’t going to help, so they are on a tight deadline to get it finished.

The sun is shining this morning so hopefully we’ll be able to get another skate in today.

On the way to Guarne

2010-09-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

I'm on the way to Guarne, Colombia to prepare for the World Championships. Currently I'm in transit in Miami and will be arriving into Guarne tonight. The World Championships start on the 20th of October and run until the 30th. Click here to view the official website.

Jeonju

2010-09-13T00:42:00.001-07:00

I'm at Incheon airport waiting for my flight back to China so I have limited time to write a report before access to blogger is denied.

The marathon in Jeonju started early Sunday morning and there was no humming or haring about wheel choice. The ground was saturated and there was plenty of rain prior to the 8am start. The majority of top skaters choose MPC wheels, I wore a full set of MPC storm surges. The course was pretty simple but the rain definitely made it more of a challenge having to dodge all the white lines and slippery patches. It was just over 10km out to the turn point and then back along the same route to another turn point just before the finish line, we completed this twice. There were a few slight rises and a couple of large corners but the course was predominately long straight stretches.

The biggest rise was about 1.5km into the race. Even though it wasn’t that steep the wet road made it more of a challenge. I done a small attack up the hill and by the top Cecilia was the only one left with me. I led for a few kilometres but Cecilia wasn’t keen to lead so I slowed down and a few Korean skaters caught back up. After a couple of kilometres I started attacking again and once again Cecilia was the only one that could stick.

I continued to lead at a solid pace until a reasonable gap was formed. Every time I pulled out from the lead Cecilia would follow and was unwilling to hit the front. I wanted to attack, but it’s hard to attack someone when they are sitting on you and in your draft. At one stage I nearly crashed on a slippery patch trying to swerve out from the lead, after that I thought it was too risky so close to World’s to play those sort of games.

I settled for the fact that Cecilia wasn’t going to lead and that it was too late to let the pack catch back up after I had led for over 10km. So I stayed in the lead but I didn’t want to settle for 2^nd. I tried to disrupt the rhythm as much as I could to wear out Cecilia. I done a few accelerations, changed stride pattern and even put in quite a few cross over steps in on the long straight stretches. Every time we got to a slight rise I would up the pace again. It was hard for me to tell how tired she was due to the fact I couldn’t see her behind me.

After the first lap the wind picked up all of a sudden and the rain started bucketing down. We skated up the steepest rise once again, this was where I attacked the first time and dropped the pack. I started to pick up the pace again and about ¾ of the way up I looked back to see Cecilia dropping off. I looked back after about 800m to see a big gap had formed and then I never looked back.

After the final u-turn and with 9km to go I saw Cecilia heading in the other direction and the gap had grown. Further down the road I saw the main pack and they really didn’t have a chance of catching either of us. After seeing these gaps I decided to throttle off a bit, I got into a steady rhythm and stayed well clear of the white lines. I went on to win and Cecilia came in 2^nd. I can’t find official results anywhere so I’m not too sure of the official results.

Photo - Tiger Kim (incheon3040inline)

The men’s race was won by Yann Guyader who went on a solo break away with about 15 km to go. The bunch sprint was won by Peter Michael from X-Tech followed by Kalon Dobbin.

Photo - Tiger Kim (incheon3040inline)

Jeonju Marathon

2010-09-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

This morning I won the Jeonju Marathon in Korea. It was a wet race and I broke away after about 3km with Cecilia Baena. After 20km Cecilia dropped and I went on to win solo. The mens race was won by Yann Guyader in a solo break and Peter Michael from X-Tech won the bunch sprint to finish 2nd.

World Inline Cup CHUNCHEON

2010-09-07T00:19:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday the WIC marathon in Chuncheon, Korea was held. With being in Haining the last few weeks it was only a short flight to Korea so that was nice for a change. The temperature was a bit cooler too so it was refreshing not sweating 24/7 like in China. It was my first visit to Chuncheon and I would have loved to stay there longer. The WIC was in conjunction with the World Leisure Games so the city was buzzing.

The course was one lap around lake Chuncheon and it was a really interesting route with a lot of variety. There were a few hills, fast downhill sections, flat, smooth, rough, long straight sections and a lot of right hand turns. After looking at the course the previous day I thought the finish would have suited me a lot better than a long straight line finish. Going into the last corner the road was slightly uphill then a 90 degree right hand corner and about 100m to the finish line. I have no problem crossing the other way so I thought if it came down to a sprint with the right hand corner so close I would have a good chance.

The biggest hill was about 2.5 km into the race, it was a pretty reasonable size and dragged on for about 2km. After seeing the course I decided this would be one place I would try attack. On race day once we got to the hill a lot of the top contenders were sitting on me so I wasn’t able to get a run on like I had hoped for. After about ¼ of the way up and the pace not on I decided I would hit the front. About half way up the hill most of the pack had fallen off and by ¾ of the way up I pulled out for someone else to lead and there was only Giovanna, Nathalie and Cecilia left. No one was keen to take a lead so that indicated to me that they were hurting. I started picking up the pace again and by the top Cecilia had dropped off and there were three of us left.

Heading towards the first hill - Photo - 김천수

My only concern about attacking up that hill was that if we did get a gap a big pack might have been able to easily reel us in down the long downhill drag. Giovanna and myself continued skating down most of the hill to ensure the gap wasn’t closed down easily. Once we got back down to the flatter section I could see Giovanna was starting to tire. We continued to share the leads and I put in a few long ones to ensure the break was going to stick.

Over halfway into the race there was a long section that was rough and slightly uphill which continued onto a bridge that crossed the dam. After leading I moved over and looked behind to see Nathalie struggling to hang on. I waved Giovanna through but she had no gas left either, so I went to the front and kept grinding up the rough road. At the top I glanced back and a big gap had formed.

I led the rest of the way back into town and with about 200m to go gapped Giovanna and went on to cross the line 1^st. Nathalie wasn’t caught by the pack and came in for 3^rd place.

Photo - Dr Spark

The main pack came in around 13 minutes later and the sprint was won by Kim Miyong from Korea.

Pack Sprint - Photo - 김천수

Women 41 km Marathon Results

Nicole Begg (X-Tech MPC) NZL 1:09:02
Giovanna Turchiarelli (ALESSI) ITA 1:09:04
Nathalie Barbotin (Powerslide) FRA 1:11:54
Kim Miyong (Korea) KOR 1:22:33
Cecilia Baena (Powerslide) COL 1:22:34

The mens race was won in a break away also. Initially Joey and Yann broke away and then Joey went on to win solo by a few minutes. Peter Michael also skating for X-tech and racing in his first WIC race this season finished 4th.

Men 41 km Marathon Results

Joey Mantia (Simmons Schankel) USA 1:03:24
Yann Guyader (Powerslide) FRA 1:05:11
Kalon Dobbin (Powerslide) NZL 1:09:32
Peter Michael (X-Tech MPC) NZL 1:09:32
Nam Yoo Jong (Powerslide) KOR 1:09:32

WIC Chuncheon

2010-09-06T05:38:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I won the World Inline Cup Marathon in Chuncheon!

1st Nicole Begg - X-Tech MPC
2nd Giovanna Turchiarelli - Alessi
3rd Nathalie Barbotin - Powerslide

I'm in Korea at the moment so I can access blogger once again along with all the other blocked sites. I was able to get access in China for about two days until the government caught up with the program I was using. The only problem is the hotel I'm in has ridiculously slow internet that cuts out every few minutes. I will add a race report once I find a better connection.

Haining International Skate Festival

2010-08-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Hanining, China and this time around I have found a way to access blogger along with the numerous other blocked sites.
Tomorrow racing starts with the marathon, the course similar to the one raced at last years World Championships and then track racing will commence on Sunday and Monday. There are plenty of countries represented here. So far I have seen skaters from Switzerland, Germany, Indonesia, Slovakia, Italy, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, America and of course New Zealand. The skate festival also has competitions for slalom, free style and wave board so it's looking like it will be a big event.

HEHA Active Mentor

2010-08-08T23:46:00.000-07:00

This year I joined with the HEHA team (Healthy Eating Healthy Action) to help promote BEING ACTIVE. This is a chance for me to help encourage the youth of our district to lead healthier and more active lives.
Here is the cover and a page from the June South Canterbury HEHA Newsletter.

Round Table 8 Add to Rink Fund

2010-07-31T22:31:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday night I spoke at a Round Table evening in Timaru and Round Table 8 donated $1000 towards the new rink fund. Every dollar counts so we really appreciate the donation, thank you.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Open Day

2010-07-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had an open day incorporated into our normal learn to skate and public session that we usually run on a Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately speed training had to be cancelled because the track was too wet but the bad weather didn't stop huge numbers from turning up for the open day. We had 80 people out there on skates yesterday, WOW! I ended up signing 95 postcards and by the end of the day the track was dry enough for me to do a demo. It was a fantastic day and it also helped raise some funds to go towards the new track.

Here are a few video clips from the day and there will be pictures to follow.

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Timaru Herald 22/7/2010

2010-07-21T12:41:00.000-07:00

Nicole rolls back into town

By STU PIDDINGTON - The Timaru Herald

Speedskater Nicole Begg is back in Timaru for a mid-season break from northern hemisphere competition but has Colombia on her mind.

The 23-year-old has been based in Europe since February and now has almost a month at home before heading off again in a buildup to the World Inline Championships in South America in October.

"It's nice to be back home among family and friends and I am only missing one race of any significance."

Begg has been competing with success in both the World Inline Cup marathon and track series and sits second overall in the marathon behind Colombian Cecilia Baena and leads the track series, having missed the podium only once in 10 events.

Her racing has been somewhat harder without a team around her for support this year but the former world champion's new Chinese sponsor X-Tech was keen for the exposure in Europe.

Begg is unlikely to hold her standings, however, as her next stop is a world-class training venue in China to prepare for the worlds, which is her main focus for the year.

She is hoping to add to her two previous titles and is likely again to be the only skater to race in every event from the 500m upwards.

Conditions in Colombia will certainly test Begg with Guarne, the host city, at 2150m above sea level and the altitude could have an effect on her performance as she has never raced at anywhere near that height.

"I've been to St Moritz plenty of times but it's way below that," she said.

Begg leaves on August 16 and will compete in the Asian Inline Cup and possibly a WIC marathon in Korea, which only a two-hour flight from where she is based.

Her programme may however be adjusted to ensure she does not hand the Colombians, who are a powerhouse in skating, too much of an advantage.

While at home Begg is largely keeping off the skates. Instead she will focus on building up the kilometres on bike, gymnasium work and off-skate plyometrics.

She will also spend time coaching the South Canterbury Roller Skating Club speed squad which has grown tenfold in the last two seasons.

"I'm really happy how much they have improved," she said.

She will also attend a learn-to-skate session at the Caroline Bay rink this Sunday afternoon at 2pm and no doubt will spend time signing autographs for her growing number of fans.

Also on her agenda is helping to fundraise for the new $455,000 track.

Update

2010-07-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

I'm back home in Timaru, New Zealand at the moment and will be here for around a month before heading to China.

I arrived in Christchurch about 4 days ago and stayed up there for the night before driving home the next day. After 38 hours worth of travelling I had no problems falling asleep only to be woken up a few hours later by Drug Free Sport NZ representatives. I was chosen for an out of competition drug test and seeing I was in Christchurch for the night it saved them having to travel to test me. That is my second out of competition test this year. Even though it can be inconvenient it's good to see they are doing their job.

Our team, Klinik im Zentrum finished second in the Gigathlon. I'll write a bit more about this event in another post sometime next week. It was a fantastic event and I had a lot of fun.

Tomorrow we have the South Canterbury Club Champs, we have 38 entries from our club. A lot of young girls speed skating at the moment with 6 in the Primary Girls and 4 in the Tiny Tot Girls divisions.

There's no time for jet lag. I've already done two gym sessions, a skate last night and a few hours on the spin bike today. Looking forward to starting motor pacing next week around the car race track.

There's no place like home!

Timaru Herald Article 17/7/10

2010-07-16T21:29:00.000-07:00

On track for new skating rink
By STU PIDDINGTON - The Timaru Herald

FREEZING FUN: Inline skating has been revived in South Canterbury and the Caroline Bay rink is set to be replaced. But even cold winter nights have not kept keen skaters away.

The South Canterbury Roller Skating Club is almost halfway towards the $455,000 it needs to put down a new track at its Caroline Bay headquarters.

The club has been revitalised over the past two years with an active committee, a speedskating team that has produced two age-group New Zealand representatives, and now boasts more than 120 members.

The dramatic change came two years ago after 21-year-old former world champion, Nicole Begg, offered free lessons at the almost forgotten track.

Since then new life has been breathed into the facility and the revival is almost complete with up to a 100 casual users skating on sunny Sunday afternoons, with Friday night club skating and speed training in-between.

Stage one of the project is to demolish the old 166-metre, cracked and outdated track and lay a new international-sized, 200m bitumen banked track.

The new track will cost just under $330,000 while the balance of the money will be used to move the club rooms and brick wall at the western end to make way for the extension of the track.

The club has raised $205,000 so far.

The major donors are the Community Trust of Mid and South Canterbury ($100,000), the Timaru District Council ($50,000) and gaming machine trust Pub Charities($20,000).

The club has reserves of $27,000 which are being put towards the project while Mt Harper Ice Rink trustees has given $8000.

Club spokesperson Mark Lowen is delighted by the progress so far and hopes the track will be laid before next winter.

He said a new track was essential because cracks in the surface have made the track dangerous and were getting bigger as water got into them and froze.

"It's beyond fixing and the numbers we have attending both competitive and recreational skating mean it will be a well-used facility in both summer and winter."

Mr Lowen said that while the revival started with 21-year-old Begg there was now a solid base of parents to take the sport forward.

He was delighted with the support the club had received but was keen to hear from anyone else interested in helping.

The club has two additional stages planned: resurface the rink with the coatings that they use at the world championships, at a cost of $100,000 to $120,000, and build new clubrooms.

Tomorrow the club will hold its first championships in more than a decade with more than 50 skaters expected to compete indoors at the SBS Events Centre.

Next Sunday there will an open day at the Caroline Bay rink from 2pm with Begg showing her skills while on a break from racing.

Update

2010-06-29T04:07:00.001-07:00

Summer seems to have finally arrived and my time in Europe is soon coming to an end. My next event is the Gigathlon on the 10th - 11th July which is in Thun, Switzerland. It's not a traditional skating event but a multi sport even consisting of running, road cycling, mountain biking, swimming and of course skating. I will be competing in a team of five and will just be doing the two skating legs.

Last weekend I didn't race anywhere, the only real big event on was the Le Mans 24 hour race in France. I did get in two good days of training on my skates though. The Germans have their national championships on this weekend so skaters from various clubs around the country made a trip to test out the track beforehand, so there were plenty of people around to skate with. The German National Championships is not open to overseas skaters so I will just be spectating.

After the Gigathlon I will be heading back home to Timaru, New Zealand. I'm really looking forward to seeing my partner, mum, bike and everyone at the club and I hear there are plenty of newbie speed skaters. I will be home for about a month and then head to Haining, China for the skate festival and marathon. Haining will become my training base in preparation for the World Championships.

WIC Biel

2010-06-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was the World Inline Cup in Biel and also the first stage of the Swiss Inline Cup. Switzerland used to be the hub for skating marathons with races on nearly every week for about a 3 month period. Races were held around city streets, beautiful lakes and through great valleys. There were thousands of participants, big crowds, top teams, cow bells and of course a party to finish. Unfortunately Biel didn't have the same atmosphere this year.

The course from previous years which ran through the city streets was changed and we were racing outside of the city in a semi industrial area. No more racing through the shopping district and people cheering you on from cafes and bars. The weather didn't help either it was around 10 degrees, the wind was chilly and there were a few showers for the earlier races.

The original course was changed before the speed men and women raced because it was deemed as being too dangerous. Below is the map. The green area was a motorway over bridge. It wasn't long, but the climb was pretty sharp. So the red section was the main issue, coming down off the bridge and turning 90 degrees left on a one lane road. So we ended up racing around the yellow rectangle which was no more than 1km a lap and fully flat.

The men and women were racing at the same time which was a bit messy around such a small circuit. I was looking forward to a harder race having to go over the bridge twice every lap, I thought that may help break the field up. Unfortunately all it takes is for one person to do something silly on a corner like that and it can bring a group of people tumbling down, so the right decision was probably made. Early on I tried quite a few attacks but was pounced on pretty rapidly. Nathalie, the Alessi team and the Ferarra team tried a couple of times and Tina had a go but no one was ever fully committed to try end the race in a breakaway. Nothing ever got to the stage where it looked serious. After about half way I decided to stop attacking. I thought if somehow I did get away with the men constantly lapping us it would be easy for the women to hop on the back. There were only one or two attempts after that.

Photos - Stephan Keel www.skate4fun.ch

After half way the race slowed right down and looked like we were in for another pack sprint finish. The last corner coming into the finish straight was a little tricky because there was a traffic island on the exit so you couldn't drift wide and then a straight run of about 400 meters to the finish. I could see teams were going to block on the final corner but there wasn't much I could do about it because the lead out started pretty early.

Nathalie and Sabine got to the front with just under one lap to go. Once they moved everyone started scrambling so I had to use a bit of energy to regain a good position. Nathalie wound the pace up with Sabine behind her and Giovanna and the Alessi team lined up behind them. I was behind the last Alessi skater and it was either Tamara or Tina behind me. Nathalie moved over just before the last corner and let Sabine go with Giovanna on her wheel. The rest of the skaters stopped at the corner so I didn't get a clean run though. By the time I got past the skaters and out of the corner Sabine and Giovanna had a bit of a gap. I caught them down the straight and tried to pass on the left but I had already used my burst to catch them and the road was narrowing. I was getting closer to the barriers, the road ahead wasn't getting any wider and my legs weren't going to move any quicker so I slotted back in behind Giovanna. Sabine won, Giovanna 2nd and myself 3rd. Full results available at datasport, click here to view.

Photo - Ferrara Inline

Even though there were plenty of break away attempts in the mens race none of them were able to stay away. One of the Alessi skaters still had a reasonable gap with about 3 or 4 laps to go but he was reeled in. Scott done a big lead out for the Powerslide team but Nayib was able to get past the whole team going into the final corner and went on to win, with a gap back to second place getter Yann.

2010-06-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

PatinCarrera Interview in English

2010-06-21T03:54:00.000-07:00

NICOLE BEGG

The multiple champion from New Zealand is one of the great figures of world skating at only 23 years of age.
Wearing the new colours of X-Tech she spoke exclusively with us and told us about her exiting life on wheels.

1.What is your analysis of the first half of the 2010 season?
I think my performance has been pretty good in recent months. I'm skating alone which isn't always going to be easy. My strength isn't really long straight line sprints and we have had quite a few of those this season. There aren't a lot of skaters racing full time on the circuit this year so a lot of the races have been slow and boring and that's not really my style of racing. I prefer harder, faster races with a lot more attacks.
Since there are few teams, Powerslide have been able to control the vast majority of races because many times they have been the only strong team present.

2. What has been your best race of the season so far?
Probably the WIC Incheon. It wasn't my best result but the finish was very close between Seul Lee, Cecilia and myself. As for atmosphere it would have to be Dijon. The TV was there along with a spectator friendly course and a large field in the women's event.

3. How was your off season?
During the preseason I didn't know exactly where I would be based during the year and what events I would be racing in so I didn't train specifically for marathons. I done a lot of cycling over the NZ summer and I was really busy with other ventures. Our family opening a shop in the main street of our city (Timaru, New Zealand), helping coach and promote our club and trying to get the funds we need to build a new track. Then we brought back the Tour of Timaru which also took up some of my time helping to get things organized for the event which hadn't been run in nearly a decade. It used to be a very popular skating event in New Zealand and we hope to bring it back to it's former glory over the next few years.

4. How is the life of Nicole Begg constantly traveling around the world?
It can at times be frustrating and stressful, is not always glamorous. Even during the off season when I'm not travelling as much I still seem to be busy. The last few weeks have been hard since Incheon I have had flights every week. Waiting around at airports is probably the most tedious part of traveling. I like to try and relax when I get home to New Zealand at the end of the season but I'm usually actually busier there than when I'm in Europe.

5. What is your favorite place in the World? And what is the worst, where do you dislike going?
There is no place like home, Timaru is my favorite place it's what I class as my home. It's difficult to think of the worst place. Some places I don't like just because I have had bad experiences it's not that they are bad places it's just I haven't had a good time there. For example at the moment I'm not in love with Spain because on the last trip there 3 of my 4 flights were delayed and my luggage didn't make it on board. Switzerland is a beautiful place but I also love Singapore. Singapore has great food, a million and one places to shop and some really nice cycle paths to skate on.

6. What's on your calendar in the coming weeks?
On Sunday I will be in Biel (Switzerland) for the 8th stage of the World Inline Cup. In early July I will be racing for a team in the Gigathlon then I will return home for a month. I will travel to China in August for Haining Skate Festival and train in Haining. Biel should be an interesting race, especially if it rains.

7. What are your goals for the World Championships in Guarne?. What do you think about the height of the town and how will you adapt to 2100m above sea level?
I think it will really hard, I've never competed at a similar altitude. But my goals do not change, of course I want to win a World Title in Guarne. I have 11 Senior world medals so far and I want to keep adding to them.
Good preparation for me would be going into the champs with a season behind me that's injury free. The last two years I've had bad injuries during the season, so to have no interruptions in my training this year would be nice. I think I will have to go to Colombia earlier than I normally would to adapt to the altitude.

8. What do you think the World Championships in Guarne will be like? And who will be your personal rivals on the track?
Colombia have a passion for skating so no doubt there will surely be an enthusiastic crowd. Hyo Sook Woo and the rest of the Korean team are always going to be hard to beat. Of course the Colombians will be strong at home and China may be a surprise if they bring their best athletes. Chinese Taipei really performed last year and Italy had a strong team in 2009 as well. The German women are strong on the road and there are always others to watch out for. I think a lot will depend on how everyone prepares and adapts to the altitude.

9. Will we see Nicole Begg on ice skates soon?
I really don't know at this point. I haven't fully analyzed the possibility of switching to ice or racing seriously on the bike. It would have been an easy question to answer if inline speed skating had made it as an Olympic sport.

10. For many years you were the image of Bont, it was a big surprise when you joined with X-Tech. What is your feeling after the first few months?
Yes, it was a surprise for a lot of people. I'm very grateful to Bont because they supported me for a long time but it was really exciting for me to start a new adventure with X-Tech. I love the new X-Tech products. They worked hard in the off season experimenting and perfecting their products to provide first class equipment and have achieved key partners like IS frames and MPC wheels.

11. What would you change in our sport to make it more professional? What would you like to see change in skating?
I think everyone needs to push to be more professional, athletes, organizers, promoters, federations absolutely everyone. It was great to see TV coverage in Dijon, we need more of this even if it's only on a local channel we need to start somewhere. Skating still lacks a press presence, if everyone pushed for a little publicity in their area we could start being noticed.
I think Asia is the next place where skating will have it's big boom. When it takes off we need to start fresh with a new atmosphere, professional people involved and new ideas.

By Guido Ferraiuolo: PatinCarrera.com Group

3rd Biel

2010-06-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Just arrived home from Biel. I finished 3rd, full results from all categories available at Data Sport click here to view them. Report to come.

PatinCarrera Interview

2010-06-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

PatinCarrera.com has an interview online. It's in Spanish, but I will translate it after the race this weekend and put the English version on my blog. Click here to view the Spanish version.

Thursday Night Racing Flying 200m

2010-06-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

It was Thursday night racing again here in Geisingen. Here are the flying lap times.

South Canterbury Skate Club Learn to Skate

2010-06-16T07:53:00.001-07:00

Here is a slide show from Learn to Skate last weekend in Timaru, New Zealand (my home). It's great to see so many people coming to the programme even in the middle of winter. My mum told me there were about 59 there last Sunday. Thanks to all the parents and volunteers that show up each week to help out, we wouldn't be able to run the programme without your support. Keep up to date with the club through our blog www.southcanterburyskateclub.blogspot.com

I love the last two pictures in this slide show, once upon a time I used to be able to win the limbo but not anymore.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Dijon Links

2010-06-16T06:45:00.001-07:00

Here are a few things I've found online from last weekends World Inline Cup in Dijon.

Timaru Herald - Nicole Begg Again on Podium

818 photo's by Cyril Abbas, click here to view them all. Here are a few of my favorite ones.

Photo's from Alexander Pfiffner, click here to view all photos.

There is a video online from the TV footage. You don't see a lot of the women's race and it misses all my attacks but good video of the final sprint. It also gives you an idea of what the race in Dijon is all about. Click here to view video.

You can find the full results here, you just need to scroll down the page a bit.

MPC wheels were again on the feet of the winners in both the men's and women's races. A lot of skaters choose to change wheels at the last minute as there was a brief shower of rain. The road was wet for the first few laps of the race but it quickly dried up. I stayed on my MPC Road Wars because they handle the rain pretty well and there was clear blue sky in the direction the rain had just come from.

I would have liked the race to be harder, although it was great to see a few more teams try attempt something this week. The Alessi Team had a few goes and so did the French National Team.

2nd Dijon

2010-06-14T05:36:00.000-07:00

I was 2nd in the Dijon WIC, Cecilia won and Giovanna 3rd. The internet at home isn't working at the moment so don't know when I will be able to put a race report up. I'm at an internet cafe at the moment and people are smoking inside so I want to get out of here ASAP.

Dijon WIC

2010-06-12T03:28:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I head to Dijon, France for the World Inline Cup marathon. This week the women actually have a full 42 km as well, unlike previous weeks. The race starts at 4 pm on Sunday with the men and the women start 1 minute later. The race will be live on French TV, here is the link to the Internet version http://video-direct.france3.fr/player.php?id=858 . After looking at the forecast it looks like we could be in for another rain race.

Selfless People

2010-06-11T03:16:00.000-07:00

Our sport struggles to get publicity in a lot of towns, cities and countries. We talk about the lack of sponsorship, numbers and at the end of the day money. Although in some regions our great sport thrives in the public eye. If you look at all the places where skating gets publicity and recognition there will usually be someone behind it that's pushing it. Someone that is selfless, determined, has a great love for the sport and that is not willing to give up.

My dad is one of these people. Some people don't see eye to eye with him but he is honest and will tell you exactly what he thinks. There is no beating around the bush, you know exactly where you stand with him. Sometimes as a coach you have to tell people things they may not want to hear. He is willing to spend many unpaid hours promoting a sport that he has a great passion for and often doesn't even get a thank you in return.

In New Zealand we have lacked publicity and recognition for quite some time. In recent years we have had government funding to help back us financially, but we still struggled to get it in the public eye.

When my family moved back to South Canterbury in 2004 it was time to start changing this. We got the support of an enthusiastic sports reporter that was willing to take an interest in local talent. Regular stories in my cities news paper helped build the profile of the sport. With my success over the years and my dad's countless emails more results and stories started making the headlines. People starting reading and learning about the sport. We went from having about five club members to now having over one hundred and sixty. There is also a large group of people who take great interest in reading about what I'm up to in the newspaper.

In 2006 skating hit the public's eye not just in Timaru but nationwide when I done a series of nude photo's. I featured on TV shows, in magazine articles, mentioned in nearly every news paper and had plenty of radio interviews. Even though it was a bold move and a little controversial it was a start in the right direction.

To this day I still get asked about the photo's and people are still talking about them. Even though I'm not bombarded by publicity now, like I was when the photo's first came out I still appear on the odd TV show and results/articles are starting to spread nationwide on a more frequent basis. A lot of this has to do with my dad. He not only pushes my results out there to the media in New Zealand but others as well, regardless of who they are sponsored by or have ties too.

This is a snippet from Radio Sports news section. Radio Sport is our nations number one radio channel dedicated to sport. Even though it is only a small mention, it's a start and no doubt it was mentioned on the radio as well.

The only reason this article along with many others make it to the news section is because my dads commitment. Along the line somewhere someone will pick up on the story. If they get positive feed back from it and interest from the public next time they will be chasing you for the story.

Here is another example and this was on Stuff's sports section, which is New Zealand's number one online news source from Fairfax Media.

And another example from Stuff's sports section.

If even one tenth of the skating population was able to push for a little recognition our great sport would start thriving. Unfortunately not everyone is selfless and a lot of people end up giving up. We have a great sport it's just so many people out there don't even realize it exists.

What is sad for me to see is when someone is pushing for the good of the sport and they are willing to help people for free and those people they help can not even go out of their way an inch to give something back in return. They sacrifice a lot of their life to give everything to others and then those people become shallow and can not even say thanks.

Great News

2010-06-09T03:59:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago as our club numbers started growing and skating was revived in South Canterbury we started looking at the prospect of a new skating facility. We now have over 160 club members but our current track is deteriorating rapidly.

The council confirmed yesterday they would chip in $50,000 towards the project. A few weeks ago we were approved a grant for $100,000 from The Mid and South Canterbury Community Trust and the club has some funds aside also, so it's starting to look good.

Here is an article from the Timaru Herald, click to enlarge.

Update

2010-06-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

I arrived back in Geisingen safely last night but my luggage didn't. What an awful trip, two late flights and then one delayed by about five hours. I had to run from one end of the Madrid terminal to the other to make my final flight and to top it off we ended up hitting an air pocket and the plane just dropped. I have my luggage now so that's the main thing.

This Sunday is the WIC in Dijon, France. Happy that it's only a car trip away and I don't have to board another aeroplane.

My dad has discovered Twitter and started an account, check it out http://twitter.com/billbegg

The weather is still not that great here in Geisingen. Summer came this afternoon for a couple of hours then a big black cloud rolled over and let loose.

Pamplona Track Racing

2010-06-06T07:58:00.001-07:00

First up this morning was the 300m time trials, followed by the 500m and then the 10km points.

500m
Not too sure how they drew the heats for the 500 meters but some were stacked and then others easier. For instance one ladies heat only had two starters and then others had five or six and it was the same in the men's heats. The first two qualified for the next round.
My first heat I had Nicoletta Falcone, a French skater and a Spanish skater. Nicoletta and I qualified easily into the next round.
The next round was tough I had Jercy Puello (1st 300m), Nicoletta (2nd 300m) and Francesca Lollobrigida who is Nicoletta's team mate. The track is really hard to pass on and the start is really crucial. I don't have a great start at the best of times and today it was really bad, I was a few meters behind off the start line. I wound up and tried to pass on the outside but Francesca drifted up to protect Nicoletta and I couldn't get past. The women could nearly hug the pole line so it was very difficult to pass covering extra distance around the outside. I ended up getting Francesca at the line to finish 3rd.
The final had three Colombian skaters and Nicoletta, Colombia took 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Nicoletta was last off the line and with three skaters from the same team it was always going to be a tough task especially round this track.

10km Points
The men had heats for the points race with 15 from each heat going through to a final with 30 skaters. The women's was just a straight final. Going into the race I thought the Colombian team would really dominate. They had two really strong distance skaters plus Cecilia. But I think the Colombians were too busy racing me instead of racing the race. The French team raced smart and took advantage of their numbers and the situation, they had about nine skaters start the race.
I got quiet a few points early on but had to use a lot of energy at the front to get my points, no one to lead me out. Then quiet a few times the Colombian team and myself were battling for the same points. So I used energy and missed out on points on a few occasions. After this someone from the French team would lead Laetitia through and get a bit of a gap, they picked up points that way for most of the race.
At one stage towards the end of the race Alexandra, kelly and Laeitia got a bit of a gap. It was looking very dangerous especially with Cecilia controlling the front of the pack. Everyone else in the pack was dead and no one looked too keen to chase them down. I had no choice but to chase, the three skaters out ahead were the ones with the points.
With about three laps to go Sabine and Laetitia had a gap. I tried to chase but then Alexandra got in front of me and I thought she would chase but she seemed to slow down. I got past her and then Kelly got in front of me. I got passed Kelly with about one and a half laps to go, I was dead and my legs were wobbly but I was catching them. Going into the final corner they still had a bit of a gap and we had to go around a lapped skater. I couldn't lunge properly and Laetitia beat me by about half a wheel or so for the second points.
Laetitia ended up beating me by one point and Alexandra Vivas finished third. I'm not sure on the other placings, Kelly had a few points and Sabine. Sabine also found it hard without a team, Cecilia was racing for Colombia and Nathalie wasn't racing on the track.

Pamplona update

2010-06-06T01:34:00.000-07:00

Racing has just started with the ladies 300m tt. There was heavy rain here this morning so we are racing on the track. The temperature is about 15 degrees at the moment so a big change from yesterday.

Pamplona Results

2010-06-05T12:30:00.000-07:00

It was really hot here today for the ladies race, 30 plus degrees. It came down to a sprint finish. No one was keen to try attack and split up the strong teams apart from myself and the French, who tried a couple of times. The course was tricky with a tight U-turn at each end. The hot weather, dust, white lines and uneven surface made these turns slippery and tricky. The pack had to slow down at each end to make the turn so there was a lot of rolling. If you wanted to win you really had to be at the front of the pack out of trouble going into the last turn. The finish line wasn't far after this and positions from out of the corner didn't change a whole lot.

The lead out for the sprint started early with the Colombian team up in front. I was hoping to get on a good wheel coming through that could get me closer to the front without having to sprint so far out. I was on Giovanna who was on the Powerslide train. The last skater in that train stopped skating and when Giovanna and I tried to pass her we couldn't get past easily. We ended up doing a bit of a zig zag across the road, bumped into each other then I got jammed between a rubbish/skip bin and the skater.

Going into the final corner there were quiet a few skaters still in front so I done a big T stop to slow myself down so I could try cut underneath them as they drifted out. There were people going kamikaze into the final corner and others blocking the road, it was messy. It worked but I lost all my speed and had to re accelerate out of the corner. By that stage the front 6 had a gap formed and I ended up finishing 8th.

1st Arnedo
2nd Kelly
3rd Alexandra

It cooled down a little by the time the men raced but it was still pretty hot. The winning breakaway formed pretty early on in the race. At first there were five skaters in the break, the Italian dropped off with about 15 laps to go and ended up pulling out of the race once the pack caught so that left four. The breakaway group consisted of Yann, Fabio, Cobo (Colombia) and Ewen. It came down to a lunge at the end between Yann and Cobo. Cobo won and if he didn't there would have been a Colombian riot because the line Yann took down the final straight was questionable.

It's pouring with rain here now and plenty of thunder so there is about an 80% chance that will be racing at the track tomorrow which has a roof instead of the road.

Flight Delay

2010-06-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

Well the first flight from Zurich to Madrid was late and now my flight from Madrid to Pamplona has been delayed. So I will be getting into Pamplona a lot later than expected. Thankfully the WIC race is in the late afternoon so I will be able to sleep in YAY!

Thursday Night Racing

2010-06-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight there was racing for all ages and abilities at the Geisingen Arena. These races will be held every second week on a Thursday night. There was a great turn out with over 60 skaters racing.

The senior skaters had a flying lap (200m) and 3km race, the 6km points race was cancelled. The seniors also paired up with skaters from the B and C categories for 2km ProAm races. Each skater had a partner and it was like a teams race, with so many skaters we had to skate 4 of these 2km races.

Here are the times from the flying lap, these were done solo so there was no drafting. With more skaters showing up than anticipated there was a shortage of timing chips so some skaters had to share with others, hence the funny names below. Kalon and Najib had the exact same time, they both ran another 200 but neither of them could better their first time. I done a 15.667 so I'm pretty happy with that.

Pamplona

2010-06-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

This Friday I head to Pamplona for the WIC race on Saturday and the road racing on Sunday. The WIC race is 30km for the women and 42km for the men. The course is 1200 meters with a turn at each end and apparently a slight rise. I didn't get the chance to race in Pamplona last year so this will be my first ever visit to the city. Quite a few national teams will be there, including Colombia so there should be some real top class racing. Had a quick look at the long range weather forecast and one site I looked at is predicting rain with the chance of thunder storms on Sunday. Then another site said Saturday afternoon/evening chance of rain and thunder. What is up with the weather?

Ostrava Results

2010-05-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

Just back from the WIC race, I finished 2nd in the sprint. It was dry for the ladies race although it threatened to rain nearly the whole race. Cecilia won and Nathalie 3rd. There weren't a lot of top skaters so it was very slow and there wasn't a lot of action. They really need some sort of incentive to liven up the women's racing, the only team here wanted a sprint finish and there was a lack of strong skaters willing to have a go so the race was dead.

About 5 minutes after the ladies race finished it started to rain. So the men's race was fully wet the whole way. A break away formed about half way through the race with Severin, Thomas and Yann. Severin and Thomas were working the break and then with about 4 or 5 laps to go Yann broke away from them and won, Severin 2nd and Thomas 3rd.

WIC Ostrava

2010-05-27T07:26:00.000-07:00

This Sunday I'll be racing in the World Inline Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic. This will be a first for me, I've never been to the Czech Republic. The women's 33km race starts at 2.30pm and the men's 4.30. Surprise, surprise the weather forecast is for rain on Sunday! It feels like I just got off the plane from Korea. I haven't even fully unpacked my bags and on Saturday I have to hop on another one. Travelling the globe is certainly not glamorous.

Incheon Race Report

2010-05-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

The village in Incheon is usually very colorful and buzzing with inline fans. This year when we got off the bus and it felt deserted, like we had been dropped off at the wrong place in the middle of no where. It was pouring with rain, windy, the ground was muddy and the few people that were around were hiding in tents. Slowly people started showing up as time ticked by but nothing like previous years. The weather conditions certainly discouraged people. I don't think the Koreans generally tend to skate if it's raining as quiet a few of the locals were shocked that we were actually going to race.

Photo - Dr Spark

The start was moved forward to 9am because the kids races were cancelled. On the start line the rain eased to a light drizzle and the wind had dropped significantly from earlier on. The fields were small, not a lot of international skaters made the trip and a lot of the local Korean skaters didn't start.

Photo - Dr Spark

The women's race was pretty slow. No one was keen to attempt anything early on so I thought I would test the water. I tried to make a few attacks but with the lack of numbers I was being marked and every time I moved everyone would react straight away. No one wanted to lead into the wind unless chasing so there was a lot of swerving across the road and at times we were nearly at a stand still.

After the men passed us and got a reasonable gap I decided to try an attack. But when I moved just slightly everyone chased. I kept the pace up anyway, I thought if we get close enough to the men it might give the Koreans an incentive to try something. I ended up catching the men's pack and by then dropped quiet a few skaters from our pack. When I pulled over no one was keen to keep up the pace, the Koreans were happy to sit at the back, Cecilia was waiting for the sprint and Giovanna wasn't comfortable in the rain so the pace slowed right down again.

Photo - Dr Spark

The Korean skaters were very reluctant to take the lead, we came to a stand still a couple of times trying to force them towards the front. A young Korean skater took the lead a few times after all the others basically ordered her to. She drifted off the front on a few occasions but not intentionally, just due to no Korean wanting to chase her and the international skaters all watching and waiting for one another to make a move.

With about 3km to go the young Korean skater found herself in the front again. This time she had a larger gap than previous times and not that far to go. She wasn't too bad in the rain but I could tell she was tired. Her pace was very spasmodic, she would have a burst then look behind and slow down again. The gap was reasonable but the pack wasn't going that fast and she wasn't gaining that much so she wasn't a huge threat. A Korean started picking up the pace for a bit and then Nathalie decided to chase her down.

The Koreans always have something up their sleeve and I was just waiting for something to happen. It was hard for me because I was followed and marked for about 95% of the race so I felt I couldn't do anything like what they were about to do.

With about 1.5km to go Seul Lee took off at full speed. Seul Lee has been a multiple Junior World Champion and was Hyo Sook Woo's team mate at last years World Championships, so she's strong and fast. Not sure if the other skaters realized how much of a threat she was. She formed a big gap as no one wanted to chase and risk killing themselves so close to the finish. I knew if I took off everyone would chase me straight away and I wouldn't be able to get a jump on them. I sat patiently waiting for one of the teams with more than one skater to sacrifice someone.

Nathalie started chasing but by then it looked too late, Seul Lee had a big gap and not far to go. I thought I have to move because we aren't going to catch her. Next thing Nana Lee comes up the inside with speed so I jumped out to get on her. Cecilia was in front of me and once she saw me she jumped to the outside and started sprinting. Cecilia passed Nana Lee on the outside and I tried the inside but I had to scramble as the center lines were slippery and seemed to be coming closer towards me. Once I got passed Nana Cecilia was in front of me and she just caught Seul Lee before the line. I was very close to her and a full lunge would have secured second place for me but it was just too risky. The timing mat was wet, slippery, not flat against the ground and the last thing I needed was another bad injury. I stuck my foot out over the mat not knowing exactly were the line was, I ended up finishing second by about half a wheel.

They say fortune favors the brave and Seul Lee was brave enough to have a go and it almost paid off. If I didn't jump when I did which caused Cecilia to move I think she would have held on and won. The real winner of the day was MPC Wheels, nearly all the skaters out there were sporting a pair of MPC Storm Surge.

Womens Results
1st Cecilia Baena
2nd Seul Lee
3rd Nicole Begg
4th Nana Lee
5th Ju Hee
6th Giovanna Turchiarelli

From what I heard the men's race was full of attacks with the Powerslide team trying to shake off Joey before the final sprint. Their pack split up considerably with only about a dozen or less left for the final sprint but Joey was one of them and took the victory.

Mens Results
1st Joey Mantia
2nd Yann Guyader
3rd Scott Arlidge
4th Thomas Boucher
5th Jaemin Jung
6th Kalon Dobbin

Quick Update

2010-05-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'm in Dubai airport at the moment waiting my next flight and feeling like a zombie. When I get back to Germany I'll be able to put a race report online from Incheon. Busy few weeks ahead with racing and a lot of travelling. Next week is the WIC in Ostrava, then WIC in Pamplona and road racing followed by the WIC in Dijon.

3rd Incheon

2010-05-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

I finished 3rd today in the Incheon WIC. Very close finish, I was less than a wheel from second. It was wet the whole race and at the finish the mat for the timing system was slippery and not flat against the ground. So it would have been very risky doing a full lunge, I stuck my foot out over the mat but didn't know exactly where the photo finish line was. Cecilia won and a Korean skater was second (official results still to come). Joey won the men's race.

Tomorrow's Outlook

2010-05-22T00:44:00.000-07:00

Race day is tomorrow and there is a high possibility that it will be raining. Feels like the rain has followed me everywhere since Heerde. For the past few weeks it's rained nearly everyday in Geisingen and now it's raining here in Incheon as well. I haven't slept too well the past two nights so hoping to get a good nights sleep tonight and be recharged for tomorrow morning.

WIC Incheon

2010-05-18T10:43:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow I fly to Korea for the World Inline Cup race which is on the 23rd. I haven't raced in a World Inline Cup marathon for over a year now. The last one I competed in was Rennes last year in April. I then had the accident in Heerde which meant I was unable to race for nearly three months. I've had a look at the weather forecast but every forecast I look at is saying something different. I've read 90% chance of rain, 10% chance of rain, slight drizzle, no rain, sun, overcast and fog ........................... so who really knows. Starting to feel a little nervous but I'm sure once the gun goes off at 9.35am on Sunday I will be fine.

Rome 1992 Inlines Attack

2010-05-12T12:51:00.000-07:00

I found this video online today from the World Champs in 1992 held in Rome. This was the first year that inline speed skates were introduced and could be worn at a World Champs (in 3 races only), although most of the field still choose to wear the traditional quad skates. Inlines sure did make an impact.

I was about 5 then and my brother 9 but my mum was a superwomen and still racing. She is in the Australian skin suit and she wore quads in this race.

I remember watching a video at home from these World Champs and after the marathon, which my mum raced on inlines she came up to the camera and said something along the lines of "I can't turn the corners on these things, I couldn't get around the last bend".

Korea

2010-05-10T03:08:00.001-07:00

I have my tickets booked for the World Inline Cup race in Incheon, Korea, I leave next Wednesday. I can't view the course map, but every year that I have raced there it has been a flat course. Each year it has varied a little but has predominantly been long straight roads with a straight line finish. I've had a mixed bag of results each time I've raced in Korea. A lot of the skaters you are up against are unknown and very unpredictable.

Happy Mothers Day

2010-05-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

Happy mothers day mum. My mum is about 18,622 km away this mothers day. I hope you have a great day mum. It's Sunday in NZ so I would say she will be spending the afternoon on her skates, coaching the speed group and then taking learn to skate. Happy mothers day to all skating mum's out there.

Geisingen WIC Pictures

2010-05-08T05:00:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures I've found online from the WIC in Geisingen a few weeks back.

Photos - suedkerier.de

Photos - arena-geisingen.de

Photos - sportfotograf.ch

Photos - Erik

Photo - Ralf Gabler

Photos - skate4fun.ch

Where is Cheryl?

2010-05-05T04:09:00.001-07:00

A lot of people have been asking me where my mum Cheryl is. I guess everyone is used to seeing the whole Begg family rock up to race meets, not just me.
Our family opened a shop, Wheelz in January. So Cheryl is back home in Timaru, New Zealand running the shop. She has been busy this week with the Skating in Schools programme starting up for the first time. Over the last two days she has had about 250 kids on skates which is fantastic. Here is an article from the Timaru Herald.

Interesting Medal Tally

2010-05-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting medal count that I found on PatinCarrera. It's a medal tally of all the individual Senior World Championship medals won between 1992-2009. Visit PatinCarrera to see the full list, it goes right down to 90.

Heerde Results

2010-05-03T01:54:00.000-07:00

Click on results to enlarge.

Women Overall Distance

Women Overall Sprint

Men Overall Distance

Men Overall Sprint

Raining

2010-05-01T04:09:00.000-07:00

It's raining here in Heerde so racing has been delayed until 3pm. Not sure what's happening at 3 or what races are being run but they said a decision will be made at 3.

Skate Off Heerde

2010-04-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend is full of racing in Europe, there is the WIC in Italy, a couple of marathons in Germany and the Unive Skate Off in Holland.

I'm going to race in Holland at the Unive Skate Off, it's a two day track meet consisting of two sprint events, two distance events and a team pursuit. I didn't take away good memories from this event last year so I'm hoping for better ones this year. I've had a quick look at the weather forecast and it doesn't look flash. I've packed my MPC Storm Surges just in case we end up racing on the road in the rain.

WIC Geisingen Points Race

2010-04-28T04:30:00.000-07:00

2nd Overall

2010-04-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

I haven't had internet the last couple of days but now that is sorted so I'm back online.

On Sunday we had the last race in Gross Gerau, the 10km elimination. I ended up finishing third and Mareika won so I finished up second in the overall ranking. At times during the race I felt like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I ended up having to lead a lot because it was either that or be in about 9 or 10th place in the pack behind the German and Italian teams and sprinting each lap not to be eliminated. Watching some of the elimination races beforehand I thought it was safer to be at the front. A lot of skaters were being caught out and eliminated with big trains swooping off of the corners.

I didn't have any skaters that could sacrifice being eliminated for me so I only had one life. I made it to the final five but had to use a lot of energy. On the last lap I tried to pass Laura up the inside before the final corner. If I could race it again I wouldn't have made that choice but at the time she left the gap open and I took the opportunity but it didn't end up paying off. The problem was I didn't get in front of her enough before the final bend and ended up getting jammed into the edge of the track as she started turning in. I couldn't get full cross overs in so I ended up loosing a lot of my momentum. Mareika wound up around the outside and got the swoop. Laura was still at the front a few meters before the line but neglected to lunge so ended up finishing second.

Bart won the mens elimination and Fabio second, with Bart also taking out the overall ranking.

Overall I was pleased with my results, 5th in the 500m, 3rd in the elimination and 2nd in the points race. I didn't do any specific training on my skates in the off season and haven't worked on speed at all. I generally tend to be stronger on the track than the road so I'm happy with the results from the weekend against World class skaters and national squads.

WIC Geisingen Video's

2010-04-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

Skate TV has the 500m final video now online and there will be more video's from Geisingen and Gross Gerau in the near future.

Gross Gerau Update

2010-04-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update before I go to bed. One word to sum up today, LONG. Racing started at 9.30am and finished up at about 8.30pm.

The 500m heats were first up and the quarters and semi's followed soon after. With so many competitors and a tight time schedule everything was run pretty quickly often with no chance to actually warm up on skates.

In the first round of the 500's I finished second behind Erica Zanetti, who broke the 300m World record the night before. Round two second behind Jersy Puello, who was second the night before in the 300m. The third round was stacked, I had Jersy, Erin Jackson, Cecilia and Thum. All skaters that have had medals at either Junior or Senior World Championships and three of them (that I know of, 4 including me) that have placed in that particular event. I finished second behind Jersy and the time was good enough to qualify for the final.

I didn't have the legs to match the girls in the final and finished fifth, Jersy won and Sabine Berg second. The other finalists were Zanetti and Paola (Colombia).

The men's 500 final was stacked with four skaters from Powerslide and Bart. Munoz lead from the start and no one ever looked like passing him. Kwinten Tas surprised everyone, maybe even himself finishing up second and a wobbly Kalon third.

I qualified comfortably in the 5km points race heats, 15 from each heat went through to the final.

The final was tough, I felt like I was at a World Championships on the start line. Colombians to one side, three Italians in front of me, a team of Germans and skaters even wearing radios. It was hard against all the strong national teams with numerous skaters. The early points I got I had to work hard for because I was being marked by a skater. I then managed to get on a few small breaks and collect some points but with no one to catch me in the pack it was hard to recover. I led on points for most of the race until the last sprint, Mareika won the last sprint collecting three points and winning the race. I was second and Di Eugenio third. I was pretty pleased with the race, it was always going to be tough racing against teams of four and five skaters.

The men's race was packed with strong teams but the Powerslide Express (as the announcer called them) couldn't stop Bart Swings and I think Ferre finished second. The men's race was only 5km as well, by the time I got off the track and took my skates off I only managed to see the final sprint.

Tomorrow we have the 10km elimination, I'm not sure how the overall points system works and couldn't find official results before I left the track but I think I'm leading and Mareika in second.

Video 500m Final

2010-04-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

Click here to view full size video.

Quiz

2010-04-20T00:30:00.000-07:00

It was pretty cool when I was doing the daily Sports Quiz on Stuff and came across a question I absolutely couldn't get wrong. Click here to take the quiz.

stuff.co.nz Sports News

2010-04-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

This featured in the New Zealand Sports section of Stuff, which is NZ's number one online news source from Fairfax Media. Click here to view full article.

WIC Geisingen Final Day

2010-04-18T05:53:00.000-07:00

It was the final day of racing today and the overall titles were still up for grabs. Going into today I led the women's overall on 2 points and Mareike was in second with 4 points so it was down to the last race to determine the overall winner. Bart Swings led the men's on 4 points, Munoz 6 and Joey 9 so the men were in the same situation, the last race was crucial.

The relay heats were cancelled as there were not enough teams in both men's and women's so we started at 11am with the elimination races. The women's race distance was shortened to a 5km elimination so this totally changed the dynamics of the race. It was fast right from the gun and the pace was pretty high the entire race. Powerslide and Cado Motus both had strong teams and both teams were trying to control the race but in the end it was the two individual skaters that came out on top. I hit the lead with two laps to go with Mareike on my wheel. I built up my speed and coming around with one lap to go accelerated off the corner and never looked back. I wasn't challenged in the final lap but Laetitia managed to pass Mareike to take 2nd.

The men's elimination was fast and with so many strong teams out there it was always going to be tough for those individual skaters like Joey Mantia. Early on Bart Swings had a fall, his team mates dropped back to collect him but in the end he was the one towing his mates back to the pack. This guy is talented and it was fantastic to watch him overcome the odds. There were two Bont Arena skaters, two Powerslide and one Cado Motus in the final five. Munoz had the lead coming around with a lap to go and looked like he had it in the bag, Bart then passed on the back straight up the inside but Munoz wasn't ready to give up. He went high in the final corner, built his speed up and tried to duck back under Bart on the final straight. Bart had the momentum and managed to hang on to win but it was very close with both skaters lunging at the line. Rosero came in 3rd, Bastidas 4th and Scott 5th. This is what Joey had to say on Twitter "Hats off to bart swings, the kids got talent- just fell down and made the rest of us look silly".

The relays didn't count towards points but everyone was still serious and wanted to win of course. I joined up with Laetitia and Brooke to form an MPC Wheels Team, as we all skate for teams sponsored by MPC. There were only two other teams, Powerslide (Tina, Mareike, Katherina) and Cado Motus (Bianca, Mannon, Mariska). We all stayed in contact for most of the race but going into the last change Powerslide managed to get a slight lead. I came out for the final lap and we were in 3rd position. I passed Bianca off of Brooke's push and then chased Mareike. I caught her during the last corner and skated wide to get next to her down the final straight. We both lunged and it was close but I had the momentum and our team won.

They packed 8 teams onto the start line for the mens relay and the first few changes were pretty dodgy with so many skaters. Powerslide 1 (Dobbin, Munoz, Nam) controlled most of the race but the comeback kid done it again. Bart Swings got Munoz with a final lunge yet again.

I won the women's overall, Mareike 2nd and Katharina 3rd. Bart took out the men's overall, Munoz 2nd and Scott 3rd.

Geisingen WIC 500m & Points Race

2010-04-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

Racing has just finished for today and there are a lot of tired people, it seems I'm not the only one being woken up by the church bells.

At around 5 the senior racing started with the women's 10km points race first up. I haven't had a really hard work out on my skates for a while so I was unsure going into the race how my legs would hold up. They didn't let me down too much I won with 24 points, Mareike 2nd with 17 and Laetitia 3rd with 13.

The senior men's points race was up next and a group of 4 men broke away early and ended up lapping the field pretty quickly. Bart Swings proved too strong for the field and went on to win comfortably 10 points ahead of second place getter Scott.

There wasn't much of a break and then the 500m finals got underway. I didn't get a good start and ended up at the back so I decided to start passing early before the pace picked up. I moved into second position going into the second corner and with a lap to go I passed Mareike up the inside on the exit of the corner. I managed to form a gap between myself and the other 3 skaters and went on to win comfortably. Mareike was 2nd and Bianca 3rd.

Andes Munoz won the men's 500m, Joey held off Bart's huge lunge at the line to take 2nd, Bart 3rd and Najib 4th.

Tomorrow we have the 15km elimination and there is also a relay but I'm unsure if it counts towards any type of team points.

500m Final

2010-04-17T04:05:00.001-07:00

This morning we had the 500m heats and semi finals. I won my heat and semi and will be joined in the final by Bianca Roosenboom, Mareike Thum and Katharina Rumpus. The men's final consists of Joey Mantia, Najib Tobon, Andres Munoz and Bart Swings. The racing starts again at 4.40pm with the points races being run before the 500m finals.

WIC Geisingen

2010-04-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the opening for the WIC in Geisingen and a chance for the locals to see the new Arena in action. There were a few showcase events on tonight, they didn't count towards the overall WIC points but they gave the spectators a feel for our sport.

The highlight of the night was the DobbinSprint an event similar to F1 qualifying. There is a 30min time slot and in that time each skater has a chance to throw down a flying solo lap time, skaters can go as many times as they want. The top 5 women and top 8 men then qualify for the finals. In the final you only get one shot though, one person on the track at a time and run in reverse order.

In qualifying I done a 15.9 and had a bit of a stumble. The flying lap didn't feel great but I had the fastest qualifying time so I opted not to do another run. By the time the final came along I felt like a zombie. I'm still not sure which time zone I'm in, it's definitely not Europe and not New Zealand time either. My run didn't feel good but I managed to hold on and take the win with a 16.030.

Andrez Munoz was lightning tonight winning with a 14.369.

Racing starts tomorrow at 10am, hopefully the 3am church bells don't wake me up tonight.

7th Season

2010-04-16T01:13:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Europe yet again and this will be my 7th season. This year I start a new journey with a new sponsor and I'm really looking forward to it. I will be skating for X-Tech co sponsored by MPC Wheels, Uvex, Twin Cam and X-Tech I.S. Let the season begin!