ISLE of Man snowboarder Zoe Gillings will begin her 2012-13 pre-Olympic season this week when she competes in the Austrian World Cup in Montafon on Thursday.
Gillings, Team GB’s number one Olympic snow sports athlete, has endured a turbulent couple of years regarding finance within the sport following the collapse of SnowsportGB in 2010 but in March this year UK Sport podium funding was reinstated
As a result, the world No6 has been working closely with a new performance director, Paddy Mortimer, to ensure she is surrounded by some of the best support services available.
Zoe commented: ‘Paddy has worked miracles since starting at British Ski and Snowboard in 2011.
‘He has ensured I have full access to John Noonan (strength and conditioning), Steve Humphries (physiotherapy), Dan Brier (performance manager), Frank Germann (coach) and Graeme Close (nutritionist), as well as UK Sport Research and Development.
‘These are some of the best in the business and I couldn’t realistically compete for an Olympic medal without them.’
The Ronague resident has undergone an intensive summer of training in Leeds and has spent the last fews weeks training on the Hintertux glacier in Austria before the start of the competetive season.
‘I’ve competed at World Cup competitions for several years but this is the first time I’ve had such a professional program, following on from last year which was one of the best of my career’ continued Zoe.
‘I’m really looking forward to this pre-Olympic season during which qualifications for the Sochi 2014 Olympics will take place. My governing body - British Ski and Snowboard (BSS) - and especially Paddy have been awesome.’
Following this week’s first World Cup competition of the season in Austria, Gillings will then compete at Telluride in America on December 15 before returning to the Isle of Man and then Leeds for Christmas.