Dunedin ice programme to open international Winter Games NZ

The magic of figure skating combines with the fast and furious sports of ice hockey and speed skating when 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games opens at Dunedin Ice Stadium.

The fastest sport on ice – short track speed skating – takes place on 27 and 28 August. Thrilling to watch, these top speed skaters travel at up to 60kph as they race head to head in groups around the tight oval track measuring just 111m round. At full speed they jockey for position and spills are frequent and spectacular.

Competitors include a strong team from Korea that includes Eun Ju Jung, the current women’s world record holder over the 3,000m distance with four gold, four silver and one bronze World Championship medals to her name. Her teammate, Ba-Ra Jung, holds two World Championship silver medals. Other nations represented include Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand.

The Kia Figure Skating opens the ice programme with three days of ISU sanctioned competition (11-14 August) featuring top athletes from Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. Two New Zealand medal hopefuls include Christchurch’s Christopher Boyd, multiple junior national champion who has alternated his training between Christchurch and Auckland due to earthquake disruption and Winter Games NZ’s youngest athlete, Kaho Hirafune (12) from Auckland who was primary national champion and will be looking to take gold in the novice category in her first international event.

The three separate categories for novices, juniors and seniors all feature a short programme, where skaters incorporate standard moves and jumps into their routine, plus a free programme.

Figure skating is the most watched Winter Olympic sport and the figure skating gala promises to draw the programme to a spectacular close on 14 August. The gala will feature performances by all category winners plus invited ice dancing stars, Paige Lawrence and Rudi Sweigers from Canada. Fresh from podium wins at the Canadian National Championships and the Four Continents Championship, they are one of Canada’s top ice dancing pairs with their sights set firmly on the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Their fun, upbeat programme and great audience interaction promises to deliver a must-see afternoon of entertainment.

The ice programme continues with the three-nation Kia Ice Hockey test on 17-21 August. New Zealand, Australia and China will all battle it out on the Dunedin ice for Winter Games gold. Last Games saw the Ice Blacks’ first victory over Australia at a senior level, however China has more wins over both the trans Tasman nations so spectators can be assured of fast and furious matches.

100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games takes place from 12- 28 August 2011 featuring 22 snow and ice sports over 38 events and involving 1,000 elite athletes from 50 nations. The 16-day long Games also include a full Downtown Sessions festival programme featuring films, live music and entertainment and rail jam extravaganzas in Queenstown, Lake Wanaka, Dunedin and Methven. The on-snow competition will take place at Coronet Peak, Cardrona Alpine Resort, Snow Park NZ, Snow Farm and Mt Hutt with the ice sports taking place at Naseby and Dunedin. For further information, visit www.wintergamesnz.com