The Australian Open Championship part 1 took place on the last weekend of July in Perisher, Australia. On Saturday, the skiers competed in the 1.2km classic sprint, and on Sunday, the 15km freestyle technique event took place. 

On Saturday’s sprint in the women’s field, the strongest of the day was Katerina Paul (AUS), followed by Fabiana Wieser (SUI) and Emily Champion (AUS). Seve De Campo (AUS) won on the men’s field, while Fedele De Campo (AUS) and Noah Bradford (AUS) completed the podium. 

Top 5 – 1.2km Sprint C – Perisher (AUS)

Women

1. Katerina Paul (AUS)
2. Fabiana Wieser (SUI)
3. Emily Champion (AUS)
4. Hannah Price (AUS)
5. Maddie Hooker (AUS)

Men

1. Seve De Campo (AUS)
2. Fedele De Campo (AUS)
3. Noah Bradford (AUS)
4. Jayden Spring (AUS)
5. Lauro Braendli (SUI)

On Sunday, the biathlete Darcie Morton (AUS) skied the fastest time on the women’s 15km with a time of 41:59.9, followed by Katerina Paul (AUS), 27.8 seconds behind, and Fabiana Wieser (SUI) in the third place, 35.0 seconds behind the day’s winner. 

The 15km men’s podium saw the same winner as on Saturday, with Seve De Campo (AUS) posting the fastest time of the day at 37:18.8. Lauro Braendli (SUI) took second place 53.2 seconds behind. Saturday’s 3rd place Noah Bradford (AUS) completed the podium, a little over a minute behind De Campo. 

Top 5 – 15km Individual Start F – Perisher (AUS)

Women

1. Darcie Morton (AUS), 42:59.9
2. Katerina Paul (AUS), +27.8
3. Fabiana Wieser (SUI), +35.0
4. Maddie Hooker (AUS), +1:07.4
5. Emily Champion (AUS), +2:20.9

Men

1. Seve De Campo (AUS), 37:18.8
2. Lauro Braendli (SUI), +53.2
3. Noah Bradford (AUS), +1:05.8
4. Christoph Gasche (SUI), +3:02.1
5. Phoenix Sparke (AUS), +3:43.0

Saturday’s sprint winner Katerina Paul, who represents the Swiss Pro Team, Team BSV Ibex in Ski Classics, described the weekend: 

“I am very happy, I felt strong over both days during competition, however during my warm-up, I did feel my fatigued muscles before both events, but my body could pull through,” said Katerina Paul to Snow Australia and continued: 

“It’s always a good time coming up to Perisher and Jindabyne. We always see a different aspect of the XC community when we come up to NSW, but it is always nice to see everyone.”

Seve De Campo, Beijing 2022 Olympian, also described the weekend:

“I was very pleased; it was the first time I won a National Sprint title and the first time I’d done the weekend double, so it was a new experience for me,” De Campo said to Snow Australia and added:

“It was a great kicking off the ANC season with the Perisher nationals and awesome to see the great work a lot of the juniors and younger skiers had been doing over the pre-season. Despite a wet and wild Friday, the course preparation was fantastic, and it made for another great weekend of fast racing, seeing all the hard work a lot of the athletes had put in, and catching up with lots some old and new friends.”

You can find the full sprint and distance events results here. 

Australian National Championships Weekend 2 will take place in Falls Creek, Australia, on August 19 and 20, with skate sprint and classic distances. 

You can see the 2023 Australian cross-country ski race calendar here.