SKIING NEWS ITEM

Britain's Unusual Recruits for Aerial Skiing

TUESDAY, 27 JUNE 2006

Athletes from the field of gymnastics and other sports are being recruited by Britain to compete in aerial skiing competitions in the 2010 Winter Olympics. This is according to the report written by Anna Thompson, BBC's winter sports editor. Sounds weird? Not quite.

In Thompson's report, she quoted freestyle manager Simon Ashton saying that one does not need to be a skier to compete in the aerials. He said that those who have a background in gymnastics, tumbling, trampolining and diving have the natural ability to perform the stunts. Thus, they are being trained to make the transition from their respective fields to doing aerial skiing.

With Britain's aerials program on the move, they are gunning for a podium finish on the next Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. That's a tall order, but Ashton is hoping for the team to make big impression there, according to Thompson.

Read Thompson's entire report on the aerials program, you may check out BBC's website at www.bbc.co.uk.

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