2:03pm Friday 28th May 2004
By Will Scott
MARTIN NANKOO hopes his next trip to Italy will be as part of Great Britain's 2006 Winter Olympics squad. The mogul skier's most recent visit saw him crash out the Italian Championships, by the narrowest of margins, to top Italian World Cup star Martinelli Domenico.
Despite the disappointment of losing by only 0.10 of a point, the 22-year-old Nankoo, who is a member of the Great Britain freestyle ski team, was looking at the positives rather than the negatives.
He said: "I was disappointed not to win after going so close, but I was really happy with the way I skied.
"I've been training hard but I should have gone bigger in the jumps and that would have helped me go faster and win. But it will all come together, eventually."
Most readers will be surprised to learn that Nankoo and some of the country's top freestyle mogul skiing stars, rarely train in the UK something he blames on funding rather than facilities.
"I train with the Italian squad because I don't get any funding in the UK," commented the Erith-based skier. Some of the other members of the British team also train with either the Americans, French or the Italian squads. We're spread out all over the place but come back together when there's a competition.
"I'm not training with the Italian squad because it is the best, as the skiing field is pretty level, apart from the Finland squad, which is very strong.
"But so I can gain experience of the slopes in Sauze D'Oulx, Italy, where the next Winter Olympics is being held."
Nankoo's first introduction to skiing was on a holiday in Mayrhofen, Austria, at the age of nine. But it was not until his second ski trip three years later to Sauze D'Oulx, until he was bitten by the bug.
"This is where I got the real buzz as I was taught by a crazy instructor by the name of Renzo," he added.
"I started more skiing on the dry slope in St Paul's Cray and joined the race club in 1998, and took part in competitions around England.
"I liked it but needed something with more of a challenge and in the winter of 1998 was introduced to freestyle moguls by Ian Terry, who was a member of the England team."
Meanwhile, the race is now on for the Winter Olympics despite the games being two years away.
"The qualification criteria for the Olympics starts this summer," commented Nankoo.
"The first competition is in Austraila. I need to get a top-five spot to make sure I qualify. Before that, I'm off to Gigmes, in France, to prepare for the tournament with the French coach.
"I'm working really hard in the gym practising all my jumps and techniques but I have a pretty good chance of making it."
Nankoo was recently the subject of the BBC 2 documentary programme Get a New Life, which is scheduled to be screened in September.
He added: "The programme was interested in the sport and why I was training in Sauze D'Oulx.
"Programme interviewers asked questions over three and four days about different aspects of the sport and funding, of which I get none.
"I have to pay for it all myself or my job at the Woolwich Building Society, in Dartford, finances it."
If you would like to sponsor a budding skiing champion, then call Martin on Nankoo's agent, Lawrence Assock, on 07711 503418. For more news on Nankoo, log on to his website: www.magicmogul.com
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