Highgate ski racer Giselle Gorringe earns bronze reward at Delancy British Alpine Skiing Championships in Tignes

The teenager expressed her delight at making it onto the podium places in the under-16 category of the Giant Slalom race

Teenage ski racer Giselle Gorringe made her first podium of the Delancey British Alpine Skiing Championships on the final day in Tignes.

The 14-year-old from Highgate won bronze in the under-16 category of the Giant Slalom race on Friday with a combined time of 1:37.09 over two runs.

As the most anticipated event of the year in British alpine skiing, Gorringe expressed her delight at being able to race at the Championships.

“It’s absolutely amazing to be here,” said the North Londoner. “I’ve done French races but nothing really compares to the spirit that’s here and everything to do with it.

“There’s people here that I’ve raced with since the start and we’ve all progressed with different coaches and people.

“Being here and racing for your country with everyone else who understands that we don’t come from a country that is naturally good at skiing, and to compete so fiercely with girls from other countries that do have mountains is amazing.

“I love everything to do with skiing, it’s such a big sport that’s building, especially for a country like ours.

“I love winning, that’s always great, and the feelings you get after you’ve done well and being proud of yourself, and being able to stand up on a podium is amazing.

“Also the atmosphere of accepting that actually if you haven’t won then whoever has is going to be really happy with themselves, so being able to understand that you might not have won this one but actually you’ve always got another chance and if you try your hardest you can win.”

Gorringe has another year racing in children’s events before she competes at senior level and admitted that next season is all about preparation for the big leagues in 2020 – although she’d happily take some national titles on the way.

“Summer is a really important time for me because I’m not at an academy,” said the youngster.

“I’m not doing full time during the season, I only come out on school holidays, so summer is really important for improving my technique.

“Also for me at the moment it’s building some aggression that I can’t seem to put into races yet. I will absolutely be aiming for titles next year though, I think everyone goes in thinking they really want to win.

“But also it is about improving every single run and never thinking ‘that’s it I can win this one hundred percent’, because there’s girls that can come out of the blue and there’s always girls who do an amazing run.

“So obviously I’m going in hoping to get titles but if I don’t it’s just about getting ready for the next season.”

To follow the progress of the Delancey British Alpine Ski Team visit www.teambss.org.uk or follow @teambss on Twitter.

As Principal Sponsor of British Ski and Snowboard, specialist real estate investment and advisory company Delancey is proud to be able to provide British athletes with the support they require to win World Cup and Winter Olympic medals. For more information visit www.delancey.com