Mickel eyes place in world elite

By Anna Thompson
Winter sports editor

Mickel recorded four top 20 World Cup results last season

Britain's top downhill skier, Finlay Mickel, has vowed to be more aggressive on the slopes this season as he aims to break into the world's top 20.

The Scot, 28, has risen to 23rd in the world but believes there is more to come after seeking advice from Olympic and world medallist Bode Miller.

"He told me I need to up the intensity on the course," Mickel told BBC Sport.

"I'm confident about my strength and technical ability. I need to be more aggressive and attack the race more."

Mickel spent part of the summer training in South America with Australian skier Craig Branch and hooked up with the US team in Chile.

"It was a great place to ski, the snow conditions were fantastic and I came back feeling really positive," said the Brit.

This season I believe I can crank it up even more and want to hit a lot more top 10s Finlay Mickel

Mickel is fine-tuning his fitness ahead of his season-opening World Cup speed race, the Lake Louise downhill in Canada on 25 November.

He finished 19th there last year and flew out to Canada with fellow Briton Noel Baxter this week in order to prepare.

Baxter will be competing in the super-combined event this season, which consists of a downhill and a slalom with the fastest combined time declared the winner.

Mickel is aiming to become Britain's most successful downhill skier in history but needs five more top-10 results in World Cup races to equal Martin Bell's exploits in the early 1980s.

"Last season I ticked the boxes I wanted to in that I got a top-10 result and qualified for the World Cup finals so I was delighted with that," said Mickel, who finished a career-best 10th in Wengen in Switzerland last season.

"It was the first time since Alain Baxter that a Brit had qualified for the finals so that was really satisfying and showed I had had a good, consistent season.

"I was disappointed with my performance in the Olympics, finishing 25th in the downhill, although I did record a personal-best 22nd in the super-G.

"But this season I believe I can crank it up even more and want to hit a lot more top 10s."