BIBURY skiing sensation Max Pini finished his week at the English Alpine Championships in the perfect way, with a gold medal secured in the boys Under-16 giant slalom, Richard Dore.

The 16-year-old Gloucestershire skier is one of the country’s most talented junior skiers and has been proving that at the Championships in Bormio, Italy, all week.

The Championships provide the opportunity for the next generation of British skiing stars to show what they can do and Pini has grabbed that opportunity with both hands, finishing fourth in Monday’s Super G and third in Wednesday’s slalom.

But he topped all of that on day five of the Championships with gold in the GS, sponsored by Rossignol, his results getting better as the week has gone on.

“I started with a joint-first run alongside Elliott Bennett,” said Pini, who skis for Ambition Racing. “I was quite confident after course inspection because I could see that there was a lot of turning in it, and I like turny courses, it worked out well in the end!

“Jack Cunningham was then the fastest in the second run but I’d already done enough, I kind of had to keep it safe in the second run.

“I was in Slovenia at the weekend so I missed the first race, but then I got a fourth in the Super G, then in the slalom I was late in the first run and made a mistake so came third in that.

“But the GS all went to plan so all good - fourth, third and now first is a good progression!

“I’m really happy with the week overall, even with my slalom result because I learnt a lot and I know now that you can still keep fighting, even if you make one mistake you can still bring it back.”

Pini has been skiing since the age of six and attended a late summer camp in New Zealand in 2017 in order to boost his hopes for this season, with the results evident this week.

He will now get the chance to continue from his strong results in Bormio at the British Championships in Tignes in March.

“I’ve been to Bormio for five years I think now, all the way since minis,” he added.

“Under-14 level was good for me but last year they had a hard-upper year so I think my best result was one third in 2017.

“But it’s all kind of coming together now so it’s all good, I’m looking forward to the British Championships and then I’ve also an international race in Italy which will be quite fun, hopefully I’ll get a good result there too.”

Inspired by the performances at the 2018 English Alpine Championships and PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games? Find out more on how to get involved in skiing and snowboarding through Snowsport England's national grassroots participation campaign at www.goskigoboard.org.uk