Scott's Story
One of the great surprises of the Australian Team at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games was then 20-year-old Scott Kneller. Coming to the sport of Ski Cross from a background in Alpine Skiing, Kneller was Australia’s only male representative in Vancouver for the sport making its debut on the Olympic program. He began competing in Ski Cross in 2008 and went into the Vancouver Games with just one year’s World Cup experience and little expectation riding on his performance. Kneller qualified in 12th place and cruised through the 1/8 and quarter-finals, each time finishing in second place putting him within reach of the podium. His great run was stopped short when he placed third in the semi-final. Kneller finished in seventh place overall, a remarkable achievement for the young athlete. Following Vancouver, Kneller proved his mettle in the ski cross World Cup circuit, claiming his first gold in December 2010 in Innichen/San Candido, Italy.
Four years later, Kneller made his second Olympic appearance in Sochi. Just getting to the Games was a remarkable achievement after a serious training crash in December 2013. Kneller spent three days in hospital with concussion and four broken vertebrae in his back. He pushed himself through intense treatment and work in the gym to pass a medical test to race in Sochi.
The 24-year-old had a slow start in the 1/8 finals and then crashed halfway through the race on a tight turn. Kneller recovered to finish the race in third place, but with only two out of each heat going through to the next stage, his Sochi Olympic campaign was over, finishing in 23rd place.
