'Heartbroken': Hawke's Bay athlete loses appeal over Winter Olympics snub

Piera Hudson at an awards night in 2018. Photo / NZME

Hawke's Bay skier Piera Hudson has lost her appeal after missing out on selection to represent New Zealand at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

The Sports Tribunal this week gave its reasons for dismissing an appeal by Hudson against a decision of Snow Sports New Zealand (SSNZ) not to nominate her to participate at the 2022 Games.

Hudson, who competes in alpine skiing, appealed to the tribunal that SSNZ had not properly or fairly implemented the nomination criteria.

She argued that SSNZ had failed to consider information that impacted her performances, including Covid-related disruptions and injuries, which prevented her attendance at key events.

Hudson said she should have been nominated because she had proven she was capable of a competitive performance at the Games.

The tribunal heard the appeal as a matter of urgency on January 28, as the parties expressed concern that any delays determining the appeal would compromise the appellant's travel arrangements and event preparation if her appeal was successful.

Piera Hudson in action. Photo / NZME

The parties were advised following the hearing that the appeal was not successful, and the tribunal would issue its reasons for this decision later.

The Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games nomination criteria for snow sports stipulates that for alpine skiing events an athlete must have a world top 40 ranking and have achieved two top 16 placings in either FIS World Championships or FIS World Cup events during the qualifying period of 2020 to 2022.

While the appellant had a world ranking of 33 for giant slalom, SSNZ said the appellant did not satisfy the second factor of the criteria because she had not achieved a top 16 placing at a key world event and was therefore not eligible for nomination.

Hudson posted on social media she was "heartbroken" following the decision.

"I am absolutely heartbroken to be saying that I will not be representing New Zealand at the Beijing Olympics," she posted.

"Despite having a less than ideal qualification period with multiple injuries and Covid interruptions preventing me from training and travelling for key races, I still managed to partially make the criteria and was getting faster and building momentum for Beijing.

"Unfortunately this was not enough in SSNZ's eyes and they once again did not nominate me to the NZOC.

"It is devastating to be told no and ignored over and over again by a federation who does nothing to support me in any way but still has the power to control my outcomes and opportunities in a sport that I have dedicated my life to."