Winter Olympics: Ski-cross battle

New Zealander Mitchey Greig faces the daunting prospect of a sport that has been described as a mixture between Nascar, moto-cross and bullfighting when she contests the first women's ski-cross at the Winter Olympics today.

Greig, 21, has to first qualify via a time trial, with 32 of the 35 entrants progressing to the four-woman heats.

If the New Zealand freestyle skier makes it through, she and three competitors will negotiate a small halfpipe to start before unleashing themselves at speeds in excess of 80km/h down the course.

The top two go through from the heats and semifinals into the medal round.

Greig said the start had been a nightmare to work out: "Over three training sessions we've got better but it was funny; before the first run everyone was looking sideways at it, going - how do we do this?"

The simple answer was to watch the Canadians who, in what has been a general talking point at the Games, have had plenty of practice.

"They could do the start no sweat so it was like, 'oh that's interesting'," Greig said.

By keeping her eyes peeled and using some Kiwi ingenuity, Greig did find her own secret practice tool by chance, way up on Whistler Mountain.

"We were going up to the peak-to-peak gondola and came across a start gate. Initially we thought it was a complete replica. It wasn't quite that, but it has given us extra practice."

Also back in action today is Ben Griffin in the giant slalom.

- NZPA