posted Sep 10th, 2003 - It would not be surprising to feel some disappointment in the Norwegian camp. The Norgie Girls posted the highest scores in seven of the ten rounds. They had three rounds with one bad exit and two penalties. And that was enough to throw them off the first place. The team delivered another world class performance in the final round and made up three points. But it was too late. V-Max safely carried it home and won by a lead of three remaining points. Who was the better team? There is only one true answer: the team that has the highest total of points after ten rounds...

How did V-Max win the gold medal? The British team posted the highest scores only in six rounds. And they did not look faster or sharper than Norway. V-Max had the cleaner meet, and they never seemed to get nervous or excited throughout the competition, even when Norway had the lead. Finally, they surely profited from Norway's mistakes in rounds six, eight and nine. Norway's losses to V-Max in just these three rounds added up to a total of 11 points. That was too much. Six of these 11 points were still left as the lead before both teams went into round ten. And V-Max could easily afford a medium performance to carry it home. However, both teams deserve respect for their 16.5 and 16.2 averages in a relatively slow competition draw. Congratulations to the new British World Champions.