Robin Bell Headlines Australian Open Slalom

2008 Beijing Olympic bronze medallist and WAIS scholarship holder Robin Bell will this weekend compete in the Australian Open slalom event in Penrith, NSW.

The event, which also serves as the first round of selection trial for the Senior Australian athletes, features a number of Olympic and world champions and commences on Saturday morning with the qualification runs, before the semi-final and final runs are held on Sunday morning.

Local favourite and former World Champion Robin Bell will return to international competition in the C1 for the first time since his medal winning run six months ago. Bell, who won a silver medal in the corresponding event in 2008, will face tough competition from British paddler David Florence, who claimed the silver medal in Beijing last year.

In the race for Australian selection, Bell’s main opposition will come from fellow West Australian Institute of Sport athlete Kynan Maley, who has been impressive in training as he continues his rejuvenation after a long injury lay off in 2007.