Australian cross country skier Ben Sim believes he’s ready to produce a great result in his first Olympic race, the Men’s 15km Free, which takes place today at Whistler Olympic Park.

Sim and his cross country teammates Paul Murray and Esther Bottomley have had some challenging days on the groomed trails due to the changeable weather, with one day of brilliant sunshine followed by another of driving snow and then another with a mix of sun, rain and sleet.

But the 24-year-old Cooma-born athlete picked up a lot of confidence from his final training session on Sunday.

“The tracks were the best they’ve been since we’ve been in Vancouver - fast and hard which is great for me - and my form has improved 100 per cent since three days ago.”

Sim says there are a few reasons for his confidence, not least the magic worked by his coach, Russian-born Nick Almoukov.

“A little bit of acclimatisation, in terms of not sleeping as well when you first arrive somewhere, and also that’s just how the coach works it. Somehow he manages to get me the best on race days, and I don’t know how he does it but he does it every time.”

The Olympic debutant has had some outstanding results since missing selection for the Torino 2006 Games, including a 30th placing at a World Cup event in Norway last year, which made him the first Australian to score World Cup points in a distance event.

“Every race is just as important as other races,” he noted. “Of course this is the Olympics and it only happens every four years and a lot more can happen because of the big occasion, for example I was watching the biathlon and a Canadian who rarely gets in the top 30 finished sixth, so that’s a bit of an inspiration for me.

“I’m not sure what my ranking is, I’m guessing around 40th, and I’m really hoping for a top 30 result, just based on how I feel and I know our service guys are on top of it as well so I’ll have good skis.”

As far as race-day tactics are concerned, Sim likes to keep it simple.

“I try to stick to the plan. We have our coaches giving us splits throughout the course to tell us how we’re going and generally as I’m going through to start a new lap I just try to hold on to the skier who’s gone out in front of me, because he’s fresher and faster because he’s just starting his first lap.”

Amongst the favourites for the event are Norwegian Petter Northug Jr, who leads the World Cup standings and won three gold medals at last year’s world championships, his Czech rival Lukas Bauer, German pair Axel Teichmann and Tobias Angerer and Swiss star Dario Cologna.

Murray Brust
AOC - Whistler