Ski Cross – Duncan rebounds from semi-final crash for small final achievement

Opening Ceremony Flag Bearer Duncan Cowan got his first taste of the Youth Olympics competition and bounced back from a couple of DNFs to finish 6th overall in the men’s ski cross.

Starting his first of five group heats in panel one with a DNF, Duncan rattled off three-straight heat wins and placed second in the last heat to secure enough points to advance from the initial field of 28 competitors to the top-8 semi-finals.

In his semi-final Duncan’s crash (and DNF) relegated the 17-year-old from Manly to the small final, where he finished 0.21 seconds behind William Young Shing (SWE) for second place and 6th overall.

Bayley Sadler represented Australia in panel two, picking up 13 ranking points across his five heats (1st = 4 points, 2nd = 3 points, 3rd = 2 points, 4th = 1 point) to rank 17th overall.

Also competing at the Welli Hilli Park Ski Resort was Dakota Turner in the women’s ski cross. In accumulating 15 ranking points she missed out on making the semi-finals by a single point and placed 13th overall.

The mixed team event with Duncan and Dakota will wrap up Ski Cross on Wednesday.

Biathlon – Extreme cold adds to the sprint challenge

Six Aussies took on the women’s 6km sprint and men’s 7.5km sprint in temperatures that dropped to as low as -23 degrees.

Phoenix Sparke fared the best of the bunch, playing 33rd in a time of 23:59.9 and was followed by Edward Woodhouse-Bedak (84th – 27:50.8) and Matthew Wilby (92nd – 30:02.8).

Post-event Edward explained the mental test of the sprint in that climate.

"It's really tricky to zone out (the cold), especially when you're skiing it takes a lot of your mind,” Edward said. “It's motivation to get to the finish line more quickly.”

Ava McCann’s 25:02.0 effort ranked 56th in the women’s competition, with Alessandra Sydun-West (61st - 25:19.6) and Bridget Harvey (68th – 26:15.4) also completing the course.

The mixed relay will wrap up the Biathlon on Wednesday and has Edward looking forward to it.

“This will be my second relay ever and first mixed relay, so it will be a new experience but good fun."

Ice Hockey – Prelim rounds conclude with lessons learned

Australia’s first 3x3 women’s ice hockey campaign at the Youth Olympics is complete with the conclusion of the preliminary rounds.

Coming into the day with a mathematical chance of qualifying top-four for the semi-finals, losses to Turkey (2-10) and China (3-11) left Australia sixth in the standings on two wins and five losses and invaluable experience.

Alpine Skiing – Arkie’s Youth Olympic debut cut short

Arkie Lennon lined up for Australia in the women’s giant slalom and unfortunately did not finish after clipping a gate on the first run.

She has one more opportunity to compete at Gangwon 2024 when the women's slalom is held on Thursday, while Max Kelly is set to make his Youth Olympic debut on Wednesday in the men’s giant slalom.

Day 5 Schedule