SKIING: Australia’s best young skiers are competing for a place at the Winter Youth Olympic Games (WYOG) when they race and undergo testing at Mt Hotham this week.
The 2016 Lillehammer Games will be held in Norway next February, however 33 young skiers born in 1998 or 1999 will have the next few days to impress selectors.
With only one male and female spot for Australian skiers in alpine events and one male ski cross spot on offer, competition will be fierce and athletes will be working hard to gain selection.
A Giant Slalom and Slalom race will be held across Wednesday and Thursday with Saturday and Sunday set aside for Ski Cross.
Australian Alpine Skiing Coach Brad Wall explained that the racing and results are not the only elements that will determine selection at the camp.
“As well as the racing there will be skills assessments on snow and physical testing across the camp,” Wall said.
“Physical testing of both strength and endurance while demonstrating an emphasis on the importance of fitness is an important focus.”
The selection process for the Lillehammer Youth Olympics is based around athletes ‘being able to deliver on the day when the pressure is on and aligns with the winning edge strategy.”
Australian Ski Cross coach Shawn Fleming said a combination of mixed weather conditions and great snow levels will provide for a fantastic five days.
“The camp brings all athletes together with a combined vision for ski racing,” Fleming said. “It is a unified and combined approach which encourages athletes to improve and worry about specialising in events when they are older.”
Both Fleming and Wall were coaches at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics after being instrumental to the successful performances of their athletes at the inaugural WYOG in Innsbruck in 2012.
“From Innsbruck we saw Greta Small and Harry Laidlaw represent Australia with distinction,” Wall recalls. “Greta has continued on at a sharp trajectory following her senior Olympic debut in 2014 and Harry continues to improve towards the senior ranks. There is no doubt that the Innsbruck experience has helped with other major championships.”
Snowboard Cross athletes will also have their chance to impress selectors from 4-7 August at Mt Hotham, while Halfpipe and Slopestyle skiers and boarders will undergo a similar selection and process at Perisher from 14-16 August.
The final event for cross country skiers will take place at Falls Creek on 1-2 August.
Australia hopes to send a total team of 16 athletes across all disciplines to Lillehammer with nominations to the AOC for selection to take place over the coming week.
Lillehammer holds a special place in Australian Olympic Winter History as the city where the Australian men’s short track relay team won the first Olympic medal in winter sports with bronze in 1994. Since then an Australian athlete has won a medal at every winter Games.
Dual Olympic aerial skiing medallist, in 2002 (gold) and 2006 (bronze), Alisa Camplin will be the Chef de Mission for the Team as she was at Innsbruck in 2012.
Andrew Reid
olympics.com.au
