Callum's Story
Cooma-born Callum Watson begun skiing when he was four years-old and made his first Australian Junior Team when he was 16. Watson made history at his debut Games in 2014 when he lined up alongside his sister Aimee as the duo became the first siblings to represent Australia in cross country skiing at the same Olympics. He finished 59th in the Skiathlon at Sochi, 85th in the Sprint and then combined with Phil Bellingham in the Team Sprint to finish 12th in their semi-final and 21st overall.
Watson, now a two-time Olympian, competed in four events at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games. The 28-year-old was not going to initially compete in the 50km Mass Start due to the ongoing struggles of a chronic Achilleas injury. Despite this limitation, Watson took to the start line and finished the course in just over two and a half hours, placing 58th, just behind his Australian teammate Bellingham in 56th. In the 17km Free, Watson placed 70th in the field of 117. His finishing time of 37:53.9, ranked him 13 positions above his initial World Cup ranking. Watson finished 58th in the 15km + 15km Skiathlon and 13th in the Team Sprint Free Semifinal 2 with Bellingham.
Before his Olympic debut at Sochi, Watson was involved in a crash at the 2014 Australian Sprint Championships which led to another athlete’s ski penetrating his upper ribs and puncturing his lung. After 12 days in the hospital it took only 12 weeks before Watson was back to a full training load once again.
He made his first senior World Championships in 2009 where he claimed 25th in the Team Sprint, 67th in the Skiathlon and 72nd in the 15km Freestyle. He also lined up at the 2015 and 2017 World Championships where he again claimed 72nd in the 15km Freestyle (2015) and 69th in the Sprint (2017).
Competing in a sport where endurance is pivotal, Watson recorded a new Australian record for V02 max - a measure of your maximum oxygen uptake - of 89.6ml/kg/min in 2013. The previous record was held by Tour de France winner Cadel Evans. When he is off the snow Watson has been completing his Environmental Engineering degree at UNSW.
