Hugo's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Cross-Country Skiing
Events: Sprint Freestyle, 15km Classic
Olympic History: Beijing 2022
Highlights: Representing Australia at Beijing 2022
Coaches: Callum Watson, Erik Thorstensen
Year Born: 2003
State Born: Queensland
About Hugo
Hugo Hinckfuss successfully made the step up from being a member of the Australian Team for the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics at Lausanne to the Beijing 2022 Olympic Team.
Just 18 years-old at the time of the Beijing Games, he gained invaluable experience in the sprint freestyle and 15km classic.
Hugo's best result came his opening event, the sprint free, finishing 61st out of 88 competitors.
He started cross-country skiing via primary school in Sydney, when sports teachers asked the year five student to try it out in order to form a team for the Interschools Cross-Country race. It’s been the right trajectory for this talented teenager, who made his debut at an International Ski Federation event as a 15-year-old at Perisher in July 2018.
He finished 16th in the 15km freestyle at the Australia Open Championship that year, progressing to claiming a 4th and 5th place at the 2021 Australian Open Championship and cleaning up in the U20 junior category. Hugo’s results there qualified him for the 2022 World Junior Championship.
In the 2021-22 season Hugo started racing in Europe at the Continental Cup in Goms, Switzerland and found better form with each race. At the St Ulrich am Pillersee Continental Cup, Austria in December 2021 Hugo was the fastest Australian in the 15km freestyle, which qualified him to race in the next World Cup.
He made his World Cup debut in Switzerland and his performance there set him up to be the first U20 junior Australian cross-country skier selected for the winter Olympics.
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