Hi guys, Cainey here and this month I’m joining you all the way from Austria where I’m deep in training camp mode with some of Australia’s finest winter sports stars, including the legend Scotty James.
There are now just 87 days to go before the Opening Ceremony in PyeongChang and our Australian team members are taking their preparation to the next level. World Cup events are now already under way this season and it’s time to start seeing all of the athletes hard work pay off.
At the Games, Australia is likely to be represented in Snowboard, Alpine Skiing, Cross Country Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Bobsleigh, Luge, Skeleton, Figure Skating, Short Track, Speed Skating and potentially Biathlon, so we’ve a lot of great medal opportunities.
The majority of Australian athletes will be selected less than three weeks out from the Games with most of the final quota places to be finalised on January 22nd.
Australia has won five gold, three silver and four bronze medals in Winter Olympic competition. The Sochi 2014 Australian Winter Olympic Team brought home two silver medals (David Morris & Torah Bright) and a bronze (Lydia Lassila).
Here’s what our Australian athletes will be vying for at PyeongChang 2018.
Athlete Profile – Scotty James
In 2010, Scotty James became the youngest male Winter Olympian in over 50 years, and the youngest Australian to ever compete at the Winter Olympics. In 2014, Scotty represented Australia in 2 snowboard disciplines (halfpipe and slopestyle) at his second Olympic Winter Games in Sochi before focusing exclusive on halfpipe.
By 2017, Scotty had amassed an impressive collection of wins including 2 x Snowboard Halfpipe World Championships (2015 & 2017), Apsen Winter X-Games Champion (2016), 2 x Snowboard World Cup wins (2017) and 1st place overall in the 2017 World Snowboard Tour.
Scotty has also twice been awarded Ski & Snowboard Australia Athlete of the Year. First, with Aerial skier Laura Peel in 2015, and again, in 2017 with Moguls skier Britt Cox.
Scotty and I are currently training in Austria as he prepares to get his season under way for 2017-18. Here’s a taste of what we’ve been up to…
Keep your eye on Precision Athletica for my next edition of “The Journey”.
Cainey
If you’re an athlete, parent or coach interested in knowing more about the High Performance Snowsports program at Precision Athletica, please email the head of the program Peter Caine for more information, or call on 02 9764 5787.