Cross Country skiier Jessica Yeaton is pushing hard to qualify for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. If she is successful in making the Australian Team she will become just the fifth Aussie female to line up in a cross country competition at a Winter Olympics. 

Here are five things you didn't know about Jessica:

1) Jessica grew up all over the world. She was born in Perth, moved to Texas (in the USA) at age two, and then moved to Dubai when she was six. Jessica fell in love with winter when she moved to Alaska at age 12 - after bridging a colossal temperature gap and finding snow to be quite the novelty. She started cross-country skiing shortly after and has been pursuing the sport ever since.

2) She now bases herself out of Anchorage, Alaska, where she competes for the Alaska Pacific University (APUNSC) Elite team. She trains alongside Olympians and World Champions every day, which has served as an incredible opportunity to learn directly from some of the best cross-country skiers in the world. Jessica also travels to a glacier once a month during the off-season with her team which is no doubt an amazing venue for training camps.

3) Jessica has two degrees- one in Exercise Science from Montana State University, and the other in Psychology from Alaska Pacific University. She is passionate about human movement and the psychology of injuries/ performance. Jessica plans to follow these interests and study Physiotherapy in the future.

4) Jessica’s favourite part about her sport is all the cross-training during the off-season. She loves mountain biking, running in the mountains (or on the beach), swimming, strength training, and the occasional Zumba class. She loves the fact that training for cross-county skiing can involve so many different activities and skill sets.

5) When she isn’t training, Jessica works at a coffee shop; she loves the mental outlet this work provides. She loves learning about coffee, practicing latte art, and of course drinking quality coffee. One of her dreams is to open her own coffee shop after she retires from ski racing.