Cheltzie Lee showed just why Australia’s figure skating experts have been so impressed, finishing in 13th place in a very strong field at the Four Continents competition in Vancouver.

Lee, just 15, and in her first senior event at any level, produced a personal best in her short program, then repeated the effort in the free program.

Unfortunately she could not match that performance at the World Championships a month later, where she was the youngest competitor across all events and finished in 33rd place.

But the Sydney skater still has the opportunity to qualify for the Vancouver 2010 Games at the Olympic qualifying Nebelhorn event in Germany in September.

Fellow Sydney skaters Danielle O’Brien and Greg Merriman also represented their country at the world titles, finishing in 25th place, missing by just one spot the chance to skate the third element of the ice dancing program, the free dance.

With the ranking they carry forward from the world titles, however, they look a good chance to also secure one of the five places left in the Games field when they compete in the German qualifier.