CROSS COUNTRY: No nationality of people in the world love cross country skiing quite like the Norwegians do.

So with Norway hosting the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games next month, the excitement is certainly beginning to build for two of Australia’s brightest young cross country talents in Lilly Boland and Liam Burton.

The pair have been selected to the 2016 Australian Youth Olympic Team for the highly anticipated event and are pumped to get the chance to compete on the famous Norwegian slopes.

“With only 24 days until the Opening Ceremony I am getting more excited and nervous with each day,” said Boland, from Ulladulla on the NSW south coast.

“For me the chance to represent Australia is a lifelong dream and to do so in an event such as the Youth Olympics is an honour. I've trained hard for a long time and to see my hard work payoff is incredibly rewarding.”

“Lillehammer is the home of cross country skiing, meaning the course will be physically demanding and exciting,” added Burton, from Cooma which is the gateway in NSW to the Snowy Mountains.

“The crowd of the biggest sport in Norway is expected to be exhilarating, and the atmosphere will be amazing.” 

Norway topped the cross country medal tally at the inaugural Winter Youth Games and have long dominated the sport in senior competition, so it is likely that the local contingent will be tough to beat again come February.

“Norway easily have the best skiers in the world, and the home advantage will definitely be in their favour, but other countries such as Russia will also be tough to contest with,” said Burton.

“Although this is the case, we'll be doing everything in my capabilities to show them what us Aussies are made of.”

Knowing the competition will be the toughest of their careers for the 17-year-olds, the duo have worked hard over the Australian summer before heading to Europe to finalise their preparations.

“I have been competing and training in triathlon events to prepare for the European winter, as well as roller skiing,” continued Burton.

“Now we’ve headed to Europe we will have a solid training block and compete in a few races including the Austrian and Swiss Championships, before heading to the Youth Olympic Games.”

The pair have now linked up with the Australian Junior Cross Country Team and are doing their best to acclimatise ahead of Lillehammer.

“In Australia it was a struggle sometimes to get out and train in the hot summer sun but now that I am in Austria training it is tough to go outside in the cold temperatures,” said Boland.

“So far in Austria I have been training every day with a mix of low and high intensity. I feel as though I am as prepared as I can possibly be.”

The duo will line up in the sprint classic, 10km (men) and 5km (ladies) free and new event – the cross country cross free – which will feature an increased level of turns and jumps to test the athletes technical skill.

With their selection, Boland and Burton round out the Australian Team of 17 that will compete in cross country, alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboard, luge, short track speed skating, biathlon and ice hockey (skills challenge).

The Aussies will head to Lillehammer 2016 alongside 1,100 of the world’s finest youth winter athletes from 70 nations competing across 70 events.  

While the competition will be hard fought and highly entertaining the athletes will also get the chance to participate in the Lillehammer 2016 education program, Learn and Share. The IOC initiative will give all of the athletes the chance to learn about the Olympic values, living a healthy lifestyle and hear from athlete role models.

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au