FIGURE SKATING: After flying in to Sochi from California late last night, Australia's male figure skater Brendan Kerry has quickly settled into the Athletes' Village and taken to the ice for an official training session.

"It's so nice," Kerry said of the Iceberg Skating Palace where he will compete.

"The ice is pretty hard. It's nice and springy. I feel like I got stuck a couple of times but it was nice, I wasn't slipping at all."

Kerry is just 19 but has gone from strength to strength this season, and will be competitive amongst an extremely well-credentialed field of skaters including home-town hero and triple Olympic medallist Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko.

With just a few hours of sleep under his belt and a world of excitement at his doorstep, Kerry and his coach Tammy Gambill used the first training session to get to know the venue and shake off some of the travel lethargy.

"I walked through the jumps in the programs and the spins," Kerry said. "I went through the steps and went over all the jumps. I popped a few which is a little bit annoying but I got an axel out at the end and did lutzes so it was pretty good.

"We still have to go over the long program, but it felt pretty good for a first practice."

Kerry will be Australia's first figure skater in action, competing in the short program on Thursday 13 February, Day 6 of the Games.

He will be aiming for a top-24 finish which will see him progress through to the free program the following day.