SHORT TRACK: Pierre Boda will finally get the chance to make his Olympic debut when the men’s 500m Short Track Speed Skating gets underway on Day 11 of the Sochi Games.

The 500m is Boda’s only event and he will be hoping to progress past the heats for a shot at the quarter-finals which will take place on Day 14.

Boda, 20, has been skating since he was seven years old and has been working hard in the elite Australian Short Track program with the dream of competing at the Olympics.

That dream is now a reality and Boda will get the chance to skate for his nation in what will be an action-packed day of racing at the Iceberg Skating Palace.

The battle for medals is going to be intense. Victor An, a former Korean skater who now skates for Russia, is in hot form.

An gave Russia its first Short Track gold medal when he won the 1000m on Saturday after also taking bronze in the 1500m on Monday. He is looking to win a record fifth gold medal in Short Track, having won gold in every Olympic Short Track event except the 500m, since making his debut at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. If successful, he would be the first athlete, male or female to achieve this feat.

Canadian skater Charles Hamelin will be hoping to stand in the way of An’s quest for gold. Hamelin is the defending Olympic Champion and will be looking to maintain his title and in doing so become the first Short Tracker with multiple gold medals in the 500m. Hamelin has had mixed success in Sochi so far, having won the 1500m event but fallen in the quarter-finals of the 1000m.

Other skaters to watch out for include JR Celski of the USA who won two bronze medals in Vancouver and was just edged off the podium last week in the 1500m. Seventeen-year-old  Han Tianyu of China, who has won a 1500m silver medal in Sochi, 1000m silver medallist Vladimir Grigorev of Russia and 1000m bronze medallist Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands.

Australian female skater Deanna Lockett will also race in the same session. Read preview here>>>