The event consisted of an 800m course which combined a mixture of natural and 25 artificial features including roller sections, turns, jumps, and banked turns. The event commenced with 20 group heats in a 'round robin' style, which saw all competitors race each other at least once across their five preliminary races, with the top eight progressing to the semi-finals. 

“Ski cross is a freestyle event and it’s a mix between speed and jumping. The goal is to get across the finish line fastest. You verse other people on the course, so you have to constantly be thinking about the other athletes on the course,” Wheatley explained. 

The 16-year-old NSW native won two of her five heats, however placed in 13th position so did not progress to the 8-skier semi-finals.

“I’m feeling really good about my overall performance. I just got pipped going for the semi-finals, but I’m stoked to be here and having the opportunity to experience this,” Wheatley said.

“I did the best I could on the day, which is all that it’s about – the experience.”

 Her teammate, Zoe Michael won one of her five heats, however, was not able to accrue enough points to progress beyond qualifiers, placing in 16th. 

“Competing with the other athletes on course can be pretty difficult because you take a certain line, and they can come in front of you so it can be hard to get in front,” Michael said. 

Switzerland’s Maria Krista won the women’s gold, with Diana Cholenska of the Czech Republic in silver and Baliukina Vladislava in bronze. 

In the men’s division, Ben Wynn finished in 14th place after his five group heats. 

“The course was smooth, I felt like there were sections that I have definitely improved on since training. It’s a cool feeling competing with athletes in the course with you, they’re so close to you during the race,” Wynn said. 

“The feeling of the jumps combined with the alpine is the best feeling in the world. The feeling is just insane, knowing that the athletes right there and having the risk of collision is pretty gnarly.” 

17-year-old Jasper Cobcroft finished in 16th position, saying his competitors put up a really tough fight.

“It’s been really fun, a really great atmosphere. I’m not too happy with my result, I’m a bit disappointed,” Cobcroft said.

“I think I could have done a little bit better; I had a few mistakes here and there. Overall, I was super impressed by all the boys’ performances; it was stiff competition.”

Sweden’s Erik Wahlberg took gold in men’s ski cross, with Russian Artem Bazhin and Andrei Gorbachev taking silver and bronze respectively.

It’s the snowboarders turn to tackle the cross course on Monday with Amber Essex, Josie Baff and Finn Sadler all in action.

The four Aussie cross country skiers returned to Vallée de Joux today to compete in the Sprint Free event.

The course really tested the skills of the skiers, with a tough climbs, steep decents and tight s-bends, which saw a number of athletes crash or run off the course.

Zana Evans was the best placed Aussie, finishing just outside the top half of the field in 46th place, with Rosie Fordham finishing 56th.

In the Men’s, after suffering a crash in the race due to slippery, icy conditions, Hugo Hinckfuss pushed through to finish in 64th place, just ahead of his teammate John Mordes in 67th

The cross country skiers have a day off on Monday, returning to the course on Tuesday for Individual events.

Snowboard freestyle rider Sunny Steele will have to wait another day to kick start his Youth Olympic campaign after the men’s slopestyle competition was postponed due to high winds and unsafe conditions on the course.

Weather permitting, he should be back up the mountain at Leysin on Day 11 in the re-scheduled Slopestyle event. The women’s freestyle skiers and snowboarders will also be competing at Leysin in the halfpipe event on Day 11.