SPEED SKATING: Australia’s first Winter Olympian was a speed skater back in 1936 and ahead of the Sochi 2014 Games, there are three young athletes all vying to write their chapter of Olympic history.

With the first World Cup of the season getting underway Saturday morning (AEDT) in Calgary, Daniel Greig, Ben Southee and Brooke Lochland will be looking for fast times, personal bests and ultimately – Olympic qualification.

Leading the fray is Greig, a former Junior World Champion in inline skating. The 22-year-old switched to the ice when he was 17 with the lure of the Olympics too strong.

“Since trying for Vancouver and missing out by 0.07 seconds, Daniel has basically grown up in every way,” Greig’s coach Desly Hill said.

“He is 22 now, still growing but the improvements are big since then. Dan has fought very hard to overcome and learn to work around tendonitis in his knee, it has pushed us to learn more than we ever would have learned about equipment and technique, so that we can find ways to go faster.”

Greig and Hill’s persistence is paying off. A solid stint of strength and conditioning training in Australia earlier this year put him back on track and then he put aside five weeks to train for the World Inline Skating Championship, giving him valuable racing experience while there was no ice. Aiming for a top-10 finish, Greig placed sixth, giving him a confidence boost ahead of the challenges he will now face in the lead up to Sochi.

Back on the ice at his overseas training base in the Netherlands, Greig is training and racing with the best athletes in the world.

“His test races on the ice started out shaky as they always do,” Hill said. “Which is normal for a guy that grew up on wheels!”

“Every season since Vancouver Dan has taken his PB times lower. Last year he pushed his personal record to 34:64 for 500m and 1:08:71 for 1000m. When he just missed out for Vancouver he did 36.17 and 1:10:09 so he is improving.”

Greig will have the opportunity to prove just how much he has improved when he contests the World Cup this weekend, along with his teammate Southee.

Racing over the short sprint distances, the pair will be looking for both fast times and good places. To qualify for Sochi, they either need to finish in the top 14 in general classification on points from the first four World Cups; or finish in the top 40 in regards to time. Additionally, the faster the time, the better drawing position the athlete gets at the Games.

Hill has charged the boys with focusing on the time ranking, which will be known after the second World Cup in Salt Lake City. This will give them the best opportunity for an ideal lead up to the Games in February.

The third Aussie chasing an Olympic debut is Melbourne’s Brooke Lochland. The 22-year-old competes across the longer 1500m and 3000m distances and so will be looking for personal best times in order to finish in the top 28 on time at the end of the first two World Cups.

Lochland also comes from an inline skating background where she placed in the top 10 at the World Championships. In 2008 she switched to the 500m ice track and has loved the pain and challenge. She is making steady improvement and aims to become Australia’s second female Olympic speed skater after Sophie Muir in 2010.

World Cup 1 takes place in Calgary from 8 – 10 November, followed by World Cup 2 in Salt Lake City from 15 – 17 November.

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