As anticipation builds towards FOXTEL’s eight channel, HIGH DEFINITION broadcast of the LONDON 2012 Olympic Games in July, fans will get their first taste of Olympic action this year when the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games get underway in Austria.
A total of 13 Australian teenagers will join more than 1000 of the world’s best emerging winter athletes aged between 15 and 18 years of age to compete in the inaugural competition.
The Games, which run from Friday 13 January to Sunday 22 January, 2012, will form a platform for the athletes to showcase their credentials ahead of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
FOX SPORTS viewers can follow the young Aussies as they compete against the world’s best with coverage across all 10 days of competition beginning this Friday. Australia’s Sports Leader will provide a daily one hour highlights package shown both morning and night capturing all the action from Innsbruck.
Olympian Alisa Camplin will lead the first Australian Winter Youth Olympic team in her role as team Chef de Mission. The dual Olympic medallist said the competition provided the talented young athletes an amazing opportunity to test their skills against the world’s best.
“The Australian Winter Youth Olympic Team comprises 13 exceptional young athletes and we have left no stone unturned to ensure they can perform at their best. The Winter Youth Olympic Games is a fantastic initiative and I wish it was around when I was 16.”
Having Innsbruck 2012 highlights shown in the middle of summer is sensational not only for the Australian athletes but for winter sports in general,” Ms Camplin said.
Australia will be represented in 10 of the 63 medal events, which include a number of Olympic winter sports plus a host of new freestyle events that are being trailed prior to their inclusion in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
Australia’s standing in the Olympic Winter Games continues to grow following the gold medal performances of Torah Bright and Lydia Lassila at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games televised on FOXTEL in 2010. The 13 athletes chosen to represent Australia will be looking at these first Winter Youth Olympic Games as their opportunity to emulate Torah, Lydia and Australia’s other medallists from previous Olympic Winter Games.
Australia will boast some of the most talented winter athletes in the world including 16 year old Alex Fitch who was a finalist in the snowboard slope style and halfpipe at the World Junior Championships in 2011. Olympic selectors will also be watching the likes of Alpine racer Greta Small who at aged 16 became the first Australian to medal at an open Nor Am Cup event in Canada last month.
For further information about the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games and the Australian athletes competing visit: Olympics.com.au/innsbruck2012
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