Vancouver invaluable experience for XC skiers

Team GB’s young cross-country skiing pair of Andrew Young and Andrew Musgrave said their experiences of competing at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be invaluable for their future sporting careers.

The pair, both supported by the Highland Institute of Sport, wrapped up their campaign at their first Olympic Winter Games in the cross-country team sprint freestyle at Whistler Olympic Park on Monday.

Seventeen-year-old Young, who is the youngest member of Team GB’s Vancouver team, went into the event with a cold and the team did not complete the final lap of the race.

Cross-country team leader Roy Young said: “Andrew (Young) wasn’t 100 per cent before we started, but we thought ‘let’s see’.

“We wanted to race because we don’t get to do many team sprints, so it was a good experience and an important stepping stone.

“Andrew (Young) has been okay in light training, but as soon as he put the hammer down he felt heavy and he didn’t have enough energy. Technically we could have finished, but I didn’t think it was worth letting him do the last lap.

“I think we’ve done really, really well here. All in all we’ve had some great performances. The guys are doing better than their performance pathway. Theoretically 2018 is their performance target, but this has been a great experience for them."

Andrew Young said: "My legs were really tired today and I didn't ski that well. It’s been a bit frustrating as I didn't perform as well as I should have in the 15km and I was having the best race of my life in the sprint before I crashed.

"But I've got experience that no else of my age in the world has got and that's definitely stands our cross-country team in good stead for future Games and future competitions."

Team-mate Musgrave, who is just 19, said: "It's been awesome being here and my skiing shape is really good at the moment. I'm going to go into next year pretty confident I can step up and make the jump to senior level."

Young was 74th in the 15km freestyle and 60th in the sprint classic, while Musgrave finished 55th in the 15km freestyle, 58th in the sprint classic and 51st in the 30km pursuit ahead of today’s competition.
 

Story by Rob Eyton-Jones