Olympic training is in full swing at the resort and if you've never had the pleasure of seeing these athletes compete, check out the Vancouver Winter Games. These are some of the most fit athletes in the world, covering distances in record times. Catching a glimpse of them at Silver Star is a real treat and puts into perspective the amount of hard work and dedication it takes to become an Olympic athlete.

Here's a brief overview of who is here at the moment:

• Czech Republic – has a number of medals contenders – watch for Lukas Bauer – he is a threat in every race. He just won the Tour de Ski which is similar to the famous Tour de France.

• Finland – expect two to six medals - Matti Heikkinen in the 15 km skate is a favourite to medal – watch him in the first xc ski event

• Japan - Solid team – would be a surprise if they have someone on the podium but they have has great training at Silver Star, so anything is possible

• Australia – watch Esther Bottomley in the classic sprint – Silver Star is her second home, she spends time at Silver Star every year and she graced the cover of the Silver Star XC brochure in 08/09

• USA - Garrott Kuzzy spent a month at Silver Star early season — watch him in the 15 km skate on February 15

• Canada – of course starts their ski season at Silver Star every year, watch Devon Kershaw in the pursuit, Chandra Crawford in the Sprint, Sara Renner in the sprint and team sprint, Axel Harvey in to the 50 km classic, men’s relay, it will be exciting all the way through.

In Biathlon, watch for:

• Norway - watch Halvard Hanevold, a double gold medalist in 2006 Olympics, the entire team has poduim results and will be a threat in every race.

• Russia - Has a number of medal contenders, a very large team – Russia has the most XC skiers in the world and the pressure is high for results

• Switzerland - Big guys, young team — expect them to fight for the podium, but they are underdogs.

back to the news...