The provisional Cross Country Skiing National Teams for 2019-2020 have been released by Ski & Snowboard Australia. These are based on performances during the past 12 months. Prior to confirmation of selection to the various teams, all athletes will also need to satisfy additional requirements as outlined in the selection criteria.
Jessica Yeaton is the sole athlete invited to join the World Cup Team. Six athletes have been invited to the Continental Cup Team and three to the U23 Team. For the second year in a row 15 athletes have been invited to join the Australian Junior Team.
SSAXC has also released the XC nomination ranking lists for the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland. Currently Australia has a quota of one male and two female cross country skiers for the WYOG. Team selections will be finalised in December after the quota allocation process concludes.
Once again the main northern winter training base for the Australian Team will be Davos in Switzerland. Continental Cup and U23 athletes will start to assemble in Davos from mid-November, with the first of the Junior Team arriving in December. The Junior Team has two main training/racing periods, one targeting the WYOG in mid-January and the other leading into the World Junior/U23 Championship in Germany at the end of February. The World Cup and Continental Cup teams will target different events mostly in central Europe, with Jessica Yeaton also aiming to race the Tour de Ski and the Canmore World Cup finals.
Progress through the season can be followed on the AUSXC website and also via @AUSXC on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Support for the team is welcome via donations for athlete expenses via the XC Towards 2022 project, and all skiing enthusiasts are welcome to attend the AUSXC Season Launch and fundraising evening in Melbourne on Friday October 18.