Feature: Australian skier expects to realize Olympic dream in Beijing

CANBERRA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- In 2008, 10-year-old Seve de Campo watched the Olympic Games for the first time on TV and was impressed by the venues in Beijing.

Now a skillful cross-country skier, de Campo is eager to make his Winter Olympics debut in the Chinese capital early next year.

"I'm really excited to go to Beijing," said the 23-year-old Australian during a Zoom interview with Xinhua.

"It's something that would mean a lot to me personally. I have worked hard for a lot of years," he added.

A member of the Australian Cross Country team, de Campo was the country's best-placed skier earlier this month at the OPA Continental Cup in Switzerland. He has been putting in the extra miles during the off-season to give himself the best chance to qualify for Beijing 2022.

A student majoring in engineering and commerce at the Australian National University, de Campo has to find a balance between his studies and training. He said he started to ski at a young age.

When he was 11, there was an inter-school snow sport competition. De Campo's dad suggested that he try cross country, which he never did before, saying that it might be easier to win a medal. Then de Campo joined a team and they managed to make it to the podium. Later they also took part in a national competition.

"I was naturally good at cross country skiing because I was a good runner," said de Campo.

When asked about the charm of the sport, he put it in a philosophical way: "It's sort of like a metaphor for life. You don't know why and you're not necessarily enjoying it at the moment, but you just embrace attacking each hill and keep going right to the finish line."

The Winter Olympics has inspired many young people in China to ski and skate, which the Australian saw as a good thing. "There's some great things you can learn out of doing a winter sport, especially cross country game."

A couple of years ago, de Campo bumped into a Chinese training camp in Falls Creek, a ski resort in Victoria of Australia. About 40 or 50 junior Chinese cross country skiers were training with Finnish coaches, he recalled.

"They would...always be out there for longer than us," de Campo said.

"It's cool to see that they're putting a lot more resources and some kids are being able to chase their sporting goals in that way."

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a test event for cross-country skiing in China was canceled last season, so de Campo had to wait longer for his first trip to Beijing.

De Campo remembered well watching the 2008 Summer Olympics on TV. He said he would like to visit some of those stadiums if he could qualify for th Beijing 2022 Winter Games.

He also wants to try some Chinese food, like fried rice which he used to have in a Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood.

Talking about the "boycott" claims by a few politicians, de Campo totally disagrees.

"We share different cultures sometimes between different countries," he said. "The Olympics is about bringing people together. (I am) excited and confident that the world can still come together in some way, and I'm really happy that I can be part of it."