Vancouver or bust

Australia's defending Olympic gold medallist, Dale Begg-Smith, will enjoy a homecoming of sorts when he competes in the Vancouver Winter Olympics in February. The Vancouver-based Begg-Smith has trained in Australia since he was 14 but that didn't stop his victory in the moguls event at the 2006 Turin Olympics creating controversy, with the Canadian public crying foul. They wanted to include Begg-Smith's win as one of their own, while many Australians were stunned at having success in such a technical snow event.

However, Begg-Smith firmly attributes his international triumph to the flexible structure of the Australian system that nurtured his undeniable skill and helped him develop his internet businesses on the side.

He turned up in the Snowy Mountains as a precocious 14-year-old with his older brother acting as his guardian, but the NSW Institute of Sport and then the Olympic Winter Institute stepped in with coaching and financial support. Begg-Smith's rise has coincided with a raft of Australians standing on the World Cup podium. In the past two years, Australia has won 44 World Cup medals in six winter disciplines.

Begg-Smith spends considerable time on the top-rated Perisher Blue moguls course Toppa's Dream, named for coach Peter Topalovic, and it will be that run that Begg-Smith will head straight to in mid-August for his first touch of snow since undergoing a knee reconstruction.

"Dale blew out his knee at the Deer Valley World Cup in February and his rehabilitation is going well," says Topalovic.

"He's a bit of gym fanatic so he's fit and strong and his first hit-out will be at Perisher towards the end of August for a fortnight, where we will assess the injury and map out his program for the Olympics. We want him to have a good hit-out before the Games so that he gets his nerves going again."

Australian athletes have an impressive record following knee injuries. Alisa Camplin and Lydia Lassila both had radical surgery before the Turin Olympics, with Camplin collecting the bronze medal. Lassila managed to land one terrific jump but then again blew out her knee with an awkward landing just before the finals. Taking heart from their experiences is Australia's top downhill skier, Jono Brauer, who is recovering from a recent, particularly nasty, knee injury.

Most of the winter athletes have until January to qualify for the Games. Some of the names to look for during the winter season and the northern hemisphere qualifying period are: Lydia Lassila (current aerials World Cup champion), Jacqui Cooper (former aerials World Cup champion, trying for her fifth Olympic Games), Jono Brauer and Craig Branch (alpine), Ramone Cooper and Dale Begg-Smith (moguls), Torah Bright, Holly Crawford, Nathan Johnstone and Hannah Trigger (snowboard), Joh Shaw (parallel giant slalom snowboard), Jenny Owens and Scott Kneller (skier cross), Damon Hayler and Alex Pullin (snowboard cross), Alex Almoukov (biathlon), Paul Murray, Ben Sim and Esther Bottomley (cross-country ski), Tatiana Borodulina and Lachlan Hay (short-track speed skating), Emma Lincoln-Smith (skeleton) and Hannah Campbell-Pegg (luge).

Australian officials are aiming for two to four medals from the Vancouver Olympics, which run from February 12-28.