Aberdeenshire cross country skiers, Andrew Musgrave (Insch) and Andrew Young (Huntly) are understandably both delighted at being named by the British Olympic Association in Team GB for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games (Feb 12-28).

“For the last couple of years this has been a big goal for me,” said 19 year old Musgrave, speaking at the Junior World Championships in Germany last month. 

“Because I’m so young I didn’t feel it was that likely but I managed to push up the world rankings this season and qualified.  There were several different criteria for qualification but mainly it’s to do with world ranking.”

Joining him in the team is 17 year old Andrew Young.  “We’ve known the selection criteria for a season and a half now, so it’s been something we’ve been working towards. 

“Obviously it was a goal of mine.  At the start of the season I was a bit sceptical whether we’d actually do it. I seemed to find form and everything suddenly clicked into place before Christmas.  Since then I’ve been on really good form and I qualified with space which was quite a relief.”

That the two live barely five miles apart, yet have both made the Olympic team whilst still juniors, is remarkable. Musgrave, who has been training in Norway full time this season, is the world number three in his age group for distance events.

Young, who became a full time athlete after completing his Highers last year, is the world’s top under 18 year old for sprint and number three in distance events. 

In addition to the considerable support from their families (Young is coached by his father) both athletes receive funding from sportscotland. 

Both are supported by the Highland Institute of Sport, part of sportscotland’s institute regional network which provides high performance expertise to Scotland’s potential world class talent, working with partners to build greater success for Scottish sport.

Its expert teams work together to deliver essential support services locally in sports medicine, sports science, Strength and Conditioning, and career and lifestyle guidance.

“The Highland Institute of Sport have helped greatly,” said Young.  “We have had a really good, structured Strength and Conditioning programme.  They’ve given us blood and lactate tests on numerous occasions which show our improvement and it’s also made sure we are training smart. 

“Catriona Walker (HIS Co-ordinator) was with us last week, was doing haemoglobin, lactate and glucose tests. It helps us keep a close eye on whether there are any bugs in the system, what our hydration levels are and how well we are recovering to make sure we are performing at the optimal level.

“It’s one of the first times we’ve had that in GB for cross country skiing and that’s one of the reasons we have had such rapid improvements.  It’s smart, structured training and it’s producing good results.”

Despite being based in Norway, Musgrave has also benefited from continued Highland Institute of Sport support.         

“Their help has been really useful, especially on the Strength & Conditioning and sport science side of things,” said Musgrave.

“Catriona Walker has been out with us this week during the World Junior Championships monitoring our haemoglobin levels and blood sugar levels to make sure we are in the best form.”

Later this week the pair head to Calgary, Canada for a World Cup, their final race before the Olympics. 

RE-J

See a video interview with Andrew Musgrave here: http://www.facebook.com/video/?id=303533999096

(Thanks to Headstream PR)