Record Number of Aussie Student-Athletes

Milton, Feb 03, 2014: Ahead of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has released selections for Australia’s largest ever delegation – staring a record number of 28 university athletes. Australia will be represented in 10 of the 15 sports in Sochi, with 60 skiers, snowboarders, skaters and sliders making up the team.

The Winter Olympics follow a successful Australian campaign at the recent Winter Universiade, held last December, 2013 in Trentino, Italy where Australia was represented by 22 “Australian Uniroos”

Australia brought home one bronze medal courtesy of Alex Almoukov, following a stellar performance in the biathlon 12.5km pursuit. Alex will now back up his representation at the Universiade, with a spot on the Australian Winter Olympics team.

Australian University Sport (AUS) CEO, Don Knapp, was delighted to see a strong representation of student athletes on the team and said it was testament to the support of elite athlete programs at Australian universities.

“A number of Australian universities have scholarships which allow athletes to not only pursue their elite sporting careers, but also to maintain a healthy balance and complete tertiary education”, Don Knapp explained. “We know there is evidence this support is contributing to Australia’s success on the international sporting stage. Following the 2012 London Olympics, 63% of Australian medallists were university students.”

AUS also hosts an annual Australian University Championship (AUC) for Snow Sports, which rotates between Thredbo and Mt Buller. The event attracts over 300 students with a programme of 15 disciplines. Several athletes of the Australian Winter Olympics team frequent the AUC Snow Sports, seeing it as a perfect “at home” event to build up competition experience and represent their university.

Full list of Australian University athletes include:

Former Australian Uniroos, who have competed at a Winter Universiade