CANBERRA－Seve de Campo still remembers the first time he tuned into the Olympics on TV－as a wide-eyed 10-year-old, transfixed by the athletes and venues at the 2008 Games in Beijing.

Now an accomplished cross-country skier, De Campo is raring to begin his own Olympic odyssey in the Chinese capital in February.

"I'm really excited to go to Beijing," said the 23-year-old Australian in 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."

De Campo was Australia's best-placed skier earlier this month at the OPA Continental Cup in Switzerland. He has been putting in the extra miles during the offseason 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 does his best to strike a balance between studying and training.

He first got into cross-country skiing aged 11, when his father suggested he enter an interschool snow sports competition. His dad reasoned that it might be relatively easy for his son to win a medal in the sport, given his stamina levels were already pretty strong due to his love of running.

De Campo and his teammates managed to make it to the podium, and later they 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 what is the attraction of the notoriously grueling sport, he delivered a philosophical reply: "It's sort of like a metaphor for life. You don't know why and you're not necessarily enjoying it at that particular moment, but you just embrace attacking each hill and keep going right to the finish line."

The Winter Olympics have inspired many young people in China to ski and skate, which De Campo reckons will reap major benefits.

"There are some great things you can learn out of doing a winter sport, especially the cross-country game," he said.

A couple of years ago, De Campo happened upon a Chinese training camp in Falls Creek, a ski resort in the Australian state of Victoria. About 40 or 50 junior 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 in a lot more resources and some kids are able to chase their sporting goals in that way."

Due to the pandemic, a test event for cross-country skiing in China was canceled last season, delaying De Campo's first trip to Beijing.

With the TV images of the 2008 Summer Olympics still in his mind, he said he would like to visit some venues from those Games. He is also keen to try authentic Chinese food, like fried rice, which he orders at his local Chinese restaurant.

Australia is among a handful of countries to join the United States in a diplomatic boycott of the Games, but De Campo wholeheartedly disagrees with the move.

"We share different cultures sometimes between different countries," he said. "The Olympics are 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."

Xinhua