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Selection
is dream come true for Zhang QUEENSLANDER Stephanie Zhang, 16, is the youngest member of the Australian Olympic Team competing at the Salt Lake City Games in February. The Australian Olympic Committee yesterday selected Zhang as the sole representative in women's figure skating. The former McGregor High School student from Acacia Ridge in Brisbane can hardly believe her good fortune. "I'm very happy and very excited to be going to my first Olympics. "It is like a dream come true - definitely," said Zhang. She learned of her official selection in between training sessions at the Canterbury Ice Rink in Sydney. Zhang was born in China and moved to Australia with her parents at the age of nine. "It is a big relief to finally be selected. The struggle has been so hard it has made me realise how precious it is to actually make an Olympic Team," she said. She will be the baby of the Australian Team and more than likely the youngest competitor on the ice in Salt Lake City. She is clearly the best performed female skater in Australia this year although the race for Olympic selection was a three-way tussle with Joanne Carter and Miriam Manzano. "We had some tough competitions to see which one of us would qualify for the Olympics and for me it has all come true now," she said. "It was pretty hard on all three girls. The competition was good. They pushed me and made me work really hard." Like Anthony Liu, she is receiving financial support from the Chinese Sports Foundation in Australia. "They have been a great help raising money to send me overseas to compete." Zhang leaves Australia on Boxing Day to train at altitude in the US in the final weeks before the Games begin. |
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