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Skating
to the top Harries Olympic material TOWNSVILLE-born ice skater Daniel Harries has been earmarked as a future Olympian following outstanding performances at the national titles in Sydney. Harries won the Australian junior championship and was third in the senior division behind Anthony Liu, who will attend his second Olympics at Salt Lake City next year. Eighteen-year-old Harries has qualified for the Four Continents Championship in Korea next month and the world junior titles in Hamer, Norway in March. Ice Skating Association of Queensland publicity officer Chris Michie said Harries had the necessary attributes to reach Olympic standard. "To be a good skater you need to have the right body type," Michie said. "You need to have a fine, light body and be very strong. Daniel has a good attitude, the right body type and he is artistic. "He is very dedicated and now he has finished school he will be able to dedicate more time to skating and should show rapid improvement." Harries began skating at the Warrina rink in Townsville in 1992. He first moved to Brisbane in 1998, returned to Townsville in 1999 and moved back to Brisbane about 18 months ago. Harries' success at the nationals was the highlight of what had been a difficult 14-month period. His run of bad luck started in October last year in China when the heel on one of his boots broke in half. The boot could not be repaired in time and Harries was forced to sit out the compeition. Earlier this year he missed the Four Continents Championship in Salt Lake City after colliding with another skater during practice. He tore the medial ligaments in his right knee and was off the ice for three months, resuming training in late April. "My knee is fully recovered and luckily I don't need an operation to fix the damage," Harries said. During his time off the ice he decided to switch coaches, joining Elena Antonov at Iceworld Boondall. A second planned trip to the US for competition also was cancelled following the terrorist attacks in September. His first and third placings in Sydney made up for those disappointments and he is looking forward to the international competitions, especially his first at senior level. "The Four Continents will be my first senior international competition and I don't really know what to expect," Harries said. "I know it will be much tougher." His aim will be to finish in the top 24 and get among the prizemoney on offer but he will look upon the trip to Korea, and subsequent competitions, as a chance to gain valuable experience at international level. "For the past year and a half I haven't had much international competition," Harries said. "I want to get as much experience as I can competing at international level in front of international judges - it's so much different to competing in Australia." Harries arrived back in Townsville on Sunday and will spend a week with his family before heading back to Brisbane to resume preparation for what he hopes will be a busy year of international competition. |
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