Winter Sports

MOUNT Buller’s own Matthew Wilby has been selected by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) to represent Australia at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea.

The biathlete will compete across the sprint, individual and mixed relay events from January 20 to 24, 2024.

He was chosen alongside Ava McCann, Alessandra Sydun-West, Bridget Harvey, Phoenix Sparke and Edward Woodhouse-Bedak, who were also named for the Australian biathlon side.

Matthew got into the sport through 2022 Australian Biathlon Champion and Buller local, Boris Stanish.

“I had recently competed in cross country at Interschools and my Mum saw Boris at the Duck Inn on Mt Buller, cross country skiing up Bourke Street,” he said.

“She literally waved him down and asked him for details on coaches, as she thought I might like the sport.

“Boris kindly gave me lessons in biathlon cross country technique and importantly taught me how to shoot with the laser rifle; I was hooked.”

Over the past three years Matthew has trained diligently and honed his craft, leading up to this selection.

The training has meant a lot of travel but Matthew has loved the experience.

“You can’t just ‘do Biathlon’ anywhere, because we use .22 sport rifles with real bullets and safety is paramount,” he explained.

“You need to train in the designated areas.

“On snow Biathlon training is at Whiskey Flat, Mt Hotham as it is the only alpine area with the cross country skiing and shooting range.

“When I’m not at Whiskey Flat training, you can usually see me at Mt Buller, running, going to the gym, and cross country skiing up and down Bourke St and Helicopter Flat after the lift closes.”

Matthew has fallen completely in love with biathlon and has enjoyed the unique challenges of the sport.

“Competing is so much fun; you cross country ski with your heart rate pounding, then have to slow it down entering the range so you can hit your five targets accurately,” he said.

“Then repeat for either 7.5km (sprint), or 12.5km (distance).

“I fell in love with the shooting side of biathlon and I’ve had to train very hard to improve my cross country skiing both in speed, technique and endurance.

“It is two very different sports that the successful biathletes merge together.”

The selection races for the Winter Youth Olympics occur during the state and national championships, with both sprint (7.5km/two shoots) and a distance (12.5km/four shoots) categories having competitors from Victoria, NSW and Canberra.

The poor snow season this year, and the subsequent cancellation of the national competition, meant the selection was based purely on the Victorian Interschools for Matthew.

“We had to wait until early November to find out Biathlon Australia’s athlete nominations to the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC),” he said.

“Not knowing, yet training as if I had been selected was tough, but I just focussed on my goal, and tried to ignore not knowing.

“Knowing I would be flying to Finland late November for cross country training with my coach was definitely an incentive, as I’d never been there and hoped to see the Northern Lights.”

Looking to the future, Matthew is hopeful he can compete in the Olympics in 2030.

“I’m lucky that Biathletes don’t peak until their late 20’s as although I will be training for Milan 2026, my opportunity is more likely to be 2030,” he said.

“When I come back next year, I’ll be in year 11 and will have to hit the books, as well as train, compete here and overseas, and continue to improve my strength, technique and endurance.”