A YOUNG British skier from Salisbury has been shortlisted for the opportunity to compete in the first ever winter Youth Olympic World Games in Innsbruck, Austria.

Charlie Raposo, 15, has made it into the British Junior Team, and for the past few years has travelled around the world developing his skills in preparation for the games in January 2012, where only one boy and one girl will be selected to compete from each team.

Charlie attends Green Mountain Valley School, a world class ski academy in Vermont, USA which is geared up to train young hopefuls for huge sporting events such as the Olympics.

He sets off this week to fly to New Zealand to take part in five weeks of intensive training in preparation for the forthcoming competition.

He said: “I am really enjoying living in America. I have met some great people and will never regret my decision to move over there.

“I am now concentrating on developing my skills by practicing mainly on dry land.

“The time trials are at the beginning of December and the fastest skier gets the spot. Fortunately the discipline of the trails is my strongest discipline and they are also on a slope I know well.

“It all comes down to who works the hardest this summer and I am sure I stand a very strong chance with the amount of physical training I am doing.”

Over the course of the year, Charlie will be competing in many competitions as well as training in Chile and Colorado, USA, to improve on his time and get the best possible chance of competing in the winter Youth Olympic World Games.