SOCHI: He's regarded as an international man of mystery with little to say, but Dale Begg-Smith has made a huge impact on one of his Australian Winter Olympics teammates.
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In just over a week, teenager and fellow moguls skier Matt Graham will make his Olympic debut in Sochi, eight years after being inspired to take up the sport.
The then 11-year-old from the NSW central coast town of Gosford watched as Begg-Smith shot to prominence by winning a rare gold medal for Australia at the Turin Games in Italy.
Graham dedicated himself to earning a spot on the Australian team since witnessing Begg-Smith's breakthrough moguls victory and says the reclusive Canadian-born skier has been a key figure in his Olympics quest and anything but hard to track down for a chat.
"Since 2006 watching Dale Begg-Smith get the gold medal, all my drive and focus went into getting to these Olympics," Graham said on Saturday in Sochi.
"Dale has had a massive influence on my career.
"I remember four years ago when I was 14 that he spent two days of his time coaching me and I trained alongside of him.
"That had a massive impact in me. Just in those two days I found I made massive gains in my skiing.
"Ever since then we have Skyped and emailed a lot of the time while he took his break, mainly after competitions. He was mainly helping me with strategic things and his approach to competition.
"He has definitely had a big influence on how I approach training, how I approach day-to-day life and how I approach my competition."
Graham has finished above Begg-Smith in two of the four World Cup events they've competed in this season.
"I always wanted to compete against him and to be competitive with him," said Graham.
"Especially in finals where we bounce off each other a bit and fist pumping each other and getting each other fired up. Having him back this year has been really motivational for the team."
Nicole Parks, also a moguls skier embarking on her first Olympic Winter Games, echoed Graham's assessment of Begg-Smith.
"I think everybody has been too hard on him," she said, referring to his much-publicised reluctance to talk with the media.
"He has had some amazing results and he has been a big inspiration for all of us."
Begg-Smith, who added a silver medal at the 2010 Vancouver Games to become Australia's most successful Winter Olympian, will join the team in Sochi today. AAP
❏ SOCHI: The Australian Olympic Committee has imposed travel restrictions on team members, advising athletes not to travel into downtown areas outside the secured perimeter of Olympic Games venues.
Team chief Ian Chesterman outlined the restrictions on Saturday, saying they were following general advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs to ‘‘exercise a high degree of caution’’ in Russia.
He said the 60-member team was allowed to travel only on official Olympic transport between venues and not to go beyond ‘‘the security perimeters’’.
‘‘I don’t think it will detract from the experience because the highlights of these Games are the regions they can still go to,’’ he said.
Though imposing what he called ‘‘minor restrictions’’, Chesterman said he was confident with security levels in Sochi.
‘‘We feel very comfortable coming here,’’ he said.
‘‘Everybody here has already experienced a level of security.
‘‘It’s intense but not heavy-handed.’’ AP
