FOR THE past 12 months Fiona Hughes has been thinking about one thing, the Winter Olympics, but the Lindley skier admits having a one-track mind nearly cost her place.

The 19-year-old – from Lindley – has enjoyed a breakthrough year to date picking up her first senior international win in Sweden in November and making her World Cup debut in Canada just over a week ago.

Despite that Hughes has spent the past three months fearing she wouldn’t qualify, but saw the tension lifted on January 26 when she was announced as part of the 52-strong British team.

The former Greenhead College pupil’s time at Whistler Olympic park will be brief with her only event – the women’s cross-country 10km individual – starting today (6pm) but Hughes has vowed to make the most of it.

“When I was trying to qualify my performances suffered quite a bit because I was a little uptight,” said Hughes.

“It was strange because while I had to build towards Vancouver I also had to make sure I was able to peak throughout the season so that I could qualify.

“I don’t think I was focusing too much on the Olympics – it was just hard having to train hard to qualify and also be fresh for competitions.

“I could have just attempted to qualify in one competition and then focused on solely the Olympics but that would have been a big risk.

“Our coach, Roy Young, wanted all the British guys to go to as many training sessions and competitions as possible so that we could qualify more people.

“And it seems to have worked because I’m here. I trust the work I’ve put in and the work of the coaches and I’m confident that when my Olympics start I will be at my peak.”

Hughes will become Britain’s first female cross-country skier to compete at an Olympics since Louise McKenzie and Jean Watson took part in the 1988 Games in Calgary.

McKenzie and Watson both failed to impress in the 5km, 10km and 20km women’s events but Hughes admits she feels under no pressure to succeed where they failed in Canada.

“There is very little expectation for me to deal with and that should mean I am relaxed,” she added. “I want to perform and I want to have a good race but I don’t think there is any fear of failure for me at this stage.

“I want to have the best race of my life but there is no pressure on me from the outside world.”

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