Some of Canada's juniors just completed a European adventure in Germany and Switzerland, more are heading to Romania, the land of Dracula, on Friday for the World Junior Championships. This week Levi Nadlersmith (Manitoba) and Annika Richardson (BC) headed to Norway, the land of the trolls, to gain some major games experience at the Youth Olympic Games.

The Youth Olympic Games are being held in Lillehammer the site of the 1994 Olympics, where crowds of 100,000 spectators lined the ski trails cheering on their national heroes.

Annika and Levi in their Canadian Youth Olympic Team gear

Racing begins Saturday with a new event the Cross-Country Ski Cross. 

Hi my name is Levi Nadlersmith, I am one of two athletes who qualified in December to represent Canada at the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer Norway. Here's a quick update on my experience thus far.

We left Ottawa Monday evening and travelled throughout the night eventually arriving in Oslo where we were shuttled to Lillehammer. This was my first time crossing the pond and my first encounter with jet lag, thankfully I have been given lots of helpful tips on what to expect and ways of dealing with it. I think overall the transition has gone quite well, I'm am feeling a bit tired but healthy.

The last few days have gone by really quickly, we have had two training sessions at the Nordic venue mainly focusing on the Cross-Country Cross event happening on Saturday. This event is completely new for both Annika and myself, it is becoming popular in Europe but has not yet reached the North American competitive circuit. It is essentially a long sprint with several challenging obstacles thrown around the course. We were both surprised by how manageable the course actually is and are looking forward to the event on Saturday.

Saturday’s Youth Olympic Games Cross-Country Cross race will be live streamed at youtube.com/olympics and also cbcsports.ca

Photos for all sports and activities will be posted at flicker.com/photos/lillehammer2016 and also can be found at YOGphotos.com

We will provide complete coverage of the Canadian participation at the YOG, for quick updates follow Trip Leader Lisa Patterson on Twitter and Instagram.

Pictures from the trails:

A visit to the Madshus factory.

Check back on the weekend for more updates.

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