The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games is just days away, with the first events to take place on next Friday (February 5).

New Zealand has a fifteen-strong team heading to Beijing, including seven athletes who call the Upper Clutha home.

New Zealand team chef de mission Marty Toomey (Wānaka) says the athletes are looking forward to competing against the best in the world as they strive for Olympic glory.

“These athletes have demonstrated a huge amount of skill and determination to be selected to the New Zealand Team for Beijing,” Marty said.

“Qualifying for the Winter Olympic Games is a mammoth task at the best of times.

“To qualify during the pandemic has been even more challenging and we are thrilled that these fifteen athletes will be representing our nation in just over a week in Beijing.”

Marty says the team comes into Beijing in amazing form and has potential across the board.

The Wānaka contingent of athletes will be led by PyeongChang bronze medallists and reigning X-Games and World Champions Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Nico Porteous.

Nico will be joined by his brother Miguel. This will be Miguel's second Olympic Games.

Finn Bilous is also attending his second Olympics. In 2016 Finn won New Zealand's first ever Winter Youth Olympic Games medal with a silver in the halfpipe and then backed this up with bronze in the slopestyle. 

The youngest on the team is Wānaka’s Gustav Legnavsky (16) and he will be joined in the half pipe by Ben Harrington who is having a breakout season.

Lake Hāwea’s Campbell Wright (cross country ski) rounds out the Wānaka athletes, although we may lay claim to Ben Barclay and Margaux Hackett with both athletes based in Wānaka during the winter.

The New Zealand Team is made up of nine men and six women and will compete in up to 72 competition sessions across the 15 days of Winter Olympic competition.

Seven of the athletes are first time Olympians with the others all returning from PyeongChang 2018. The full team can be viewed here.

The competition schedule is available here.

PHOTO: Tommy Pyatt Photography