Chris Allan grew up in Wangaratta, VIC, in a family of devoted skiers - his parents were life members and a vital part of the local ski club. The snow of Mt Hotham was only a short drive away and Allan began skiing when he was five. In 1974, aged 15, he transitioned from downhill skiing to cross-country and started competing in junior racing programs. Not long after he was selected into the Victoria Junior Development Team and had the opportunity to travel to Norway for six weeks of intensive training camp.

Motivated by his parents’ enthusiasm in getting him to training sessions and races, and coach Bob Cranage’s dedication to developing a junior cross country program in Australia, Allan started living, training and racing on snow all year round as soon as he finished his secondary education. Cranage was also an influential motivator and mentor in Allan’s development years.

Training paid off and Allan won his first Australian title in 1977, aged 18. Unfortunately his rising trajectory suffered a bitter blow when selectors decided against his inclusion in the Olympic team for Lake Placid 1980, due to his still limited international experience.

The setback motivated Allan to travel to Norway and spend the following 18 months training for the 1982 Nordic Skiing World Championships, held in Oslo. Under the tutelage of local coach Rolf Habbestad, Allan improved significantly and, upon returning to Australia after participating in the World Championships, he immediately re-established himself by winning the 15km and 30km national titles.

At that stage Allan’s selection for the 1984 Olympic team in Sarajevo, former Jugoslavia, came with no surprise. The pride Allan’s felt for representing his country on the Olympic stage was even magnified by the fact that the Opening Ceremony of the Games was held on his birthday. Allan went on to race the 15km, 30km and 50km event, with a top-50 as his best result.

Besides representing Australia at the Olympic Games, another highlight of Allan’s career was competing in the 50km event at Holmenkollen, Oslo, in front of a crowd of over 50,000 people.

After retiring from competitive cross-country skiing in 1984, Allan got into coaching. He tried to give back some of that precious knowledge and mentorship that people like Bob Carnage had given him at the beginning of his career, first coaching the NSW Junior Cross-Country Skiing Team for 10 years and then coaching a Junior Soccer team for another 10 years. He continued to enjoy being active and participating in local sporting events in cycling, running, triathlon and many other sports.

Before being nominated for the Snow Australia Medal, Allan’s contribution to Cross-Country Skiing had already been recognised in 2001, when he was awarded an Australian Sports Achievement Award.