World Cup debut beckons for Fedele de Campo

Cross country skier Seve de Campo represented Australia at the Junior World Championships before going on to compete on the World Cup circuit, the World Championships and the Beijing Olympic Winter Games in 2022.

Having also represented Australia at the Junior and U23 World Championships as well as the Winter World University Games, younger brother Fedele is following in Seve’s well-groomed tracks, and this weekend takes his career to the next level.

Having completed preparations in Norway, the 22-year-old is set to make his World Cup debut in Sweden alongside his 25-year-old brother and is looking forward to the experience.

“It is obviously very exciting to get some exposure at the highest level and slightly daunting,” he said. “Whilst I will be competing against the world’s best, these first two races are just against the clock so the preparation doesn’t change one bit.

“I was hoping to make a World Cup race in this first period [of the season] and I’m glad I raced well enough coming straight from a university exam period in Australia. Though I am unlikely to win the hope is that some of that competitive fever that runs through the veins of elite full-time international athletes will rub off on me.”

Training under head coach Alexei Sotkov, Fedele says that while cross country doesn’t have the highest profile in Australian snowsports, the tight-knit nature of the team continues to drive him and his fellow athletes’ careers.

“The Australian Cross Country Team is great,” he said. “It’s interesting how a team develops out of the conditions and constraints that it has to work with. We definitely make a lot out of what resources we have and work to find solutions that give athletes the best opportunity to succeed, if they really want to succeed.

“Recently we’ve become more international with athletes at college in America and based in Europe. This gives us an edge when we have semi-locals in overseas locations and even facilitating some language exchange. 

“More generally, the Aussie Team has a strong environment where we celebrate each others’ successes and I can’t help but think we will only get stronger.”

While Fedele will be at the prime age of 24 when the Milano-Cortina Games roll around in 2026, he knows a lot of work is still to be done if he is to be lining up alongside his brother on the Olympic stage.

“This is a step on that path however the Olympics perhaps isn’t the best metric to measure development,” said Fedele. “I’ve implemented a strong shift in performance mindset - particularly this year - focusing on every immediate training session and improving as an athlete in all aspects of the sport.

“The trap is to set lofty goals without sufficient achievable progress goals that outline the journey step by step.

“Another of my main goals in this sport would be to earn valuable World Cup points and boost Australia’s ranking.

Consequently, if I continue to focus on measurable objectives and improving my race results against my younger self then I will assure you that I won’t be on the Olympic start line just to make up numbers; I will be competing not participating.”

The FIS Cross Country World Cup in Östersund, Sweden takes place this weekend, with the Sprint Classic on Saturday and 10km Freestyle on Sunday.

Head to Snow Live x FIS TV for live streaming details.