Concord teen Isabella Moon doing Australia proud in biathlon

I t wouldn’t be easy to become an Australian biathlon champion when you live in Concord but Isabella Moon has achieved just that.

Isabella Moon is aiming to compete at the 2020 Youth Winter Olympics.

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I T wouldn’t be easy to become an Australian biathlon champion when you live in Concord but Isabella Moon has achieved just that.

The 15-year-old has been in Europe on the international biathlon circuit competing in the IBU Biathlon junior cups and the junior world championships in Osrblie, Slovakia.

But how did an inner west teenager master the multi-discipline sport which combines fast cross country skiing with accurate target shooting?

“I began cross country skiing when I was 11 years old because my older sister and brother were competing at interschools races and they had a lot of fun, which encouraged me to try it,” she said.

“I was the first student to ever represent Strathfield North Public School at Interschools Snowsports.”

Concord Teen Isabella Moon.

When its not snowing in Australia, she does dryland training known as rollerskiing, or skis on wheels.

She also runs at local parks and hits the gym for strength training.

For shooting practise she has to travel further afield to the Sydney International Shooting Centre and to the rifle range at Malabar.

“The main aspect of biathlon that caught my attention was that I could use my ability to ski quickly around the ski course, but I was also super excited to pick up such a unique skill as shooting a .22 rifle,” she said.

“Once I had learnt to shoot, the next task was to master the shooting with a heart rate, which is extremely difficult.

“I love biathlon because of the degree of difficulty, the speed and physical demand of skiing and I also really enjoy doing a sport with such a big demand on mental difficulty through concentration and focus when you arrive on the range to shoot.”

At the world championships late last month, Isabella came 80th out of 100 in the 10km youth women individual race, which is was for competitors up to 19-years-old.

She came 88th out of 103 in the youth women sprint. In the relay, she and fellow 16-year-old biathlon partner Lulu came 23rd despite racing against women up to the age of 23.

“By competing in these races we are trying to get in the top 30 nations, which will help Australia to secure a quota for the Lausanne 2020 Youth Winter Olympics,” Isabella said.

“This has been a goal for me for four years and I am so excited to hopefully make my dream a reality.”