Concord biathlete Isabella Moon competes at Youth Olympics with injury
While her friends have enjoyed their summer holiday, this remarkable teenager has been testing herself against the best in the world on the other side of the world despite a major setback.
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When teenager Isabella Moon returns to school she will have great stories to tell, battle scars and possibly the smallest tan lines of any of her mates.
While her friends enjoyed the Australian summer, Moon has been across the world in various winter destinations, competing in major sporting events. But not everything has gone to plan.
Incredibly Moon, part of the Australian team which competed at the Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland, this month, raced with a broken finger after falling before her individual race.
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“We are very proud of her that she was still determined to race despite needing to use the fractured finger to support the rifle while shooting and needing it to push off her poles while skiing over a 10km course,’’ mother Deborah said.
“The finger has been splinted but this has to be removed for the race so she can fit it in the race glove and use her hand.’’
In February Moon is due to contest the junior world championships in a sport involving cross country skiing and target shooting and which she admits most people in Australia only really know from watching the Winter Olympic on TV.
But that’s one of the things that attracted her to it.
“It’s an unusual sport but that’s one of the reason I like it so much,” said the 16-year-old from Concord in an interview from Lausanne.
“My friends think its usual and I often have to explain what the sport is.
“I also love that it is hard and different every time. You can ski well sometimes and not shoot well. Or the other way round. It’s always a challenge.’’
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Moon, who attends the Meriden school at Strathfield, was a cross country skier before being introduced at age 12 to biathlon by her then coach Lucy Glanville who competed for Australian at the Winter Games in Sochi in 2016.
Now coached by Cameron Morton, who competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics, Moon has her sights set on one day also suiting up for Australia at this level and practices shooting twice a week at the Sydney International Shooting Centre and Malabar rifle range.
“It is my goal to go but I’ll just see where the sport takes me,’’ said Moon, the Australian Biathlon under 19s sprint (6km) and under 19s short (7.5km) champion. in 2019.
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