The European Youth Olympic Winter Festival is where talent meets opportunity.
Every two years, athletes aged 14 to 18 get the chance to represent Team GB and pit their wits against their continental peers.
It should be no surprise, then, that it acts as a perfect platform to propel athletes onto the Olympic stage.
Here are ten British athletes who have graduated from EYOF to the Winter Olympic Games.
Jo Williams: Short track speed skating
The Londoner earned her spurs at the third edition of Winter EYOF in 1997, capturing bronze in the girls 500m in the Swedish city of Sundsvall.
Williams made her Olympic debut at Salt Lake City 2002, narrowly missing out on the final in the 1,000m, before featuring at Turin 2006 and winning European relay gold in 2008.
Chemmy Alcott: Alpine skiing
Alcott burst onto the scene at the 1999 EYOF, held in Poprad-Tatry, Slovakia, with Super G silver and bronze in the giant slalom.
The Team GB fans’ favourite became the second British female alpine skier to feature at four Olympics and now co-hosts iconic BBC show Ski Sunday with Ed Drake.
Andrew Musgrave: Cross-country skiing
A four-time Olympian and the man at the forefront of British cross-country skiing, Andrew Musgrave's first taste of Team GB action came at the 2007 EYOF in Spain.
It was there he finished 47th in the 10km interval start free, using the experience to propel him to a best placed Olympic finish of seventh in the skiathlon at PyeongChang 2018.
Anna Sloan: Curling
Born in Dumfries, Sloan is best known as the trusty third on Team Eve Muirhead that scooped bronze at Sochi 2014.
Sloan was also a stellar skip in her own right and she guided Team GB to gold at the 2009 EYOF, one of ten gold medals won by the team in Silesia, Poland.
Niall Treacy: Short track speed skating
After rapidly ascending the British junior ranks, Treacy was selected as Team GB’s flag bearer at the 2017 EYOF in Erzurum, Turkey.
The honour proved the catalyst for a burgeoning career that has included an Olympic appearance at Beijing 2022 and a European silver medal in 2024 over 1,000m.
Anna Henderson: Alpine skiing
Don’t adjust your screens - this is the same Anna Henderson who won Olympic time trial silver as a cyclist at Paris 2024.
The Hemel Hempstead native actually made her Team GB debut as a skier, competing in slalom and giant slalom at the 2015 EYOF in Liechtenstein, before a leg fracture later that year forced the sporting switch.
Kathryn Thomson: Short track speed skating
Another short track speed skater to make the grade, Thomson announced herself with 500m silver at the 2013 EYOF in Brasov, Romania.
The experience helped the Scot step up to take senior European silver the following year, setting her up to become a double Olympian.
Charlie Guest: Alpine skiing
Guest dreamt of becoming an Olympian from the age of three, so an appearance at the 2009 EYOF was a major step towards achieving that lifelong dream.
The steely Scot overcame a serious knee injury and an auto-immune disease to make two Olympic appearances and is now a member of the BOA Athletes’ Commission.
Billy Major: Alpine skiing
Being a member of the class of Brasov 2013 helped Major make good on a passion for skiing that began when he was two years old, starting racing at seven.
Major is now a fixture on the World Cup circuit and made his Olympic debut at Beijing 2022.
James Clugnet: Cross-country skiing
Confident sprint specialist Clugnet was another to cut teeth on the multi-sport stage at Brasov 2013.
Joining Musgrave and Andrew Young in making history for the nation in his sport, Clugnet became an Olympian at Beijing 2022 and has three World Cup top 10 finishes to his name.
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