Madison Poole is one of TWO lucky Australians that got selected to participate in ice hockey at the Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. This is the first time Aussies have EVER been chosen to participate so it's a big deal! Plus, Madison even came fifth in the skills competition - what a superstar!
TG's Claire had a chat with her recently for our March issue of Total Girl. Read on to find out more about ice hockey...

C: What do you love the most about ice hockey?

M: The fact that it always changes and I guess the speed and cold atmosphere. I definitely like the cold weather and you can kind of do whatever you want when you’re ice skating and especially in ice hockey, the games are never the same and you never know what’s going to happen.

C: You’re from Perth, WA - not the coldest climate in Australia! What made you gravitate towards winter sports?

M: It was kind of just by chance, I kind of fell into it! I was doing gymnastics and obviously other sports at the time and my parents took me down to the rink for a public session just for fun and then I fell in love with it.

C: Do you think gymnastics has aided you in becoming an amazing ice hockey player?

M: I think everything just adds up, so all the sports I’ve done – dancing, gymnastics, swimming, figure skating as well. Because I do ice hockey I also did figure skating, synchronized figure skating and speed skating.
C: Which Australian records have you broken?

M: 220 metres, 333 metres and the 777 metres!

C: Ice hockey can be pretty intense, have you ever gotten hurt or been injured?

M: No, I’m one of the lucky ones! I’ve never actually been injured through ice skating. I got hit in the back once, but it was nothing severe. I know a lot of people that play can get injured quite badly. I don’t know, I’m just quite lucky I guess!

C: So you did the 'skills challenge' at the Youth Olympics, what's that?

M: They created an event called the skills challenge for the countries that didn’t get the opportunity to be in the Olympics. They wanted to give out more opportunity for ice hockey players in countries that aren’t as well known. They’re all different aspects of ice hockey, just broken up into different skills.

C: How much training does it take to compete at this level?

M: It’s hard to find ice time to train privately, but we try to do as much as we can. I trained maybe four hours on the ice specifically for the skills challenge and then off the ice three hours, but I have to focus on things like my diet and getting adequate sleep, positive mindset and all that sort of stuff.

C: Can you tell me what your best moment on the ice has been so far?

M: Any moment I’m on the ice. Spending time with my sister as well, she’s a year older than me and any time that we get to spend on the ice together is kind of like our own little world.

C: What's your biggest goal?

M: Definitely to get gold, that would be the ultimate dream. I think if you’re going to go to the Olympics you have to be aiming for gold, and just do your best. I just want to have fun and take in the whole Olympic experience. I’ve always wanted to watch an Olympic game, so to actually participate is unbelievable. So just to do what I love and at such a high scale is incredible.