By Marcel Vander Wier
O’Leary’s Emily Gray is getting ready to compete at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Austria

As the inaugural Youth Olympics approach, junior curler Emily Gray’s enthusiasm only builds.

The 17-year-old O’Leary resident has been busy lately, making stops across the country to prepare for the 2012 Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria.

The event runs Jan. 13 to 22 with over 1,000 teen athletes from 60 countries expected to participate.

Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976.

“My excitement is most definitely rising as we get closer to the Games,” Gray told The Guardian last week.

Emily Gray is shown at her O’Leary home recently. She is a member of the Canadian curling team for the 2012 Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. Transcontinental Media photo by Eric McCarthy

The Grade 12 student at Westisle Composite High School spent last weekend with her team in Ottawa, competing against men in the John Shea Insurance Ottawa Valley Curling Association Junior Superspiel.

It was Team Canada’s first opportunity to play competitively together.

They finished 4-3, finishing the tournament with four wins and a consolation final win.

Gray, the team’s lead, is the only curler selected from east of Manitoba.

The team is skipped by Thomas Scoffin of Whitehorse, while third Corryn Brown is from Kamloops and second Derek Oryniak hails from Winnipeg.
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