Olympics: NZ team finalised next week

New Zealand hopes to send a team of between 15 and 18 athletes to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver next month but cannot announce who will definitely go until next week, after overseas sports bodies finalise national quotas.

As of yesterday, New Zealand had 11 allocations across a range of disciplines but up to 18 could be confirmed by next week.

The confirmed allocations are for alpine skiing (three), cross-country skiing (three), freeskiing (one) and snowboarding (four).

Those who have met New Zealand selection standards and seem certain to win a place on the team are snowboarders Juliane Bray (Wanaka) and James Hamilton (North Shore), freeskier Mitchey Greig (Queenstown), skeleton racers Toinette Stoddard (Dunedin) and Ben Sandford (Rotorua), cross-country skiers Katie Calder (Hamilton) and Ben Koons (dual New Zealand-Canada) and 5000m skater Shane Dobbins (Palmerston North).

Alpine skiers Ben Griffin (Ohakune) and Tim Cafe (Queenstown) have met the discretionary qualification standard for their events and may get the nod, while their colleague, Sarah Jarvis, of Hamilton, also has her name in the hat.

Olympian snowboarders from 2006 Mitchell Brown and Kendall Brown (both of Wanaka) are locked in a selection battle with Ben Stewart (Whangamata) and Rebecca Sinclair (Wanaka) respectively, for two spots - one male, one female - on the snowboard team.

Snow Sports New Zealand media spokeswoman Tania Pilkinton said yesterday the snowboard selectors had some tough decisions ahead of them, because the competition was so close.

"We are at the top of the list for another spot for a snowboarder, so if one country doesn't fill their quota, that will open up anotherspot for us," Pilkinton said.

If the extra allocation eventuates, it will be for a female snowboarder, meaning either Mitchell Brown or Stewart will miss out.

Canterbury skaters Blake Skjellerup and Mark Jackson are also locked in a selection battle for the one-athlete allocation in the short track discipline.

If the International Biathlon Union grants dual New Zealand-Canada citizen Sarah Murphy a start, it will be the first time New Zealand has sent a biathlete to the Winter Olympics.

Dunedin's Andy Pohl or dual Canadian-New Zealander Nils Koons have been tipped as likely nominations for the third cross-country skiing allocation.

New Zealand Olympics Committee communications manager Ashley Abbott said yesterday about 18 athletes attended the 2006 Olympics in Turin, which included curling and bobsled teams.

This year more individual athletes had met New Zealand selection criteria.

The curling and bobsled teams had not.

"Realistically, we are not going to have the bulk of the team named until next week, around the 26th or 27th," Abbott said.