My first and last....with Fiona Hughes

AT just 19-years old, Huddersfield's Fiona Hughes is one of the rising stars of British cross-country skiing and recorded her first international win at Bruksvallarna in November.

TOP OF THE PILE: Fiona Hughes tops the podium after finishing top junior at her first race of the season in Bruksvallarna

With her last world junior championships and a potential Winter Olympic place in the pipeline, this season could be the busiest of the teenager's career.

Here she is talking trees, reindeer and Manchester United with Sportsbeat's Chris Cottrell....

My first skiing experience: It was in Venabu, Norway, when I was eight and my parents took me there on holiday. I remember putting on skis for the first time and my mum saying to stay well clear of the trees. And then I crashed straight into one!

But after that first time we used to go pretty much every year and when I was 12 I entered a fun race in Norway and it started from there.

My first podium: That was at the Swiss junior nationals last year where I came third in the 10 km pursuit. It wasn't that long ago so I still remember it really well and since then I've had four top five finishes.

My first win: It was at the first event this season in Bruksvallarna and it was a pretty special feeling. They didn't play anthems or anything but I did receive a hamper of local food with things like smoked fish, smoked ham and reindeer in it which was nice.

I used to be a vegetarian at this point last year but it's a good job I'm not any more or it would have been pretty useless.

My first international event: It was in the Spanish Pyrenees - a continental cup race in Candanchu. I was 16 and really excited because I hadn't really skied on such a big stage before.

The quality of the skiers was so much higher than I was used to.  I didn't have a good race but I learned a lot.  Hopefully I will be competing against some of the same people again when the British team go to central Europe just before Christmas.
 
My first Olympic memory: I watched a lot of the last one in Turin. I saw bits of the previous ones but I never really sat down purposefully to watch it.

I vaguely recall watching Alex Coomber at the 2002 Games but I vividly remember Shelley Rudman's skeleton run in Turin. I remember staying in to watch which medal she would get.
 
My first injury: Touchwood, I haven't had one yet. It's not so common to get injuries in cross country skiing as it is in events like Alpine or ski jumping. There's not as much impact or high speeds so you're more likely to get muscle strains but thankfully so far I've been okay.

My first job: I did some summer temping work last year at HSBC in Canary Wharf, London. My mum works for HSBC so I found out about it through her. With school work and training I didn't really have time for a part-time job while I was at school.