The cross-country ski season may be over, but the training and preparation continues for Graham Nishikawa.

The Whitehorse native is coming off a highlight filled year as a competitive cross-country skier and is confident about being able to build on it for the upcoming season.

With the hope of qualifying for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Nishikawa is currently preparing for what will be his biggest year to date in the sport.

"This is the really important season of trying to qualify for the Olympic Team, so that is my big goal for this year," he said. "I have been keying on these Vancouver Olympics and trying to make the team for as long as I can remember. I"m basically not really trying to think about the nitty-gritty details, but I want to be in position where they say "Graham should be on the team.""

Nishikawa, 24, has been active in the sport of cross-country skiing since he was four years old. He began as a member in the Jack Rabbits program at the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club, before working his way up to the Territorial Experimental Ski Training program.

Just 10 years after first getting into the sport, Nishikawa began to race competitively as a member of the Yukon Ski Team, under the coaching of former Olympian, Alain Masson.

Since focusing his attention to competitive racing, Nishikawa has accomplished a long list of achievements. In 2001 and 2004 he won the Yukon International Male Athlete of the Year award, which is given out by Sport Yukon. Nishikawa was also a member of the National Ski Team for two seasons in 2005/06 and 2006/07.

Nishikawa is presently ranked sixth overall in Canada among male skiers and is a member of the National Ski Team Development Centre in Quebec City.

After coming off a disappointing season in 2006/07, which was result of over-training and illness, Nishikawa rebounded to win two gold medals on the very competitive NORAM race series. He also finished with a silver medal at the 2008 National Championships.

Since the conclusion of the season, he has been alternating between training camps in Quebec City and Canmore, Alberta. His training in sport is twice a day for as many as six hours.

The training workouts include a combination of strength, endurance and speed exercises. August and September are the peak training months for competitive skiers in the sport, before they ease off leading up to the beginning of the racing season, which starts in November.

One of Nishikawa"s more immediate goals for this season is to achieve a top 20 finish in an international race, such as a world cup race. On more than one occasion he has finished in the top 40 at these elite competitions, but Nishikawa said after the success of last season, he is confident about being able to achieve this goal.

"After last year and now, the training I have done, things are coming together, so (I"ll) keep my fingers crossed," he said. "If you can win in Canada, you are just about there, so now it"s using that year and improving again. That"s what I"m looking for."

Nishikawa said the turning point of this past season was when he won his first race, which was held in Quebec City.

"It is always good for your confidence to win," he said. "I have been on the podium (for) second and third so many times in North America, but actually winning is a different thing. So now I have had a few of these big races, but now I need to have them on the world cup and then I should be alright."

The total number of cross-country skiers for Canada for the 2010 Games hasn"t been determined yet, but Nishikawa is confident that if he can consistently be in the top three in the country that will be enough to make the team.

He said it will be easier going into this season after the success he had in 2007/08.

"It"s kind of always a bit daunting, but I have never been so focused or motivated," he said. "I"m really not thinking about it that much, just pretty much focused 100 per cent on the training and what I can control and then I will just try to just go for it and see what happens."