Last-minute push for Winter Olympics

New Zealand athletes are making last-minute pushes to gain Winter Olympic selection for Vancouver next month.

The bulk of the squad will be named early next week, while fingers will be crossed that when the International Ski Federation announces its quota spots for some disciplines on January 25, New Zealand will get some good news.

The early predictions were for a squad of about 15 to 18 athletes across a range of disciplines, from alpine skiing to snowboarding, skeleton, cross-country and free skiing, biathlon and skating.

Some, such as skeleton racers Tionette Stoddard from Dunedin, Rotorua's Ben Sandford and English-based Ian Roberts, are contesting their final World Cup event in St Moritz, Switzerland on Friday night.

Stoddard's last five World Cup races have all produced finishes inside the top 20; Sandford is world-ranked No 12 and finished ninth in the latest race at Konigssee last weekend, where Roberts' 18th placing raised the possibility of two men qualifying.

Free skier Mitchey Greig, who turned in a fine performance in finishing 15th in a recent World Cup race, has done enough to meet the requirements for a quota spot.

Alpine duo of Ben Griffin of Ohakune and Queenstown's Tim Cafe are busy with regular racing to make sure they have sufficient points to get a nomination.

They have already met the discretionary, or B, standard by which athletes can be selected on the basis of future potential combined with their performances over the past few months.

Skater Shane Dobbin is all but certain to go, with a world ranking of No 13 in the 5000m; and one of Canterbury pair Blake Skjellerup or Mark Jackson should be picked, with New Zealand having secured a quota spot in the short track discipline.

Cross-country pair Katie Calder and Ben Koons are set to be named, given their strong performances this season and having met the qualifying requirements. And snowboarding should have a solid representation. There are places for two men and two women confirmed, with the prospect of a third woman getting the trip, too.

North Shore's James Hamilton and 2006 Olympian Julianne Bray of Wanaka are expected to be named as the best-performed boarders, while Kendall Brown's 13th place at last weekend's halfpipe event in Austria improved her prospects of getting the second women's spot.

Snowboarding is set to achieve its best Winter Olympic representation after three contested the Turin Games four years ago - Bray and Kendall and Mitchell Brown.