ONE MAN watching the Winter Olympics with special interest from afar in the Lake District is Ian Woods, the Director of Professional Development at Lakeside YMCA in Windermere.

Mr Woods now transfers the skills he showed as the chief of coaching with the Great Britain biathlon squad to the business world.

His recent work has involved programmes for organisations such as Rolls Royce, Marks and Spencers and My Travel.

But he has remained in touch with the biathlon - a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting - as the personal coach of Tom Clemens, the only male Great Britain biathlon competitor to qualify for the 2006 Games.

The instructor in the Army Physical Training Corps based at Catterick failed in his bid to go to the last Games at Salt Lake City, but his ambition has been realised with Mr Woods's help four years later.

Mr Woods, a double Olympian himself who competed at the Games in Lillehammer and Albertville, said: "Tom's main objective was to qualify and he was thrilled to make it.

"He has already competed and passed the threshold of getting into the top 60 by finishing 57th in his first race, but was disappointed with his second race when the shooting did not go well and he finished down the field.

"He is an exciting athlete, a bit of a McEnroe character, which helps him in his aggressive approach to competition."