The 18-year-old, from Wodonga, leaves the country on Thursday after being selected alongside three other Australian juniors for the International Biathlon Union/International Olympic Committee camp at Martell.

Cullen admitted the sport, which combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, can be a solitary experience.

"It's very special to work as part of a team instead of by yourself," Cullen said.

"Due to COVID, I haven't been able to compete for the last two years so I need to get my skiing up to date and my shooting back to the form it needs to be at for me to compete at my ultimate best.

"Living in Victoria, I haven't been allowed up into the mountains so I haven't had the opportunity to ski.

"I've only skied five times in the past two years so while I'm in Italy, I'm going to be skiing more than I have in the past two years.

"I'm looking forward to getting back on the snow but COVID has made it very challenging to stay motivated because I don't know when I'm going to be able to compete next.

"I didn't even know I'd have this possibility of travelling overseas but all the hard work has paid off."

Cullen, who's just finished her Year 12 exams, trains at the SSAA rifle range just outside Wodonga and is determined to follow in the footsteps of her mother and grandfather, who both won biathlon medals for Australia.

"I love this sport because not always will one person win," Cullen said.

"There are days your shooting won't be good, there will be days your skiing won't be flash or your ski wax isn't the right wax so you're slower than the other competitors.

"To succeed, you have to get through all of these challenges, pushing and striving to be the best you can be.

"By thinking of it like that, it makes me so willing and wanting to do well that I can try to be the best and try to get that perfect 20 out of 20 shooting and the perfect ski time.

"It's a challenging sport because the person that performs best on the day has put these two skills together."

So how good does Bob Cranage, president of SSAA Biathlon Wodonga, believe his grand-daughter can be?

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"Like any athlete, it's up to Jorja," Cranage said.

"It's what she's got in her head and how hard she's prepared to train.

"She's one of the number one shooters for her age in Australia.

"It's OK to do it without a pulse but the thing is doing it with a pulse and that's what she has to learn.

"Her ability to balance on skis is exceptional but to be a great skiier, there's a lot of training to be done.

"This trip is to give kids an insight into what's required to make it to the next level."

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