INNSBRUCK, Jan 21 - How to choose between study and sport training? It is an unavoidable question for the young athletes here at the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games.

For these athletes, aged between 14 and 18, studying more means training less, and vice versa. Being asked about how to balance it, athletes from different countries and regions hold different opinions.

Some find no problems in balancing while others remain confused.

USA Figure skater Caitlin BELT, 15, who finished fourth along with partner Michael JOHNSON (USA) in the Pairs competition at Innsbruck 2012, said she is now studying at a regular high school. During school time, she spends half of the day studying and the other half training, and also takes lessons at the weekend to catch up on her studies.

“I study very hard and my schoolwork is among the average level in my class,” she said.

Figure skater Nina Larissa WOLFSLAST (AUT) said all four Austrian skaters at the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games go to high school. “School will not offer any convenience or extra-points for students like us athletes. My dream is to enter university and to major in Law,” WOLFSLAST, who ranked 13th in Ladies' Singles at Innsbruck 2012, said.

Dmitri DRAGUN (RUS), Bronze medallist in Ice Dancing at the Games, with his partner Maria SIMONOVA (RUS), is from Russia’s junior national team. Training takes up a lot of his time but he keeps up with his studies with the help of tutors, who give him lessons five times per week. “I study at home with the help of tutors," he said. "But I have to pass every school exam."

Chinese Speed Skater LIU An, who has won Gold and Silver medals at the Games, revealed he currently spends half his day training and the other half studying at his sports school. “But next year I will enter the professional sports school, meaning I will have no time studying,” he said.

Another Chinese athlete YU Xiaoyu, the Gold medallist in Figure Skating pairs, left school to enter a figure skating club to train professionally.

At Innsbruck 2012, the Culture and Education Programme still transmits the message that cultural activities, international understanding and education are important alongside sports activities, and that studying at school is vital for young athletes, not only for their career but also for their life.

IOC Young Reporter Ji Ye