Australian Winter Olympics chef de mission Geoff Lipshut says Australia is going into the Beijing Winter Olympics with a range of medal hopes, just days out from the action getting underway.
Earlier this week, the Australian Olympic Committee finalised the 44-athlete squad bound for Beijing, with record female representation.
Twenty-three women have been selected, making up 52.3 per cent of the team - surpassing the previous record figure of 51.7 per cent at Sochi in 2014.
The team is headlined by the likes of snowboarder Scotty James and mogul skier Britt Cox, who are both competing at their fourth Olympics.
Lipshut told SEN Summer Breakfast this year’s team is exciting, with talent across a range of events.
“We’ve got strong contenders in a few different sports, and they’re not just skiing and snowboarding which is where our traditional strength is,” he said, pointing to new sport women’s monobob and curling as two chances.
Australia is making its Olympic debut in curling - similar to lawn bowls on ice - represented by the mixed doubles pair of Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt.
The event is the first to get underway, with Australia taking on the United States on day one of the Games, February 2.
Lipshut told SEN the team will learn from the experience of the Summer Olympians in Tokyo, to help achieve a successful Games.
“We took a lot out of Tokyo,” he said.
“The main thing in listening to a lot of the athletes and coaches and their experiences was to keep your eyes focused on what the main game is. And that’s arriving safely, keeping everything as normal as you can make it and doing your training normally.
“It’s the same venue, it’s the same course, it’s the same athletes you're competing against.
“The most important thing is the athletes get their Olympic opportunity, and if you look at what happened in Tokyo last July and August, athletes relished that opportunity because it's what they’d been working for and training for.”
The final hurdle though is clearing China’s stringent COVID-19 testing requirements for the Games, which athletes are doing this week as they gradually make their way over.
“China has a zero COVID policy, which means if you have COVID within 14 days of departing for the Olympic Games, you will not be allowed to go,” Lipshut said.
“We have to take a 96 hour test which has to be negative. Then we take a 72 hour test which gets inspected by the local Chinese Embassy. Then you have another test when you arrive in Beijing and once you get the negative result, then you’re allowed to participate.”