Interview: Australian athletes cherish the opportunity at Beijing 2022, says Chef de Mission

CANBERRA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Australian athletes cherish the opportunity to compete in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, said Geoff Lipshut, Chef de Mission for the Australian Olympic Team.

"Our athletes... traveled last season in very difficult circumstances around the world during COVID without vaccine then, so they had to be very health conscious. But all of them took it very seriously because they wanted to qualify to go to Beijing," said the former aerial skiing coach who had been to seven Olympics since Lillehammer in 1994.

"I think going to Beijing and having that opportunity is the most important thing for each of the athletes," he told Xinhua in an interview.

Lipshut also dismissed the call for a boycott of the Olympics by some western politicians.

"Many athletes will have (only) one opportunity to go to the Olympic Games," he said.

"We are going to do sports. That's what they've trained for 10, 15, 20 years. Their families and friends have sacrificed a lot to give these athletes an opportunity."

According to Lipshut, there is a "two-winter" scheme to help Australian athletes prepare for the Winter Olympics. "We have the southern winter here, and we have the northern winter overseas," he said.

As a result, some Australian athletes are now training overseas in Europe and North America, while some had a chance to compete at the Beijing 2022 test events, including those for the luge, short track speed skating and sliding events.

Bobsleigh pilot Bree Walker described the Olympic sliding track in Beijing as "amazing." "She said it's a fantastic sliding track. It has got a heated warm-up area. They've never seen a heated warm-up area before, so that's the first," said Lipshut, adding that the athletes enjoyed the experience there.

Lipshut himself visited China before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 when the venues and infrastructure were still under construction. He also toured the Olympic village, where he said facilities were convenient, as well as the National Aquatics Center, which hosted the aquatics competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics and has been transformed into a curling venue.

"It's a very famous pool here, because one of our athletes, Stephanie Rice, won three gold medals in this pool," he said. "So to see that as a curling venue will be amazing."

Lipshut expected to see the Winter Olympics leave a healthy legacy as well, with the venues being well used afterward for Chinese sports and youth.

Australia has won 15 medals at Winter Olympic Games: five gold, five silver and five bronze, starting with a bronze in Lillehammer in 1994. In Pyeongchang, Australia grabbed two silver and a bronze medal.

Lipshut said he believed that the "safe range" for the team would be between two and three medals, which will possibly come from freestyle and snowboard events.

"One thing that's a bit challenging for us is that some of our athletes and coaches haven't been to the test events," he said.

"And we haven't been to China as many times. We look forward to going there and, as long as we have a good opportunity, to training beforehand on the venue."

Yet there is something good for the TV audience. The time difference between and China and Australia is within three hours.

"It's a nice contrast between China in winter and Australia in summer," said Lipshut. "That will be interesting also."