AUSTRALIAN athletes cherish the opportunity to compete at 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 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.

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 warmup area. They’ve never seen a heated warmup area before, so that’s the first,” said Lipshut, adding that the athletes enjoyed the experience there.

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. (Xinhua)