Australian team at Beijing Winter Olympics praised as country's best

CANBERRA, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Team Australia at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games has been praised as the most successful in the country's history.

Australian athletes won four medals at the Beijing Winter Olympics - one gold, two silver and one bronze - beating the previous winter games record of three set in 2010, 2014 and 2018.

Geoff Lipshut, Australia's Chef de Mission, said the team at the Beijing Winter Olympics was the best he has been associated with.

"The number of medal opportunities we had at these Games is far beyond anything I have experienced," he said in a recent media release.

"Before these Games I said if we managed four medals, that would be fantastic because that's unknown territory for an Australian Team. And it is fantastic."

In addition to the four medals, Australians achieved a record seven top-five and nine top-six finishes in Beijing.

The achievements also included their best ever results in sliding sports of luge, skeleton and bobsleigh, and the first gold in women's moguls.

Lipshut said he was pleased that Australians at home had embraced the team, with host broadcaster the Channel Seven's coverage having reached more than 12 million Australians.

"The digital audience was amazing with 339 million minutes streamed, which is up 273 percent on the PyeongChang Games four years ago," he said, adding that the Australian Olympic Committee's digital channels also reached 39 million people.

"The athletes really enjoyed these Games. My thanks also go to the team behind the Team who provided the athletes with the best possible high performance environment in our three allotments in Zhangjiakou, Yanqing and Beijing.

"The attention to detail was immense and our three village environments worked really well across the three weeks of this campaign," said Lipshut. ■