Beijing Was Australia’s Most Successful Winter Olympics Ever, And Damn We’re Proud!

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Beijing was Australia’s most successful ever Winter Olympics after winning four medals – one goal, two silver and one bronze over the course of the competition.

Jakara Anthony dominated the women’s moguls and produced the highest score in qualifying and all three finals to claim the gold medal. 

Anthony joined an illustrious group of only five Australian athletes to claim a Winter Olympics gold medal – Steven Bradbury in speed skating (Salt Lake City, 2002), Alisa Camplin in women’s aerials (Salt Lake City, 2002), Dale Begg-Smith in men’s moguls (Turin, 2006), Torah Bright in women’s halfpipe (Vancouver, 2010) and Lydia Lassila in women’s aerials (Vancouver, 2010).

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On the same day Anthony claimed her gold medal, Tess Coady won bronze in the women’s snowboard slopestyle event and in the process broke an 86-year drought as Australia claimed two medals in a single day.

The two silver medals for Australia in Beijing went to Jaclyn Narracott in the women’s skeleton and Scotty James in the men’s snowboard halfpipe.

After finishing 16th at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Narracott’s silver medal success was Australia’s first ever medal in any sliding sport at a Winter Olympics.

The men’s snowboard halfpipe event was won by Japan’s Ayumu Hirano with Scotty James winning silver, while in a promising sign for the future, Australian teenager Valentino Guseli finished sixth in his maiden appearance at the Winter Olympics.

According to Anthony, Australia has world-class training facilities and our Winter Olympic success should come as no surprise.

“I think Australia has already proved it is a Winter Olympic player. We’ve had spectacular results for years and years in freestyle skiing, not just at Olympics (but) at World Cups, World Championships,” she said following her victory.

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“What I think a lot of people don’t realise is, especially for moguls skiing, the facilities we have in Australia are world class.”

Australia punched above their weight on the medal table and finished in a respectable 18th position, one spot ahead of Great Britain who claimed just two medals after spending $41 million on their Winter Olympics team.

Outside of the medal winners, five other Australian athletes finished in the top six of their events at Beijing which is an outstanding achievement.

History was created at the Beijing Winter Olympics when Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt became Australia’s first-ever Olympic curlers. 

Despite Australia not having a curling facility anywhere in the country, the mixed-doubles pair claimed Australia’s first ever win by beating Switzerland 9-6, then went on to defeat 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics gold medallists Canada 10-8 in a victory that was described as the ‘upset of the tournament’ by one commentator.

Gill and Hewitt hope their success will have a lasting impact on the sport of curling. 

“We knew that if we got a team to the Olympics, it would grow the sport, because there’s always a lot of interest after an Olympic year,” said Gill.

“I hope it does wonders for Australian curling,” Hewitt added. 

As is the case with most sports, elite athletes require funding to continue their training as they push for Olympic success. 

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Australia’s Chef de Mission at Beijing Geoff Lipshut believes on the back of a successful Winter Olympics campaign, winter sports deserved more government money.

“I would like to think the government will look at our funding and where we’re at and reward us on merit,” Lipshut said.

“If we’re in the four-medal range and have chances to win medals, perhaps we could be eligible for increased funding.”

Picture of Joel Martelli
Joel Martelli
The only thing that Joel Martelli loves more than football (seriously, we wouldn't be surprised if he has a Wollongong Wolves tattoo) is writing about all things sports. With a Bachelor of Communications and Media Studies Degree specialising in Journalism, he spends his days uncovering breaking athlete news stories and diving deep into play-by-play strategies. We're glad that he's put his passion to the pages of Only Sports as one of our dedicated sports writers.

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