With interest in ice sports such as curling on the rise in Canberra, the ACT Ice Sports Federation (ACTISF) has congratulated Team Australia for its record medal haul following the closing ceremonies of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Federation president Tony Prescott said Australia’s medal haul – one gold, two silver and one bronze – was a record for the traditionally strong summer Olympics Games nation better known for the successes of its swimmers, cyclists, rowers and track and field athletes.
“And for the first time ever, Australia competed in curling in this Winter Olympics which has been hugely exciting for all of the nation, and especially the Canberra ice sports community awaiting the news on the new twin-sheet ice sports centre in Tuggeranong,” Mr Prescott said.
“The interest in starting a curling association in the ACT has been very strong since Australia’s mixed pairs of Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt began to appear on our television screens and stream onto our laptops with strong performances from the outset.
“Their wins over powerhouses Switzerland and Canada have made them near household names,” he said.
Mr Prescott said the Federation believes the success of the winter Olympic Games featuring action on the ice in Beijing in speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey and curling provides tangible proof of the value of the new ice sports centre, and that through well targeted grassroots development programs focused on kids, Australia could see many future ice sports Olympic athletes coming from the ACT.
“The timing of the Winter Olympics couldn’t have been better, demonstrating Australia’s passion for Winter Olympic sports, as the ACT Government considers its final decision on the construction of the new ice sports centre, in partnership with Cruachan Investments,” he said.
“Of course it’s not all about the medals, but what these Olympic Games showed Australians was how competitive we are in so many winter sports, be they on the ski fields, on the ice, or on the snowboard halfpipe.
“The near medal misses show just how far we have come, and we want to be a part of helping to grow ice sports in Canberra with the new twin-sheet facility where we will be able to introduce new ice sports such as indoor short track speed skating, curling and potentially even para-hockey or sled hockey, as well as continue to cater for the thousands of existing skaters already involved in figure skating, ice hockey, broomball and of course, recreational skating,” he said.
Australia’s medal haul places it 18th in the 2022 Winter Olympics standings, exceeding the output of nations such as Britain, Spain, Belarus, Poland, Latvia and Ukraine.
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