Please note that all updates will be news related to Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holders.
February 20TH
- Thanks for the memories Beijing, the Winter Olympics wraps up over night.
February 14TH
- Laura Peel progresses to the Big 6, but is unable to land final jump to finish fifth.
- Danielle Scott unable to land jump to progress to Big 6
- Gabi Ash excellent on debut but narrowly misses final
- Super day of aerial skiing to commence with qualification at 6pm AEST.
Heartbreak hill: Aussie aerial team endure difficult night
It was a tough night for the Aussies on the aerial hill at the Zhangjiakou Genting Snow Park, with intermittent light tail winds and the thermometer dropping below -30 degrees.
Sourced: Australian Olympic Team
Training before the final saw almost all athletes struggle to find their feet, but on home territory the clear standout was Xu Mengtao who consistently landed her triple-twisting triple-back to eventually claim the gold.
Laura Peel and Danielle Scott both qualified for finals. Danielle was unable land either of her jumps in the finals, ending her Olympic campaign in tenth position. Laura scraped in a landing on her second jump to qualify for the super final in fourth position with 100.02 points. In the super final she crashed, ending the night in fifth position.
The debutant Gabi Ash, whose degree of difficult was the only thing stopping her from qualifying, performed strongly and has put herself in a great position for the future.
Laura, having performed strongly in the lead up to these Games, was extremely disappointed with her performance.
"Yep, I was pretty disappointed, and I know I can jump better than I did tonight," Laura said.
Read MORE | Australian Olympic Team
Aerials Final!
Aerial Skiing Preview
The Aussies had a strong final training session on Saturday, but due to adverse weather conditions the women's aerials qualifying rounds were moved from Sunday to Monday 14 February. That means that both the qualifying and finals rounds will take place today.
Laura Peel and Danielle Scott spent their training session dialling in their mid-level tricks. Laura and Danielle laid down some super clean triple twisting double backs that could give them the points they need to secure a spot in the final. Earlier in the week they both launched their big tricks, preparing the firepower they need in the later rounds.
Gabi Ash, an Olympic debutant, had a strong training session with clean landings as she focused on perfecting her double twisting double back.
ReadMORE | Australian Olympic Team
UPDATE
The women's aerial qualification was postponed on Sunday due to strong tail winds, poor visibility and heavy snow falls making the speed of the inrun unpredictable and therefore unsafe.
The decision was made by a committee of officials and team coaches.
Qualification has been rescheduled for Monday 14 February, with qualifying beginning at 6pm (AEDT) followed by the final from 10pm AEDT.
February 13TH
- Aerial Skiing Qualification postponed due to extreme weather
February 11TH
- Scotty James wins Silver in men's half pipe final
- Scotty James will compete for gold today at 12.30pm
Silver for Scotty in epic halfpipe final
The wizard from Warrandyte Scotty James has won a well-deserved silver medal at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, alongside Olympic debutant Valentino Guseli finishing 6th.
Source: Australian Olympic Team
In arguably the most anticipated event of the Games, Australia's dominance in the halfpipe was on display with the best snowboard talent from around the globe, including from five-time Olympian Shaun White from the USA.
A special anticipation and excitement was in the air early at the Genting Snow Park halfpipe, in the athlete Villages and all the way back in Australia – particularly in Scotty's hometown of Warrandyte and Valentino's home Dalmeny, or ‘Valmeny'.
Clear blue skies, no wind and a brisk –12C made for perfect competition conditions and a picturesque setting for what would be one of the biggest and most exciting halfpipe finals in Olympic history.
Scotty was thrilled to win a silver medal for Australia with a score of 92.50, with Japan's Ayumu Hirano only better with a 96.00 to take the gold.
Read MORE | Australian Olympic Team
Silver Sensation
Snowboard Preview: men's halfpipe final
No matter which way you look at it the Beijing 2022 men's halfpipe final will be one of epic proportions.
From Australia's own Scotty James and Valentino Guseli, to the USA's all-time great Shaun White and Japan's Ayumu Hirano – the talent in this final will produce results for the ages.
Scotty, a PyeongChang 2018 bronze medallist and four-time Olympian, laid down an amazing run on Wednesday to see him qualify in second place.
Sixteen-year-old Olympic debutant Valentino Guseli was not far behind in fifth position, a strong result for the Aussies leading into today's final.
Read MORE | Australian Olympic Team
Gourley ready for a fourth Paralympic Games
February 9TH
- Scotty qualifies second for the half pipe final
- Scotty scores an 88.25 in his opening qualifying run.
- Scotty James' fourth Winter Olympics campaign kicks off today, with qualifying at 3.30pm AEST.
Aussie pair fly into halfpipe
Four-time Olympian Scotty James has qualified in second position for Friday's final of the men's halfpipe competition at the Genting Snow Park and, in great news for the Australian Team, he'll be joined by 16-year-old debutant Valentino Guseli in the final.
Scotty put down scores of 88.25 and 91.25 to breeze into the final where he will be looking to add to the bronze medal he won four years ago.
Ayumu Hirano of Japan was the leading qualifier with a score of 93.25. American superstar Shaun White, competing in his final Olympic campaign, was the fourth best qualifier scoring 86.25.
"It's a beautiful day and I'm really happy with how that all went," Scotty said.
"The best bit was we stuck to our plan and when you do that you are happy with the result.
"My last trick was a frontside 1440 with a tail grab. I'm really happy to [have] put it all together."
Read MORE | Australian Olympic Team
James off to a flyer
High hopes as Snowboard halfpipe program gets underway
The Beijing 2022 Snowboard halfpipe Olympic competition will be a mouth-watering affair with its progression leading it to exciting new heights.
Source: Australian Olympic Team
PyeongChang 2018 bronze medallist Scotty James, young gun World Record holder Valentino Guseli and Youth Olympic Winter Games silver medallist Emily Arthur will be leading the charge for the green and gold.
Selected for his fourth Olympic Winter Games, Scotty James is a 3-time World Champion and brings excellent form having won the gold medal at the X-Games in Aspen in January. He also has fond memories of this Genting Snow Park halfpipe in Beijing after winning there in 2020. Look out for his trademark 'backside 1260', a mainstay for the Warrandyte local.
"I feel really good. I've had a really good lead up, really good practices and now I come here, enjoy being in the green and gold, enjoy the pride and enjoy the patriotism and do what I love to do."
Read MORE | Australian Olympic Team
February 7TH
- The Australian Curling Pair's Olympic campaign comes to a close.
February 6TH
- Hewitt & Gill win back-to-back games to end their first Olympic campaign
- Australian Curling Pair Earns Late Reprieve
Curlers capitalise on second chance with huge back-to-back wins
Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have finished a whirlwind final day in Beijing by knocking off Canada 10-8 in the mixed doubles curling.
Source: Australian Olympic Team
They raced to a 7-0 lead against John Morris and Rachel Homan of Canada, but were forced to play a tiebreaking ninth end to put them away for good.
"In mixed doubles it's just so hard to feel safe. It's hard to keep that big lead with so much in play all the time," Tahli said.
"Sorry for giving everyone a heart attack!"
It capped off a remarkable day for the Aussie pair, as they can lay claim to defeating the PyeongChang 2018 mixed doubles gold and silver medallists just hours apart.
Read MORE | Australian Olympic Team
Curlers claim hard-earned historic victory
CURLING: In an Australian Olympic first Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have recorded Australia's maiden curling win with a 9-6 triumph over Switzerland.
Source: Australian Olympic Team
It was a wild match with constant momentum swings, but the Aussie pair dictated terms when it mattered to close the game on a 6-0 spurt.
"We put our hearts and souls into that game, to be able to come back with the win was really awesome," Tahli said.
The match nearly didn't go ahead, but much to the delight of Tahli and Dean they were given the green light to round out their Olympic campaign.
"I was ruffling through my bags and ripping clothes out left, right and centre. I played with only one glove on - and it was the wrong one," Tahli said.
"It was just crazy, mayhem, getting the uniforms on," Dean said.
"The excitement in the (hotel) room was unbelievable. It was so exciting to be able to get back out on the ice and play these last two games."
Read MORE | Australian Olympic Team
UPDATE: Australian Curling Pair Earns Late Reprieve
Australia's curling team in the mixed doubles has been given a late reprieve and will compete this afternoon following an urgent meeting of the Medical Expert Panel (MEP) in Beijing.
Source: Australian Olympic Team
Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt will compete in this afternoon's match against Switzerland.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has just received an email from the Chinese Public Health System advising that the pair can continue under the Close Contact provisions.
The MEP examined Tahli Gill's CT values following PCR testing over the past 24 hours and determined that they fell into an acceptable range.
Australian Olympic Team Chef de Mission Geoff Lipshut says the pair is extremely excited to be able to resume competition.
"We are thrilled for Tahli and Dean and I am delighted that our headquarters team continued pressing her case, after earlier advice that the pair could no longer compete," Mr Lipshut concluded.
Read MORE | Australian Olympic Team
Gill and Hewitt to be sent home after series of COVID tests
February 5TH
- Courageous curlers keep trying for victory amid loss to Italy
- Australian curlers fall to PyeongChang bronze medallists
Courageous curlers keep trying for victory amid loss to Italy
Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill will have to wait at least another day to record their first win at the Olympics, as the unbeaten Italian pair put Australia away 3-7 at The Ice Cube.
Source: Australian Olympic Team
Australia got off to the best possible start by taking a point from the opening end, which Italy had the last throw in.
Tahli revealed this was a particular point of emphasis.
"We let ourselves down with a bit of a sloppy start this morning [against Norway], so we aimed to be sharper and stronger this time around," Tahli said.
Dean thought they got their preparation for Italy right.
"We felt very focused and tried to push ourselves," he said.
Read MORE | Australian Olympic Team
Australian curlers fall to PyeongChang bronze medallists
The class on the ice from Norway's 2018 Olympic mixed doubles bronze medallists proved too good for Australia, as they used a sensational start to win 10-4 with two ends to spare.
Source: Australian Olympic Team
Facing a 6-0 deficit at the beginning of the third end, Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt elected to use their powerplay and came away with one point.
Nothing quite went the way Australia wanted until the fifth end, when they clawed back three points, but this Olympic experience will be invaluable.
Tahli Gill, 22, is the youngest player in the mixed doubles curling field in Beijing and Dean is only 27. Coach Pete Manasantivongs has been pleased with their determination to succeed.
"We've been resilient. We've had to build our resilience over the course of the competition. I'm very proud of them."
Read MORE | Australian Olympic Team
February 4TH
- The Opening Ceremony is set to kick off tonight at 11pm AEST.
- Tahli & Dean go down to Sweden in their fourth round robin match.
- The pair (Tahli & Dean) went down to world champs in a tiebreaker
Curlers force world champs to tiebreaker in loss
CURLING: Underdogs Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have given Great Britain's world champion curlers all they could handle in an epic comeback, but weren't able to pull away for victory.
Source: Australian Olympic Team
"We've had a few very close games now which came down to last rock either in the eighth end or extra end, so we're really close at the moment," Dean said.
"You're just like, half a shot away, honestly.
"We just have to kind of keep battling and hopefully get on the other side of things in the next game.
"I've got blisters everywhere and my heart-rate monitor is sky-high."
It's come down to the last throw again
Tahli & Dean go down to Sweden in their fourth round robin match.
February 3RD
- Laura Peel announced as Australian Flag bearer
- Australia still searching for first Curling win after tough loss overnight
- Dean Hewitt & Tahli Gill go down 5-6 to China in another nail-biting match
- Dean Hewitt & Tahli Gill suffer a heartbreaking 5-6 defeat to Team USA overnight
Australian Olympic Team Flag Bearers Announced
Aerial skier Laura Peel and figure skater Brendan Kerry have been named as the Australian Flag Bearers for the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games taking place on Friday.
The pair becomes the first dual Australian Flag Bearers in our Winter Olympic history with Kerry, contesting his third Olympic Games, the first Flag Bearer from figure skating.
Competing in her third Olympics, Laura Peel follows in the illustrious footsteps of another aerialist Alisa Camplin-Warner, who carried the Flag at the Turin Games in 2006.
Laura says carrying the Flag for Australia is the fulfilment of a dream.
"It's really hard to put into words how it feels to be selected as Flag Bearer for this incredible team. It's such an honour and I'm truly grateful and so humbled to be able to lead the team into Opening Ceremony. Honestly, it feels like a dream.
Australia still searching for first Curling win after tough loss
It was a tough night on the ice for Australia's Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill, who fought hard but came up short against a ferocious Czech Republic side in their third game of the round robin series.
Credit: Australian Olympic Team / GettyImages
Australia's mixed doubles pair looked promising early, but the Czech curlers Zuzana Paulova and Tomas Paul pulled away quickly, holding a commanding 5-0 lead after three ends.
"They were really strong out there," Dean said.
"It's one of those things, they had all the answers. They played some great shots."
Australia hit the scoreboard in the fourth, but weren't able to close the gap against the fellow debutants. The wide margin of the score, Australia 2 - Czech Republic 8 after seven ends, means the eighth round wasn't played.
"It wasn't the result we were after, but we're going to brush it aside and focus on our next games," Tahli said.
"We've still got lots of rounds to play. We'll talk about those things we can improve and look to come out stronger tomorrow.
Read MORE| Australian Olympic Team
A tough way to end a second-straight nail-biting match.
It's a new day
Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill continue their Olympic campaign now.
Curlers kick-start Australia's Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics campaign
Australia's Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have made history, becoming the first Aussie representatives in Curling at the Winter Olympics in a valiant performance while narrowly going down 5-6 to Team USA.
Source: Australian Olympic Team / GettyImages
The Aussie underdogs, which have captured the heart of the nation, came into the competition ready to mix it with the best and to put curling on the map in Australia.
Both sides got off to conservative starts, taking two points apiece in the opening four ends. Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys from the USA went into the sixth end with a one-point lead, but Australia managed to jag a 5-3 lead of their own with two ends to play.
Team USA were all class in the final two ends, claiming two points in the seventh end and one in the final end to seal the match.
Despite loss in the opening round, Tahli thinks they'll be able to refocus ahead of tomorrow's two matches.
"We are parking it and moving on," Tahli said.
Read MORE | Australian Olympic Team
February 2ND
- Mixed doubles curling team begin their competition tonight at 11.05pm
- Mitchell Gourley has been named to represent Australia at a fourth Paralympic Games
We're underway!
Tune into Channel 7 now to watch Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill create history for Australia.
Beijing 2022: How to watch, win & get involved
The Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games have arrived, and there are lots of ways for you to get involved.
The Games will officially begin on Friday (4 February) but our curlers will begin their competition tonight when they take on the USA – two days before the Opening Ceremony.
You can watch the Curling (11pm AEDT) on 7plus and the Opening Ceremony (11pm AEDT) live on Channel 7. All the action is live on Channel 7 and 7plus.
Learn More HERE | Australian Olympic Team
Curling Preview: AUS v USA
Two days before the Opening Ceremony, Australian fans will get their first glimpse of our Winter Olympic athletes in action when the Curling gets underway on Wednesday 2 February.
Dubbed ‘Australia's answer to Cool Runnings,' curlers Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt will have the eyes of the world on them as they are the first Aussies to ever qualify for an Olympic Games in their sport.
Competing in the mixed doubles event, the pair meet USA in the first of their round robin matches in a contest that Dean describes as exciting.
"It's unreal the level of competition here in Beijing," Dean said.
"You're talking about the top ten teams in the world all vying for the top position.
"I would challenge anyone to work out who's going to win the gold medal because it really could be anyone on any given day."
- Katherine Firkin
Read MORE| Australian Olympic Team
2 days to go!
But the action starts tonight - our curlers begin their Olympic campaign tonight against the USA in the mixed doubles event!
Australian Paralympic Team Named For Beijing 2022 Winter Games
Paralympics Australia is proud to announce a Team of 10 athletes for the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games, starting on March 4, including two competitors heading to their fourth Games, one who last weekend won two World Cup gold medals and another who is set to become the seventh Australian to compete at both the Summer and Winter Games.
PyeongChang 2018 dual bronze medallist Melissa Perrine and fellow three-time Paralympian Mitchell Gourley are the most experienced members of the Team, which features six male athletes, two female athletes and two female sighted guides.
February 1ST
- Tahli Gill returns second negative COVID test
3 Days Until Beijing Opening Ceremony
Aussie curlers Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt will begin the Australian Olympic campaign against the USA on Wednesday night, 2 days before the Opening Ceremony.
Curler Tahli Gill Returns Second Negative Test
The AOC has confirmed that the arriving Australian athlete who tested positive on the weekend has now twice tested negative and will resume normal Games preparation.
Curler Tahli Gill and her teammate Dean Hewitt have been in isolation for the past two days after Tahli returned a positive test on arrival at Beijing Airport.
After receiving good news late yesterday that her first test had returned negative, Tahli received more good news this morning with a second negative test.
Tahli and Dean have issued this joint statement:
"We are greatly relieved as a team, that goes without saying. But importantly for us both as a team, this experience is not going to define our Olympic campaign. We have treated this time as a rest day and a time to really focus on our Olympic goals.
"We look forward to representing Australia with pride and making history for our sport."
Read MORE| Australian Olympic Team
