Australian team for Pyeongchang Winter Olympics named

Australia has revealed its team for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games that will compete in South Korea.

More than 40 Australians will compete in a total of 16 events at the games, which will begin on February 9. These events include bobsleigh, alpine skiing, speed skating and luge, reports Xinhua news agency.

Ian Chesterman, Chef de Mission of the Australian team, said it was the most accomplished Winter Olympics team in Australia's history with the athletes having won 54 World Cup medals between them.

The team also boasts two current world champions; Britt Cox in mogul skiing and Scotty James in the half pipe snowboard.

"Pyeongchang is ready, our athletes are excited and the focus is on the final days of preparation before the Team starts to arrive in South Korea next week," Chesterman said in an Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) media release on Thursday.

Chesterman says that the team is "a great cross-section of sports on the winter program", something the AOC values quite highly.

"Having taken a really young team to Sochi there are a number of returning Olympians that will benefit from that experience, while there are also a number of Olympic debutants that are the future of their sports, which is also great to see," Chesterman said.

Chesterman also said that the team shows that winter sport in Australia "is in really good shape".

For Lydia Lassila, a two-time Olympic medalist in aerial freestyle skiing, the games in Pyeongchang will be her fifth Winter Olympics.

"I never dreamed of going to five Olympics or having a career this long," the 36-year-old mother-of-two said.

"I've learned so much about myself, endured setbacks and celebrated the victories. I love my sport, I love my country and that's what has kept me coming back."

--IANS

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