CANBERRA, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has congratulated the curling mixed doubles pair Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt after they qualified for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and wrote a new chapter for the sport in their country.
Australian athletes have never qualified in curling previously, but the 6-5 victory over South Korea in the qualifying tournament in Leeuwarden, Netherlands on Thursday has created Australian Winter Olympic history.
"The AOC congratulates the Australian Curling Federation on having their first athletes qualify to represent Australia at the Winter Olympics," AOC Chief Executive Officer Matt Carroll said in a media release on Friday.
"The beauty of the Olympic Games is there is a sport for everyone and now we will see young Australians on the world stage in February in a sport many Australians will watch for the first time."
Kim Forge, President of the Australian Curling Federation, said their success didn't simply happen overnight but was due to a long-term development strategy from AOC.
"This has come from years of grit and determination - and importantly, a plan. Their coach John Morris is a reigning Olympic champion from Canada," said she, adding that they had come into the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) program with additional support from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and some other academy of sports.
The AOC formed the Australian Institute of Winter Sports (AIWS) after the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998, to enable the development of elite performances in winter sports by Australian athletes, through the provision of adequate funding, world-class sports programming and technical coaching, according to the introduction from the official website.
The organisation, which was renamed to OWIA in 2001, is also a supported program of the AIS and receives funding from the Australian Sports Commission and benefits from the many experts based at the AIS in Canberra.
"Dean and Tahli have attended every event, every camp to advance their situation," said Forge.
"Each has a family history in the sport. They have had their successes and setbacks along the way, but playing for a bronze medal against the United States at the 2019 World Cup created this momentum."
The pair won all seven matches in the qualification tournament and their secured spot for the 2022 Winter Olympics was regarded as "a Christmas present come early" by Forge after 65 teams having competed for the ten spots in Beijing. Enditem
