The Beijing Winter Olympic Games guide: The Australians in medal contention in 2022

The former Canberra gymnast looms as one of Australia's best hopes of winning gold at the Winter Olympic Games, with some competition already under way in Beijing.

Australian athletes will join the opening ceremony celebrations on Friday, with hopes the Olympic team can finish with a record haul of medals.

Australia won seven medals in PyeongChang four years ago, with Peel missing out on her shot at glory.

For her and many others, the Beijing Games will be a chance to make history. Here are some of Australia's medal hopefuls.

Event: Aerial skiing

Peel became the third woman to execute a quadruple twisting triple backflip earlier this year and also took home gold in Deer Valley to mark her second World Cup podium this season.

She made her Olympic debut in 2014 and finished seventh. She had high hopes at her second appearance in 2018, going into the event as one of the medal contenders after a strong World Cup season.

But she stumbled and finishing fifth, lighting the fire for her to power to Beijing and chase the elusive podium finish.

Peel has been one of the most consistent performers on the world circuit the past few years, winning three World Cup events since 2019.

Her quadruple twisting triple backflip this year put her competitors on notice. She means business.

"To do it right ahead of the Olympic Games is amazing," Peel said.

"I've been putting the work on the triple for a few seasons now, and I'm always very grateful for the experience I have when things get tough.

"So many people have helped me get to this point in my career and continue to help me chase my dreams every day, but when I started working with my coach Mich Roth three years ago, things started to click. We make a great team."

Australia has a rich history in the women's aerials event. Alisa Camplin won gold at Salt Lake City in 2002 and bronze at Turin in 2006 before Lydia Lassila won gold in 2010 and bronze in 2014.

Event: Snowboard halfpipe

Snowboarder Scotty James will be looking to move up the Olympic podium next month, after winning bronze in PyeongChang on the halfpipe.

The biggest challenge he faces is recapturing his best form. The 27-year-old had his worst result since 2016 at the Laax Open earlier this year, but was back on top of the podium at the Aspen X-Games.

If he can find top form, he will be one of the leading contenders.

Similarly Tess Coady took gold home in slopestyle at the event and has started her season off strong for medal contention.

Event: Snowboard cross

Olympic silver-medalist Jarryd Hughes will be looking to take home another medal in Beijing, although this time it's more likely to be for a new event - the snowboard mixed cross relay.

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Hughes and Belle Brockhoff won World Championship gold in 2021 and could make history by making the podium in the event's Olympic debut.

Brockhoff is also a contender for an individual medal next month following consistent top four finishes this season, in addition to a fourth place at last year's World Championships.

Event: Moguls

Jakara Anthony has had an outstanding 2021-22 season with eight podium finishes.

The 23-year-old won a silver and bronze medal in Deer Valley where she recorded the highest scoring run (84.37) across the two days of competition for men or women.

Although she puts down her success to remembering why she got involved in the sport.

"Medals are great but they aren't what drive me," she said.

"I got into mogul skiing because I love skiing, I wanted to ski all over the mountain, off piste, jump off rocks, do big jumps. As soon as I started skiing moguls, mogul skiing just pulled me in."

PyeongChang silver-medallist Matthew Graham is another favourite for a podium finish in the moguls, despite breaking his collarbone and undergoing surgery in mid-December.

The overall moguls World Cup champion of last year wants to go one better next month and was already back training to ensure the injury does not stop him.

Event: Monobob

Bree Walker, a former hurdler, continued her successful World Cup season by winning silver in the monobob in Germany to mark her fifth podium and move into second on the overall World Cup rankings.

Walker had a scholarship as a track and field athlete at a US College, but injuries ruined her chances of progressing.

She signed up to a bobsleigh talent identification camp to follow in the footsteps of Jana Pittman and is now a very real chance of winning a medal.

Ashleigh Werner has also found the podium on the Europa Cup circuit, winning silver and bronze in the monobob in the leadup to the Olympics to mark her fifth podium finish.

Event: Skelton

Jackie Narracott created history to become the first Australian to win a World Cup gold medal in skeleton, or any sliding sport, emerging victorious in Switzerland in the lead up to the Games.

"I knew today I had the potential to go fast but didn't think quite that fast," she said at the time.

"This has been going for so long, I'm just like there are no words, it's a perfect day in a perfect place.

"I really hope this might be the catalyst to get a few more girls in the sport and hopefully some more funding so we can have a coach and be competitive.

"We are proving this year that we have the athletes, it's just having the foundations behind us to give us a chance."

The 31-year-old Queenslander finished 16^th at the Olympics four years ago, but Games ambitions run in her family. Her uncle, Paul Narracott, was the first Australian to compete at both the summer and winter Olympics.

Olympic schedule: Competition started on Wednesday, but the opening ceremony is on Friday at 11pm. The closing ceremony is on February 20 at 1pm.

How to watch on TV: Channel 7 will be showing events from 12pm on weekdays and 10am on weekends. There will be 20 other channels available on streaming service 7plus.

How many athletes: There will be about 2800 athletes competing across 15 different disciplines. The 15 disciplines are: they are: alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, luge, nordic combined, short-speed skating, skeleton, ski jumping, snowboarding and speed skating.

How many Australians: There are 43 athletes in the Australian team, making it the third biggest in history.

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