The Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) is an Olympic & federal government-funded elite sports training institution of Australia for the purpose of training athletes and coaches in sports involved in the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were hel ...

. The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) in co operation with the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS) formed the Australian Institute of Winter Sports after the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

. The organisation was renamed to the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia on 1 July 2001. It provides training in

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

freestyle skiing Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, moguls, cross, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics. It can consist of a skier performing aerial flips and spins and can include skiers sliding rails and ...

(including aerial and mogul),

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...

short track speed skating Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the same size as ...

and

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are men ...

. It also became a partner with the AIS in skeleton (toboganning). It was given a million-dollar annual budget and for the first time, Australia had a federal government-funded full-time training program to accompany the AIS. The inaugural chairman was Geoff Henke who was the Australian Winter Olympic team manager from 1976 to 1994, and who was credited with improving Australia's performance in winter sports by making it a higher priority among his fellow administrators.Gordon, p. 282. This led to a steady rise in the number of Australians who have won medals at World Cup events in the immediate years after the OWIA's creation.Gordon (2003), pp. 282–283. The AOC is the peak body responsible for Australia's participation at the Olympics. Aside from funding the participation at the Olympics, it also provides money for the training and preparation of athletes. This occurs through funding of the OWIA, grants for athletes to travel overseas to compete, and by providing monetary awards to athletes and their coaches if they win medals at World Cup events or World Championships in the lead up to the Olympics. The funding of the OWIA by the AOC varied by year, but has been at per year for over 6 years. Through the

Australian Sports Commission The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as Sp ...

, the federal government also sponsors OWIA to the tune of more than a million dollars a year. In 2009, the OWIA lobbied the government to increase its annual budget from to A$29.4m (which is still only a fraction of the A$132m that Canada, the host of the 2010 Olympics is spending.) which was not successful. The OWIA secured an additional A$1m taking its budget to A$3.1m in 2010. Australia aimed to win two medals in 2010; it left the games with 3.

References

External links

* {{Sports governing bodies in Australia Australia at the Winter Olympics Sports governing bodies in Australia Winter sports in Australia

See also

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