CANBERRA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- With about nine months to go until the opening ceremony, some Australian freestyle skiers are already looking forward to competing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Danielle Scott, 31-year-old World Cup gold medalist in women's aerials, said that she just had a good season and "ticked all the boxes" in her training.

"It's really motivating and exciting to move forward and look at the next big goals," she said.

Scott noted that she had "big hopes." "I just started doing triples on snow, so I'm gonna continue doing that, and hopefully land on the podium. We're always chasing that gold medal."

An Olympic silver medalist in 2018 in men's moguls, 26-year-old Matt Graham is currently ranked No.1 in the World Cup standings.

He said he was looking forward to the Beijing Winter Olympics. "We're 280 odd days out now. So it's really heating up," said Graham. "We're really getting into our pre-season preparations now and ... are all full steam ahead."

31-year-old Laura Peel is the 2021 world champion in women's aerials and can feel that the Beijing Winter Olympics is really getting closer.

"It's amazing especially after last year, we have ... everyone together in the same room and to be able to catch up with people who have been to Olympics before and people who are preparing for their first Games," she said.

Last week, dozens of athletes aspiring for Beijing 2022 got together to size up for and try on winter uniforms. During the gathering, some also performed Tai Chi, calligraphy, and learned to draw pandas, which is a mascot of the event.

The Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games will take place from February 4-20 and the Paralympic Winter Games will take place from March 4-13.

Chef de Mission of the Australian Winter Olympic Team for Beijing 2022, Geoff Lipshut, said in an interview with the Australian Associated Press that he hoped given China's successful control of COVID-19, the Olympics could be run without as many limitations as Japan. Enditem

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