The Australian Olympic team made the first briefing press for the Beijing Winter Olympics in Zhanjiakou Mountain Press Center on Sunday. Geoff Lipshut, the Australian Chef de Mission, expressed satisfaction with all preparations including the artificial snow venues.

The 44-member team arrived Beijing on Friday, although one entourage was tested positive at the airport, Lipshut said they still visited all of their sites at Zhangjiakou as soon as they could, for more than half of the Australian athletes having competitions here.

"Hugely impressive, it's a fantastic set up signal," said Lipshut. About the artificial snow, he said it is more consistent and keeps the snow homogeneous in structure. "If you don't have very firm surface that snow crystal is hold together, it just breaks out," he said.

Also, Lipshut expressed the team's satisfaction with the villages. "Really high quality," he commented. "They all work really well. What I have been really impressed with is when you set up their villages and how spacious the actual villages are."