CANBERRA -- Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard told the nation on Wednesday to enjoy the victories of their Olympic athletes first and examine the delegation's overall performance later as a response to the two gold medals won by Australian girls in London.
Hurdler Sally Pearson and cyclist Anna Meares won gold medals separately at the London 2012 Olympic Games, bringing Australia up to the 11th place on the medal tally. Prime Minister Gillard said both women had done Australia proud.
Talking to ABC Radio just hours after the victories in London, Gillard said: "What I want to be doing now, just as an Aussie let alone as prime minister, is cheering on the remarkable things our athletes are doing."
"So let's share in that joy, share in the expectation of more fantastic performances to come," she said.
"There will be plenty of time afterwards to work through everything that people want to discuss in sport," she said, referring to the performance of the Australian delegation in London being below expectations.
Australia got 16 gold medals at Sydney Olympics 2000, 17 in Athens and 14 in Beijing. The number stands at four as the London Olympics wrapped up its 11th day competition.
The underperformance of the Australian athletes triggered talks at home of more government funding and a greater focus on sports in schools.
Gillard said her government had provided record funding for sports and there would be plenty of time for discussion of the policy issues.
