But in reality, it shouldn't.

As these Milano Cortina Games came to a close in the historic Arena di Verona, Australian athletes can celebrate carving their names into the Olympic history of the nation.

Alisa Camplin-Warner called this a once-in-a-generation team before it even left Australian soil.

The target though, surely, is to ensure that it's not. Australia's winter sport athletes have earned the right to be bullish about their accomplishments in the Livigno winter wonderland that has proven to contain the richest vein of precious Olympic metal Australia has ever mined.

And they have earned the right to be bold about their future aspirations, including holding their hands out for a greater, more equitable share of the funding available, given the magnitude of their successes.

That's the challenge for all of Australia's winter sports partners — to harness the currency of medals and turn that into cold, hard cash.

Those medal winners will get the majority of the plaudits.