SYDNEY: Australia’s Olympic team returned home on Tuesday to a rapturous welcome, even as the country urgently began seeking ways of boosting its flagging medals ranking at the 2012 Games in London.

The team, led by triple gold medallist swimmer Stephanie Rice, was greeted by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and a crowd of about 500 well wishers and media as they stepped off two chartered Qantas jets from Beijing just after dawn.

“Welcome home to Australia,” Rudd told the 435 athletes. “Every Australian is proud of you. Every man, woman and child in this nation is proud of each and every one of you. On behalf of the Australian nation, well done,” he said, exhorting the team to start preparing for the 2012 Olympics in London, where Australia hopes to do better than it did in Beijing.

Australia won sixth place in the medals stakes in Beijing, down from fourth in Athens in 2004 and Sydney in 2000, while Britain — Australia’s traditional sporting rival — rose from 10th place in Athens to fourth. The prime minister urged those athletes to, not to retire after Beijing as to “spoil the party” for the British in 2012.

Australia places enormous importance on projecting its image to the world through its sporting endeavours, whether in cricket, rugby, tennis, golf or at the Olympics.

But Australia’s haul of 46 medals in Beijing — 14 gold, 15 silver and 17 bronze — was fewer than the 58 from Sydney and the 49 from Athens four years ago.

While the country of just 21 million people prides itself on punching above its weight in the Olympic medal stakes, top sports officials say more funding is urgently needed to curb Australia’s slide on the medals table.

More galling yet for many Australians is Britain’s best Olympic performance in decades after pouring millions into sport through its national lottery. The Australian government has promised to review sports funding, and Rudd confirmed it would be boosted ahead of the London Games.

Rudd also said Sports Minister Kate Ellis would consider whether Australia should adopt the British model of using lottery revenue to fund elite sport.