Australian Athletes Shine on Winter Sports World Stage
Australian athletes have achieved multiple podium finishes and victories across various international winter sports competitions, including World Cup events and the Winter Olympics. Notable performances include Bree Walker's bobsleigh World Cup wins, Scotty James's snowboard halfpipe victory, and Adam Lambert's first World Cup win in snowboard cross. At the Winter Olympics, Josie Baff secured a gold medal in snowboard cross, while a mixed team of Lambert and Baff reached the final. The Olympic campaign also saw an Australian athlete undergo medical transfer following an injury.
Australian World Cup Performances
Bobsleigh Success
Bree Walker secured three World Cup victories during the season, marking her best World Cup performance. One of these wins occurred in St Moritz, Switzerland, where she recorded a combined time of 2 minutes and 23.27 seconds, finishing 0.53 seconds ahead of Melanie Hasler of Switzerland. Katrin Beierl of Austria placed third. In the same event, Australian Sarah Blizzard finished 20th. Walker's coach, Pierre Lueders, was noted for his contribution.
Following this win, Walker held 1,219 points, ranking second in the overall World Cup standings, trailing Germany's Laura Nolte, who had 1,246 points. Walker was also scheduled to compete in the two-woman bobsleigh event with Kiara Reddingius in St Moritz. In the final World Cup monobob race of the season in Altenberg, Germany, Walker placed second behind Kaillie Humphries. This result secured her second place overall for the season, 17 points behind Laura Nolte, who won the Crystal Globe. Walker had defeated Nolte by 0.06 seconds in that specific race.
Snowboard Halfpipe Achievements
Scotty James won the Laax Open halfpipe event for the fifth time, marking his third consecutive victory at the venue. He scored 98.75 points, finishing ahead of New Zealand's Campbell Melville Ives (91.00) and Australia's Valentino Guseli (80.25). This event marked the first Oceania podium sweep in FIS history. The win was James's final event before the Winter Olympics, where he aimed to improve on his previous Olympic medals, a bronze in 2018 and a silver in 2022. Valentino Guseli's third-place finish in this event also contributed to his record of World Cup podium finishes.
Snowboard Cross Victories and Podiums
Adam Lambert secured his first World Cup victory in snowboard cross in Dongbeiya, China, on his 75th career start. In that event, he had also earned a bronze medal in an earlier race. During the final, he moved past Italy's Lorenzo Sommarvia on the home stretch, achieving a victory over Austrian Alessandro Haemmerle and American Nathan Pare. This marked his ninth career podium finish. Lambert subsequently led the World Cup standings with 220 points from three competitions, 59 points ahead of Canada's Eliot Grondin.
Josie Baff earned a silver medal in a World Cup event in China, which initially placed her atop the World Cup standings. However, in a subsequent World Cup event in Dongbeiya, China, she finished fifth overall after not reaching the big final, resulting in Britain's Charlotte Bankes taking the lead in the overall World Cup standings. French racer Julia Nirani‑Pereira won that event, with Australian Mia Clift placing fourth, which was her best performance of the season.
Aerials Gold
Laura Peel won gold at an aerials World Cup event in Canada, her strongest performance of the season.
Other World Cup Results
Jakara Anthony achieved World Cup success in moguls.
Winter Olympics Campaign
Snowboard Cross Gold for Josie Baff
At the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Josie Baff, 23, secured a gold medal in the snowboard cross final, winning by a margin of 0.04 seconds.
This marked Australia's second gold medal at the event. Despite entering with a No. 2 world ranking, her initial seeding run resulted in a 17th-place finish following a mistake, and she had battled flu symptoms during the week. Baff progressed through the competition by defeating Sochi 2014 Winter Games champion Eva Adamczyková and advancing from her quarter-final, eliminating Swiss athlete Sina Siegenthaler and British athlete Charlotte Bankes. She performed passes against Adamczyková, who went on to earn the silver medal, in both the semi-final and final races.
Other Australian competitors in the women's event, Mia Clift and Abbey Wilson, were eliminated in the quarter-final and heat stages, respectively. Baff also acknowledged receiving encouragement from injured teammate Cameron Bolton and fellow gold medalist Cooper Woods.
Monobob Campaign
At the Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Bree Walker, who entered the Games ranked second globally in monobob, was in seventh place after the initial two runs. Two additional runs were scheduled to determine medal placements. She reported making errors during her first run, placing her 11th, and noted an improvement in her subsequent run.
Mixed Team Snowboard Cross
In the mixed team snowboard cross event at the Winter Olympics, the Australian team of Adam Lambert and Josie Baff finished fourth. Lambert crashed in the final moments of his run, stating he lost contact with his toe-side edge after his board's nose mounted a rival's tail. This incident resulted in a maximum time deficit of 4.16 seconds for his partner, Baff. Despite attempting to close the gap, Baff could not overcome the time difference. The team had progressed to the final with two strong performances.
Men's Snowboard Cross and Athlete Injury
In the men's Olympic snowboard cross event, Australian competitors Jarryd Hughes, Adam Lambert, and Jimmy Johnstone did not advance past their initial heat. The men's team was impacted by the absence of Cameron Bolton, who sustained a broken neck in a training crash and was subsequently withdrawn from the team. Adam Lambert noted the incident affected him.
Following assessments in Milan and consultations with Australian spinal surgeons, Bolton was scheduled for a medical flight to Melbourne to continue his rehabilitation, with an international medical transfer company facilitating his return on February 16, accompanied by a specialist retrieval team. Josie Baff stated that Bolton's absence impacted the group and that she had received a message from him. Baff had previously credited Bolton with providing tactical guidance and support.
Other Olympic Gold
Cooper Woods secured a gold medal in moguls at the Winter Olympics.