Let’s take a moment for Australia’s winter athletes. Our snow sports team has just completed a record breaking World Cup season with an unprecedented 50 World Cup medals (18 gold, 16 silver, 16 bronze), the most since we took 35 medals in the 16/17 season.
We’ve shouted, we’ve cried, we’ve danced with joy in our lounge rooms at all sorts of hours while watching our best do their best in the northern hemisphere.
And what a best it’s been.
Record breaking December weekend
It all started in December when Australia took eight medals across four disciplines in one weekend – two mogul golds, two silver and a bronze in SBX, a bronze in aerial skiing and silver and bronze in bobsleigh. The tone for the season was set.
World record breaking moguls maven
Then the stand out star took her mark and not just for Australia but for global moguls. Our gold medal Winter Olympic champion, Jakara Anthony, upped the mogul ante claiming the most ever wins in a season for any mogul skier at FIS WC level.
Let’s hear that again – most ever.
Anthony took home 14 golds and 1 bronze from 16 events. In doing so she claimed the FIS WC Crystal Globe for moguls, dual moguls and overall. We bow before you, Jak.
Back to back Crystal Globe
Anthony wasn’t the only hone to haul a ton of bling back home.
Aerial skier, Danielle Scott, claimed her second World Cup Crystal Globe in as many years. That’s back to back globes for the three time Winter Olympian who had a race to the finish, entering the final event with just 12 points between herself and the tour leader, Winter Vinecki. A podium placement swept Scott into first place on the leaderboard and the owner of one shiny Crystal Globe. Mission accomplished.
More Guseli Goodness
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Teen snowboard legend, Valentino Guseli also took home a Crystal Globe for overall park and pipe (combining all results from halfpipe, big air and Slopestyle) in another stand out season for Guseli who claimed the overall Crystal Globe last year alongside a Big Air Crystal Globe.
But best of all? The South Coast snowboarder won his first FIS WC Halfpipe gold in Calgary this winter.
Did we mention his X Games silver and his epic post event interview? We should have.
Australian snowboard firsts
Belle Brockhoff and Josie Baff took silver and bronze in the SBX FIS World Cup in Cervinia, making history as the first two antipodeans to stand side by side on a boarder cross podium ever. Well bloody done, legends.
Fellow legend status snowboarder, Scotty James, took gold at the LAAX Open snowboard halfpipe with Valentino Guseli also on the podium with silver, another Aussie first with one, two in halfpipe competition.
Then they both did it again at the X Games halfpipe, shut the front door, gold and silver! PLUS Scotty made an historic three peat gold to tie with Shaun White.
More firsts
2022 Winter Olympian Bree Walker recorded Australia’s first bobsleigh World Cup gold medal and speed skater Brendan Corey became the first Australian to win a World Championship medal since 1994 with a bronze in the 1500m distance. Could this be a premonition for 2026?
Even more alpine racing firsts
We may not have won medals in alpine racing but we secured some Aussie firsts. Madi Hoffman became the first FIS World Cup Aussie alpine racer to qualify for a second alpine run in Giant Slalom, finishing top 25 in Levi, Finland.
Then Harry Laidlaw became the first Aussie male in 39 years to do the same, but crashed out on his second run in Bansko. Then Louis Muhlen Schulte became the first Australian male in 39 years to score a FIS World Cup point in Men’s Giant Slalom, finishing 27th overall in Aspen
Personal Bests and Breakouts
Snowboarder Cam Bolton recorded his career best end of season result with a third place on the leaderboard in boarder cross, knocking it out of the park with back to back FIS WC silvers in the final two events of the season. Go Cam!
Meanwhile Cooper Woods took his first FIS World Cup moguls podium with silver in Waterville USA and Abbey Willcox returned to aerial skiing after a three year hiatus and went and took bronze at the Deer Valley FIS World Cup.
What the big wigs said
“Congratulations to each of the athletes, the coaches, support staff and the teams at OWIA, Snow Australia, Australian Ice Racing and Sliding Sports Australia who have contributed to this achievement,” said AOC President, Ian Chesterman.
“It speaks volumes about the strength of the winter sport pathway programs and the depth of talent we have here in Australia.
“With the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Games fewer than two years away, our winter sports athletes are in fantastic form, and I look forward to seeing them continue to shine on the world stage.”
OWIA CEO Geoff Lipshut paid tribute to the athletes, coaches and support staff on this history-making season.
“The spread of performances across the different winter sports and events is particularly pleasing.
“This season was very much about each of the athletes pushing themselves and their personal bests, most got to the podium, and some were just short, like Alex Ferlazzo in luge, fifth at World Championships, Jakara Anthony’s amazing winning season, Bree Walker in bobsleigh and many others.
“The results achieved this season are a credit to the efforts of the athletes, their coaches, support staff, families and National Federations who have all been there every step of the way.”
What we said
Let’s do it all again.
BRING ON THE FIS WORLD CUP CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 2025 AND THE WINTER OLYMPICS IN 2026.
