Baff started skiing when she was just two years old and picked up her first snowboard at five. For years the 18-year-old juggled both disciplines, training in ski racing for the majority of her time and pulling out her snowboard on days off.

While Baff excelled at both sports, winning multiple interschools titles in both skiing and snowboarding, she ultimately had to choose to focus on one. After receiving a NSW Institute of Sport scholarship in 2018 for snowboard cross, Baff decided to focus solely on snowboarding and hasn’t looked back since.

“Skiing was my thing until about three years ago, when I made the switch to snowboarding. I loved ski racing but it is really competitive, and I was winning a fair few of the snowboard events I was competing in. So, after getting onto NSWIS I decided to swap disciplines.”

Just two years later, the Jindabyne local qualified for the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland. At the event, Baff made history when she claimed Australia’s first ever Winter YOG gold medal, winning the women’s snowboard cross event.

“The Youth Olympic Games were incredible,” Baff said.

“The weather was perfect, we met so many other athletes from other countries. It was just the best experience of my life.”

After winning four of her five heats in the round robin format, Baff went on to win her semi-final race before winning gold in the big final. Despite her incredible results, the humble athlete said she was not expecting to finish on the podium, let alone win, leading into the event.

“I have this thing where I have no idea how good I am in relation to other people. I always seem to expect less for myself than what I achieve,” she said.

“I remember my dad saying - you can do this, you can win - but I just brushed it off. I didn’t want to think about it, I thought surely not, he is just my dad and he is just being nice.

“So, the idea of winning was in the back of my mind, but I never thought it would actually come true.”

After getting a taste of the Olympic experience in Lausanne, Baff is primed for a massive season ahead as she looks to qualify for Beijing 2022.

“Having the Youth Olympics under my belt has definitely prepared me for Beijing, it has removed the unknown aspect of what it is going to be like and it is much less intimidating now.” Baff said.

The Australian snowboard cross team will compete in six World Cup events leading into the 2022 Games, each event offering an opportunity to qualify for Beijing. After a strong pre-season in Australia, training both on snow and in the gym, Baff is ready to take on the world at the first qualifying event in November.

“We were lucky to go to Mt. Hotham this season, where we had a World Cup level start gate. We all improved so much, I haven’t had that level of training in so long due to COVID-19, so it was great to get back in the gate.” she said.

While the Olympic qualifying events kick off in a matter of weeks, Baff said she is focusing on what she can control rather than the intricacies of Olympic qualification.

“While my ultimate goal this season is to compete at Beijing 2022, I don’t know what I have to do to qualify and I don’t want to know. I’d rather just focus on my riding and doing the best I can at all of the events.

“At the upcoming World Cup events I want to continue to improve and just do better than the week before. Hopefully by focusing on improving my riding, my results will continue to improve as well.”

As to what she is looking forward to if she qualifies for her debut Games, Baff is excited to soak up the entire Olympic experience and gain insight into what it is like competing on the world’s biggest sporting stage.

“I don’t have a set result I want to achieve, I just want to have a clean run and feel like I’ve learnt a lot from the experience. That way, in another four years' time when I go into Milano-Cortina 2026, I'm very prepared and I can smash some more goals.”

The Snowboard Cross World Cup tour kicks off in Secret Garden, China on November 26 2021, keep up to date on all the action via our social media channels.

Taylah O’Neill

#ChasingWinter