Seeing him flipping burgers at his family’s takeaway store on the NSW south coast or chatting with the Merimbula locals, you start to understand his response.

Without community, the tenacious 22-year-old said he would never have achieved his dream of competing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Nor have faith to continue his journey onto Milano Cortina in 2026.

The road to winter Olympic representation is tough for any athlete, but as Cooper points out, it’s even more difficult for an aspiring Aussie who hails from a seaside town of 3,500 people best known for whale watching and surfing.

“For me, the Olympics are about representing my community,” Cooper said, who fell just short of a medal finishing sixth in the men’s mogul final at his first Games in China.

“Even though moguls is an individual sport, I always feel the support from my community back home, and I feel like I need to do well for everyone.

“There are not a lot of elite athletes that come out of our area; it is exciting to represent my home and show everyone all the time and the sacrifices I've made by being away doing my sport, is worth it.

“I want to show people it is possible to achieve at a high level.”

Born and bred on the shores of Pambula Beach, you’d expect Cooper to have emerged as a star on the world surfing tour.

Take a quick look at his social media, and you’ll see almost as many surfing photos as skiing snap shots.

Ask about his childhood, and he’ll tell you his first love is surfing, before reminiscing about days spent in the waves, camping at Gillards Beach and eating pies with his mates watching the break at Long Point.

“Living on the South Coast I grew up under the in radar. Merimbula is a beautiful town, such a great place to be a kid. We were at the beach almost the entire time, in the water surfing or fishing and camping,” Cooper said, who had first board at age three.

“You could kind of run wild, it's not a very busy town and it's such a small community, so everyone knows everyone.

“The really cool thing about coming back from the Games was understanding the impact on my community. I didn't realize how many people were so supportive of what I was doing.”

With parents Katrina Woods and Matt Topalovic both members of the national aerials team in the 1990s, it’s no surprise Cooper is excelling on the slopes.

But it was his uncle Peter Topalovic, the national mogul team coach and winter sports coordinator for the NSW Institute of Sport, who really ignited the young star’s interest in the sport.

An invitation to try out the Snow Australia water jump in Gruyere, Victoria with his older cousin, Ethan, was the catalyst for Cooper to pursue a snow sports career.

“I was asked if I'd like to go to a training facility down where you ski down a ramp into a pond. I said, ‘Absolutely, why not?” he remembered.

“My cousin was actually quite good at it. I was really competitive and didn't like how much better he was than me.

“I wasn't afraid of taking some bad hits on the water because I grew up in the ocean. Before I knew it, I was starting to catch up to him, fast.

“From when I was about 12, I spent most of my summers away chasing the winter.

“It was a bit of a rude shock at first, but I fell in love with the sport and I fell in love with the travel that I was able to do at such a young age.

“Coming back home is always awesome. It gives me a chance to switch off from competing and training; it is the complete opposite from what I was doing with my skiing.”

For Cooper, skiing the moguls isn’t just about winning or being a poster boy for winter sports. It’s about showcasing opportunity.

He is acutely aware of the impact he has – and can continue to have – creating pathways for young Australians in regional areas to follow their dreams in sports or other pursuits.

This approach, while not the norm for a university student who spends his days zipping down the moguls hills at the world’s most prestigious ski resorts, reflects his true character.

One of the first medals Cooper won as a youngster was not for skiing.

At just 12, he was awarded a Child of Courage Medal for jumping 10m into a pool to help a friend who slipped from the top of a water fall and was knocked unconscious.

Using lifesaving skills learned as a nipper, he lifted the girl’s face from the water to prevent her from drowning and administered essential first aid before she was airlifted to safety.

Today he continues to give back to his community encouraging other young people living in the town to follow their passions.

The Griffith University business student is fortunate to be mentored by Wallaby great John Eales as part of a scholarship with the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Cooper speaks at this ala mater Lumen Christi Catholic College regularly and is using the skills gained from his international experience in elite sport to guide members of the school’s athlete talent program.

He shares how he prepares at the start of his races, running through a three-stage ritual: What is the best run I can do now? What pressures am I feeling now? Let’s do it, enjoy the moment.

The skier says his promotion of the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship are welcomed by the community, particularly, in the wake of the 2020 bushfires which ravaged the NSW South Coast and the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on the tourist region.

“It's definitely been a rough couple of years with the fires that came through and pretty much wiped out, most of the south coast, then running into COVID,” Cooper confided.

“Business has been pretty tough for a lot of people. It bonded us even closer together as a community because everyone knew someone who’d lost a home or a business or work.

“At the word ‘Olympics’, people’s eyes light up. The Games really picked up the community and helped us band together.

“I want young people in my town to know they have a real opportunity to achieve some sort of greatness, whether that is in sport, or whatever they are passionate about.

“I want to push them to their end goal, whether that is winning a football game or a heat in surfing; just being the best they can be.

“I want them to know whether it is financial support, or through opportunities like work experience, they can follow their dreams.

“We don’t have a lot of opportunities down here on the south coast; we need to help create a pathway so they can make it happen.”

As the eldest of four boys, being an Olympian doesn’t excuse Cooper from working shifts in the kitchen or as a barista at the family business, the Broken Oar, where his father practices his trade as a chef.

After spending almost half of his life away from his family, and with the hefty expenses associated with winter sports, Cooper is committed to giving back to the parents who made it possible.

He also relishes this time with family, having only spent one Christmas with them since the age of 12. Travel restrictions only added to inability to return to Australia from training during the pandemic.

Younger brothers Nate (16), Kobi (14) and Ryder (12) are also following their passions in the sports of rugby league and basketball at an elite junior level. Their parents regularly driving to Canberra, Sydney or Melbourne for competitions.

“I haven’t had the easiest of runs,” Cooper said of his journey to the top of the skiing world.

“It’s an extremely expensive sport so I have done some serious hours working for my parents when I’m back home to help with the costs.

“I use this as motivation. To have that fight. To put on a show.

“When I’m back home I like to spend time with my brothers. We don’t get to spend much time together because of my skiing. I like going to watch them play sport and to encourage them on their journey.”

What impact has achieving an Olympic dream had on Cooper since returning home to Australia?

One thing is for sure, he can’t walk down the street, or eat a meal in Merimbula without attracting the attention and admiration of the locals.

“People ask, but I’m no different from when I left, to when I came back from the Games?” he says.

“I wasn’t trying to change and I haven’t.

“I still like coming home, having an egg and bacon or a schnitty roll and spending time with those people that matter most, my community.”

Catriona Dixon