Park & Pipe: Four Australian’s feature in Secret Garden Big Air final

The opening Big Air World Cup for freeski and snowboard athletes took place over the weekend at the 2022 Olympic resort of Secret Garden, China, with four NSWIS athletes reaching the top-8 final.

In the earlier qualification rounds, first up was the freeski event, which saw Daisy Thomas qualify for the final in an impressive second place. Also in action for Australia was Abi Harrigan in 21st and Joey Elliss 48th in the men’s event.

In the snowboard event qualification all three female Australian athletes qualified through to the final for the first time, with Melia Stalker in fifth, Ally Hickman sixth and Tess Coady eighth.

In the men’s event and missing out on finals were Joshua Robertson-Hahn in 20th, Valentino Gusei 30th in his return to competition from an injury last December, and Jesse Parkinson 41st.

The women’s freeski final saw Thomas in second place after the first run scoring a huge 88 points for her left side double cork 1080 with grab. In the second jump, Thomas jumped a right side double cork 12 with grab but unfortunately had trouble at the end of the landing injuring her knee, and was unable to complete the third and final jump.

Thomas was still able to record a personal best World Cup finish of sixth, with the 18-year-old improving on her personal best of seventh from December 2023.

The snowboard final featured three Australian women and four Japanese riders, with Coady the highest place finisher, just missing the podium in fourth on a two jump best score of 134.50 points, Stalker was fifth on 114.50 and Hickman seventh with 79.25. Stalker and 16 year old Hickman, both recorded personal best World Cup finishes.

Japanese riders swept the women’s podium with first going to Mari Fukada (156.75), second to Reira Iwabuchi (145.75) and third, was Miyabi Onitsuka (141.50).

Next up, the skiers and snowboards will remain in China for a big air in downtown Beijing on December 6.

Bobsleigh: Bree Walker just misses monobob podium in Innsbruck

QAS bobsleigh pilot Bree Walker came agonizingly close to back-to-back podium finishes to start the season, overcoming a lower back injury to secure fourth place at the IBSF World Cup on the Igls track in Innsbruck, Austria.

Walker opened the event in spectacular fashion, posting the fastest time of the first run with 56.01 seconds. However, during the initial push, she sustained a back injury that hampered her performance in the second heat. Despite her best efforts, Walker recorded the 11th fastest time of the round (56.34 seconds), bringing her two-run total to 1:52.35 - just 0.02 seconds shy of third place.

Victory went to American Kaysha Love, finishing 0.33 seconds ahead of Walker, with Germany’s Laura Nolte in second and Lisa Buckwitz in third.

“I was very proud of the first run push and drive,” said the 2022 Olympian from Queensland.

“In the second heat I unfortunately hurt my lower back in the first push, so I couldn’t quite push to the intensity I wanted. This track is a push track, so if you don’t have a strong start, there’s not much you can do to make up for it.

“I’m happy to walk away with fourth considering the situation, and I’m taking away the positives—the first heat was very positive.”

In the two-woman event, Walker was joined by brakewoman Kiara Reddingius, but Walker was still impacted by the injury from the previous days which limited the push at the start and the pair finished in 18th place.

The next World Cup event is in Lillehammer, Norway, on December 13-14, the site of Walker’s double gold World Cup victories last season.

Short Track Speed Skating: Corey finishes Olympic qualification with another B-Final

The fourth and final ISU Short Track World Tour event was held in Dordrecht, Netherlands, with Brendan Corey once again advancing to the B-Final stage.

The VIS supported skater reached the B-Final in the 1500m for the third time this season, finishing fourth to secure an overall ranking of 11th. In the 1000m, Corey placed 24th after the repechage semifinals, and in the 500m, he finished 26th, also reaching the repechage semifinal round.

Australia was also represented by Lucas Wareham and Hyo Jin Kim, with Kim delivering her second consecutive top-25 finish in the 1000m, placing 25th.

Corey concluded the season ranked 12th in the 1500m, 17th in the 1000m, and 18th overall across all three distances.

Dordrecht marked the final Olympic qualification opportunity for Short Track Speed Skating. Corey is in a strong position to qualify for all three distances when the International Skating Union confirm quota allocations for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on December 12.

Luge: Alex Ferlazzo 20th in Olympic Test Event

Three-time Australian Olympian Alex Ferlazzo has launched his international season on the track set to host the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, finishing 20th in the official Olympic Test Event.

The Cortina track welcomed athletes for two separate training weeks in November, culminating in the Test Event over the weekend, which counts towards Olympic qualification.

Ferlazzo posted a time of 54.041 seconds in his opening run, ranking 20th for the round. In the final run, he improved slightly with the 19th fastest time of 54.113 seconds, bringing his combined two-run total to 1:48.154 and 20th place overall—1.79 seconds behind event winner Jonas Mueller of Austria. The podium was rounded out by Kristers Aparjods of Latvia in second and Austrian Wolfgang Kindl, third.

The 30-year-old QAS slider from Townsville commented after the race.

“Cortina has been a blast! Learning a new track is always fun. Racing was difficult, there’s still a lot of work to do with the equipment side of things.”

“The North American races are home races now. It’s important for me now to get back to a familiar track and work on the basics and set up the sled for the rest of the season leading to the games.”

The opening World Cup of the season is next weekend in Winterberg, Germany. However, as the event does not count toward Olympic qualification, Ferlazzo has opted to travel to North America early, in preparation for the upcoming World Cup competitions in Park City and Lake Placid, USA.

Alpine Skiing: Louis Muhlen Schulte posts season-best result at Copper Mountain

2022 Olympian Louis Muhlen-Schulte achieved his best result of the season, finishing 34th in the World Cup giant slalom at Copper Mountain, USA.

Muhlen-Schulte finished in a time of 1:16.46 in his first run, narrowly missing the cut for the second run by just 0.14 seconds, and finishing 3.19 seconds behind first-run leader Stefan Brennsteiner of Austria.

In the final standings, Brennsteiner held his lead to claim the first World Cup victory of his career, with Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen in second and Croatia’s Filip Zubcic third.

Muhlen-Schulte will remain in Colorado for another giant slalom event in Beaver Creek on December 7.

Cross Country Skiing: Aussies compete in opening World Cup in Finland

The Cross Country FIS World Cup tour kicked off in Ruka, Finland, with eight Australians in action to start the season.

Standout performances came from Rosie Fordham and Phoebe Cridland in the 20km Mass Start Free event. Fordham matched her previous World Cup personal best in this distance, finishing 35th, while Cridland was close behind in 46th. Both skiers were in contention for a top-30 finish for much of the race.

The Australian squad now heads to Trondheim, Norway, for the next round of World Cup competition, featuring the Sprint Classic, 20km Skiathlon, and 10km Interval Free events.

Snowboard Cross: Josie Baff wins European Cup in Pitztal leading strong Australian performances

NSWIS snowboard cross athletes have been in a training camp preparing for the World Cup season on the glacier in Pitztal, Austria, where a Euopean Cup event with a very large and strong field was held. The Aussie highlight performance was Josie Baff claiming victory after earlier qualifying very fast in fourth.

Inclement weather high up on the glacier forced the first of two events to be cancelled, giving the larger field with many World Cup riders just the one competition start before the first World Cup of the season in Cervinia, Italy.

Fortunately on day two conditions improved with more favourable weather conditions and strong racing by all of the Australian athletes. Josie Baff started the season in impressive form to record her first victory in Pitztal, while Mia Clift made it through multiple rounds to the small final, crossing the line in second for a sixth place final ranking.

Making it through to the quarter-final stage were Amber Essex in tenth, Abbey Wilson 14th and Maya Billingham 24th.

In the men’s event, three Australian’s finished in the top-10, led by Adam Lambert who was just missed the podium in fourth. James Johnston was third in the small-final giving him a ranking of seventh. Cam Bolton won the qualification time trial but did not go past the quarter final stage and was ninth overall. In the round of 32, Cameron Turner was 27th and Decland Dent 31st.

An individual and team World Cup event takes place in Cervinia on December 13 and 14.

Olympic Winter Institute of Sport

Winter Wrap: Fourth place finishes for Tess Coady in big air and Bree Walker in monobob