Belle Brockhoff

Fast Facts

Sport: Snowboard
Event: Women's Snowboard Cross, Mixed Team Snowboard Cross
Olympic History: Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022
Highlights: Triple Olympian, 2021 Snowboard Cross Mixed Teams World Champion
Coaches: Harald Benselin and Jan Klemsa
Year Born: 1993
State Born: Victoria

About Belle

Raised in Melbourne, Belle Brockhoff grew up with snow in her veins. She was skiing by three and took up snowboarding at 10; three weeks later she won an interschool national title. A proud product of a storied winter-sport family, her uncle Peter competed in Alpine Skiing at the 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics, her grandfather Harold helped pioneer Mt Buller, and her great-aunt Joyce has a run named in her honour at Mt Hotham. Belle first raced in parallel giant slalom before switching to snowboard cross in 2012–13, training through NSWIS and working with long‑time coaches including Harald Benselin and Jan Klemsa. 

Her impact in the new discipline was immediate. In her first snowboard cross season she claimed a bronze in Montafon in Austria, Australia’s first World Cup medal in women’s snowboard cross, and placed eighth at her Olympic debut in Sochi in 2014. She became the first Australian female to win a snowboard cross World Cup in 2015–16 at Baqueira Beret, Spain. Then she added two more World Cup victories and a silver in 2016–17 before a knee ligament tear ended her season; she still finished the tour ranked third overall. 

Belle’s resilience quickly became her hallmark. Less than two months after knee surgery, she lined up at PyeongChang 2018 and finished 11th, dusting herself off after a heavy semi‑final fall to win the Small Final in a remarkable return to Olympic racing.  

Her comeback gathered momentum in 2019–20 with five medals from six World Cup starts, including a win at Big White on Australia Day, and she ended that season ranked second in the world. In 2021, she and Jarryd Hughes delivered Australia’s first mixed team snowboard cross world title at Idre Fjäll, Sweden, with Belle narrowly missing the individual podium in fourth. At Beijing 2022 she produced a career‑best Olympic performance of fourth in the women’s final and later partnered Cameron Bolton in the Olympic debut of mixed team snowboard cross. 

Belle’s 2023–24 World Cup campaign underlined her consistency at the sharp end of the tour. She opened with third at Les Deux Alpes, took second at Cervinia, and added another podium with third in Gudauri in February, on a season that included a quarter‑final at St Moritz and a sixth‑place finish in the overall standings (FIS). 

The 2024–25 season began with a setback when Belle fractured her wrist in a November training accident. Determined to return, she targeted a cautious start at Erzurum in late February with an eye to building towards March events, explaining that range would improve once plates were removed and emphasising a focus on the World Championships in St Moritz. 

On 8 March 2025 at the Gudauri World Cup, Belle reached the small final but crashed heavily near the finish and was transported from the course. Medical imaging revealed a fracture of the L1 vertebra, dashing her hopes of getting to World Champs; she was airlifted to Greece for surgery and began rehabilitation in Athens. She was supported by the OWIA medical team and her partner, she fortunately suffered no neurological damage. 

Belle’s career is defined by that blend of world‑class speed and unyielding resolve. A triple Olympian, a world champion in the mixed team event, and a serial World Cup podium finisher, she remains an influential leader within Australia’s snowboard cross squad. With deep family roots in the mountains and a long association with NSWIS, her example continues to inspire the next wave of riders as she works through recovery with the same determination that has marked every phase of her journey.