Greta Small

Fast Facts

Sport: Alpine Skiing
Events: Alpine Combined, Super-G, Downhill
Olympic History: Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022
Highlights: Olympic Personal Best in Alpine Combined at Beijing 2022
Year Born: 1995
State Born: Victoria

About Greta

Greta Small grew up in Victoria’s High Country and was on skis at Mount Buffalo before she could talk. Born in 1995 and raised in Porepunkah, she spent winters chasing gates at interschool races, quickly emerging as one of Australia’s brightest alpine talents. 

Her first major international step came at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck in 2012, where she carried the Australian flag and placed seventh in both slalom and super‑G, and 13th in giant slalom and the combined. The following year she debuted at the senior World Championships in Schladming as one of the youngest athletes in the field, and soon after won junior‑level medals, silver in super‑G and bronze in slalom, at the Junior World Championships. 

At just 18, Greta became the first Australian to contest all five alpine disciplines at a single Olympic Games, lining up in downhill, super‑G, giant slalom, slalom and alpine combined at Sochi 2014. She finished 15th in the combined and 29th in the downhill, a statement of both range and resilience for a teenager among the sport’s powerhouses. 

The years that followed tested that resilience. A serious knee injury in 2015 required a year of rehabilitation, and on return she suffered another knee injury at a PyeongChang test event in early 2017. Refusing to yield, Greta rebuilt again and qualified for her second Olympics. At PyeongChang 2018 she placed 20th in the downhill, the best women’s downhill finish by an Australian at a Winter Olympics, and also competed in the super‑G and alpine combined. 

Progress gathered pace across 2018–19, highlighted by a World Cup personal best of 22nd in the combined at Crans‑Montana and a top‑20 at the World Championships in the combined at Åre. Another training crash in March 2019 brought a further knee setback, yet by early 2021 she was back on the World Championships stage, delivering a career‑best 15th in the combined at Cortina. 

Beijing 2022 marked Greta’s third Olympic campaign and her most polished. She placed 13th in the alpine combined, her best Olympic result in the discipline, along with 26th in downhill and 31st in super‑G. Her combined performance capped a Games built on patience and smart skiing. Following Beijing she was elected to the AOC Athletes’ Commission, reflecting the esteem in which she is held by peers and her commitment to giving back to winter sport.  

In 2023 she continued to bank solid championship performances, finishing 16th in the alpine combined, 24th in downhill and 27th in super‑G at the Courchevel–Méribel World Championships. Backed by NSWIS and the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, Greta has maintained her focus on the speed disciplines of downhill and super‑G while drawing on hard‑won experience across the technical events. 

The 2024–25 northern winter brought both promise and another test. At the 2025 World Championships in Saalbach she was disqualified late in the super‑G after missing the final gate on a day. In the downhill a few days later, Greta felt her knee and pulled up partway down the course, avoiding a crash but sustaining an injury that the team indicated would require a lengthy spell on the sidelines. 

Through it all, Greta’s story remains one of persistence, community and quiet ambition. From plastic skis at Mount Buffalo to three Olympic Games and multiple World Championships, she has become a standard‑bearer for Australian alpine skiing, a leader on snow and an advocate for athletes off it.