Like Switzerland beating Australia at cricket: How our winter Olympians punch above their weight

2 weeks ago 2

By John Wylie

February 20, 2026 — 4.22pm

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Over the past week, I’ve been privileged to witness first-hand Australia’s greatest ever Winter Olympics. At the time of writing, we have the same number of gold medals as 2022 Games host China, which has 50 times our population. An incredible performance by our team.

This is a story that transcends medal counts. Deep in the snowy mountains of Italy, a quintessential Australian story has unfolded. One that should engender great pride in all Australians, irrespective of whether they strap on the skis or a board.

Australia flag bearers Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham.

It’s a story that goes to the core of Australian spirit and identity, and our ability to achieve on the most competitive of world stages, irrespective of structural disadvantages of population, money or geography.

A story of the power of underdog spirit, of resilience and commitment to create a system that produces repeatable success, of working smart with limited resources, of ordinary Australian families enabling the success of their exceptional sons and daughters. It’s also a tribute to the athletes themselves – not just their exceptional skill, but the courage that is an essential accompaniment for success in these sports.

There is no finer example of the power of the Australian underdog spirit to produce world-class competitors. Jakara Anthony, who was born in Cairns and grew up in Barwon Heads, those renowned winter sports meccas, learnt her craft at Mount Buller and is now a dual Olympic champion, beating the cream of the crop who started on skis in the Alps and the Rockies when they could barely walk. Cooper Woods, who knocked off the men’s mogul GOAT Mikael Kingsbury to win gold, hails from Merimbula. Matt Graham, bronze medallist, is from country NSW. It’s an extraordinary tale of accomplishment against the “natural order”. It’s like Switzerland beating Australia at cricket.

The Olympic Winter Institute of Australia received just $5.975 million in high-performance funding in 2024-25. To put that in context, AFL club Collingwood spent $37.5m last year in team and high-performance expenses.

Stories like these are an obvious huge credit to the athletes, but they don’t simply happen, they need a system behind them. We’ve had just that, one that’s combined smarts with a long term, patient commitment, that’s been able to succeed with a remarkably small funding base supporting it.

Our most successful program in Milano Cortina, moguls, is an overnight success story 30 years in the making. This program started in the late 1990s. It’s been a generational story, underpinned by development pathway programs, investment in coaching excellence and depth, and world-class domestic training environments such as the Chandler water ramp and the Jindabyne national centre.

Plaudits to Snow Australia led by Michael Kennedy, the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) led by Geoff Lipshut, the Australian Olympic Committee, the Australian Sports Commission, the Victorian and NSW Institutes of Sport, pioneers like Geoff Henke, and the mountain resorts of Mount Buller, Hotham, Falls Creek, Thredbo and Perisher for working as a system to make this happen. Champions such as Alisa Camplin, Lydia Lassila, Matt Graham and Brittany Cox have reinvested their time and expertise in inspiring and developing the next generation. Coaches such as Pete McNiel, coach of all three of our moguls medallists at these Olympics, are best-in-class worldwide.

What makes this success story even more remarkable is the way it’s been achieved on so little funding. Peak high-performance body OWIA received just $5.975m in high-performance funding from the ASC in 2024-25. With that money, our athletes are up with the best in the world. To put that figure in context, just one AFL club, Collingwood, spent $37.5m last year in team and high-performance expenses.

The success of Jakara Anthony, Scotty James, Josie Baff and Cooper Woods have made the 2026 Olympics Australia’s most successful Winter Games.

Such an incredible return and outsized results on a limited investment are possible because it’s been smart, targeted and efficient. Australia has not tried to “out-alpine” the Europeans. Instead, the system has been deliberate about building depth in freestyle and snowboard disciplines where smart investment can close the gap. That indicates a clear strategy rather than scale. The Winter Games have grown about 80 per cent in terms of new events over the past two decades. Almost all of them are in these “new world” disciplines in which we’re able to be competitive.

So Australia’s performance in Milano Cortina is no longer a novelty. It’s sustained, system-driven, repeatable success from a warm-weather nation.

Two “atmospherics” around our team and these sports should also be recognised.

Australian moguls coach Peter McNiel with Jakara Anthony and the gold medal that makes her the country’s most successful winter athlete.

First, contrary to superficial impressions that skiing is a sport for the wealthy, our top athletes and their families are overwhelmingly the most down to earth, unpretentious, decent Australians you could ever meet. It’s as far a cry from a “Buller in winter, Portsea in summer” stereotype as you could find. Our winter athletes are outstanding ambassadors for our country, strongly grounded in their regional roots, egalitarian nature and have-a-go spirit.

I was standing behind Jakara’s parents, Sue and Daryn, amidst the Aussie supporters when she returned from the single moguls, and the unconditional love and support she got from them in her moment of crushing disappointment was heartwarming. I have no doubt it was a huge factor in her epic comeback victory three days later. Success in winter sport in Australia is driven far more by persistence, family commitment and strong systems than by privilege.

Second, hats off to these athletes for their incredible courage. Competing in the winter Games has one X-factor that goes above and beyond most summer Games sports. That’s the raw guts it takes to do what they do, with the ever-present prospect of serious pain and injury if something goes wrong. Moguls skiers have to flip upside-down at speed and land perfectly. Scotty James descends to the halfpipe slope from a height of 15 metres. Think about what that takes.

So, as these Games wind down, let’s salute our amazing athletes. Let’s hope they get the support they deserve from commercial organisations, even though they’re only visible to Australians intermittently at these major world events. Their success is against all odds, at the pinnacle of an extraordinarily competitive world system. It represents the very best of our country.

John Wylie AC is a former chair of the Australian Sports Commission.

The Winter Olympic Games is broadcast on the Nine Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.

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