Mela had never done this trick in competition. It just landed her in the Olympic final

Livigno: Mela Stalker’s dream in life – besides winning an Olympic gold medal – is to make movies.

Now, after qualifying for the women’s big air final at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics on Sunday (local time), it’s like she’s living in one.

The 22-year-old recovered from a first run fumble to score an 82.25 and an 82.75 to surge into the top 12 and book herself a spot in Monday’s final alongside countrywoman Tess Coady.

“It’s like your heart’s in your mouth the whole time before you land something,” Stalker said. “It was pretty cool to just put it down and completely release and be like, I’m here to play.”

It was even better that Stalker qualified by executing a trick she had learnt for the first time after arriving in Livigno eight days ago – and after just three practice sessions.

“I learnt that the day we came here, so I’m pretty stoked to even just put it down, let alone the score that came through,” she said.

Australia’s Mela Stalker competes during the women’s snowboard big air qualifications.Credit: AP

The trick Stalker is talking about is the backside dub 1080. To decipher that, Stalker went off-axis twice during her trick, in which she completed three rotations.

“I’ve been trying to get that trick for a bit now and haven’t pulled the trigger on actually trying it. It’s quite a mental one,” she said.

It was a nervous wait for teammate Coady, who was first out for the qualifying round on Sunday.

Australian Tess Coady in the women’s big air qualifying.Credit: AP

Coady nudged her way into the top 10 with a 75 on her final run, but was bumped down the order as athlete after athlete attempted to take her place in the top 12.

“I felt like I was sitting in a pretty good position at the start of the last run, but then I just kept getting bumped lower and lower, which is the worst when you’re just waiting,” Coady said.

“There’s nothing you can do about it, you might as well watch it.”

Coady will go first again in Monday’s final, which runs in reverse seeded order, and that can often be a disadvantage for competitors, Coady said.

Loading

Judges use the first few riders to gauge how they’re going to score the rest of the field, which sometimes means that you are scored lower for the same trick as someone else if you’re first down the slope.

“It’s kind of one of the things you have to manage, and it’s really hard because there’s nothing you can do about it ... it kind of sucks when you’re in that position because you’ve just sort of got to hope that they like it [the trick].”

The Winter Olympic Games will be broadcast on the 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.

Most Viewed in Sport

Loading