Australia is set for its best Winter Olympics. These are the athletes who can make it happen

Livigno: Australia has never won more than two gold medals at a single Winter Olympics, never won more than four medals at a Winter Games, and never defended a Winter Olympic gold.

It’s an exciting possibility that Australia could break one of those records at the 2026 Games in Milano Cortina this month. It’s even more extraordinary, and feasible, that Australia could break all three of them by time the Games close on February 22.

With Australian athletes picking up 26 world cup medals in the 2025-26 season, Chef de Mission Alisa Camplin said it was the most accomplished Australian team she had seen.

“The breadth and depth is really unique, and that’s why I call this an iconic team,” Camplin said.

“We’ve had 11 different athletes who have picked up those 26 World Cup medals over the last three months. Thirteen of them have been gold. So, we’ve not gone into a Games with that kind of profile before.”

Australia punches well above its weight for a sunburnt country with a population of 27 million, only a handful of locations that get snow and an Olympic team of 53 athletes.

These are the athletes to watch, and the ones who are favourites not only to medal, but to become Olympic champions.

Gold medal contenders

Bree Walker: The 33-year-old has come off an astonishing world cup season where she won three gold, a silver and a bronze in the women’s monobob. Walker finished fifth at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, but has since changed her head coach and push coach, which has helped turn her into a gold medal contender. She will also compete in the two-woman bobsleigh with Kiara Reddingius.

What she said: “I can confidently say, hand on heart, I’m in the best shape of my life and best headspace of my life, and I’m really excited to go out there and see what it produces.”

Date and time she competes (AEDT)

• Women’s monobob heat 1 and 2, February 15, 8pm
• Women’s monobob heat 3 and 4, February 17, 5am

Scotty James: The five-time Olympian is trying to complete his Olympic medal set after winning bronze in PyeongChang in 2018 and silver in Beijing in 2022. James heads to the Olympics in career-best form, after winning gold in the X-Games in Aspen – his fifth straight victory – with a switch backside 1440, making him the first person to perform the trick in X-Games history.

What he said: “From an accolade perspective, and having a stone left unturned, the gold is definitely [what I want], it’s the obvious choice if I were to be fully transparent.”

Date and time he competes (AEDT)

• Men’s halfpipe qualifying, February 12, 5.30am
• Men’s halfpipe final, February 14, 5.30am

Jakara Anthony: Defending Olympic champion Jakara Anthony heads into Milano Cortina as world No.1 and a hot favourite to go back-to-back in the women’s moguls. An Australian has never defended their Olympic gold at Winter Games, which means Anthony is trying to make history with a victory in Livigno.

What she said: “Being completely honest, of course, I would like to be in that position and take home another gold medal. But we’ve got a field of 30 girls out there, with most of them trying to achieve the same thing. So, it’s not going to be an easy feat. We’ve done everything that we can to put me in the position where I can put down the run that I’m capable of, and then hopefully the result comes from that.”

Date and time she competes (AEDT)

• Women’s moguls qualifying, February 11, 12.15am
• Women’s moguls qualifying, February 11, 9pm
• Women’s moguls final, February 12, 12.15am
• Dual moguls, February 14, 8.30pm

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

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