Alpine skier Robinson can put New Zealand on top in Cortina

Jan 13 : Alice Robinson might have been a surfer on Bondi Beach rather than a world-beating Alpine skier had her parents not moved from Australia to New Zealand when she was four-years-old.

The Sydney-born 24-year-old has instead made waves in a snow sport where Europeans and North Americans have historically swept up most of the medals and all of the golds.

The most successful skier ever from outside the powerhouse regions, Robinson is ready to take another big step at next month's Milano Cortina Olympics in what will be her third Winter Games.

The Queenstown-based athlete has won seven career World Cup races, three this season including becoming the first Kiwi to triumph in super-G.

A gold medallist in 2019 at junior level, Robinson took silver in giant slalom at last year's world championships in Saalbach, Austria.

"New Zealand is a small country in the middle of nowhere but we punch well above our weight in terms of sport," she said last February. "It's cool that winter sports are starting to become like that as well."

With several top rivals sidelined by surgery, or fighting their way back from injury, Robinson should be a genuine medal contender as she seeks her Olympic first.

The pressure is something Robinson, who has had her ups and downs but leads this season's super-G standings after two of seven races, feels better equipped to manage.

"There's always been a lot of extra noise around the Olympics ... because nationally in New Zealand it's such a bigger deal than the World Cup tour," she told the FIS Alpine Pulse podcast.

"It's definitely something I put a lot of pressure on myself in the past and it hasn't gone so well. So this time I'm really going to just want to treat it as another race.

"I think we've got good