Ten Australians to watch out for at Milano Cortina 2026

Australia won four medals at Beijing 2022, its highest ever total. The 15 top-10 finishes by Australian athletes equalled the record set at Sochi 2014. Can the nation continue its fine tradition of punching above its sporting weight at Milano Cortina 2026? There’s no shortage of youngsters who will be looking to peak in four years’ time – or of veterans with wrongs to right.

There are a couple of factors on Jakara Anthony’s side as she looks towards Milano Cortina 2026.

The first is that she will still only be 27 when the Games come around. The second is the Olympic Winter Training Centre at the Sleeman Centre in Brisbane, opened in October 2020.

“To have the new water ramp facility in Australia is really game-changing for winter sport,” Anthony said after winning gold in Beijing.

“It means we don’t have to travel internationally so much and we can just duck up and train some jumps while we’re on snow.

Anthony outscored the women’s moguls field in qualifying and in all three of her final runs. With a role model like that and a brand new pathway into freestyle skiing on the doorstep, the question is who might step up alongside Anthony in 2026.

There’s no chance of Tess Coady stinting on the hard work required to better her Beijing bronze medal when she competes at Milano Cortina 2026.

She learned that lesson as a teenager after an anterior cruciate ligament injury in practice ended her PyeongChang 2018 campaign before it had begun. Coady was just 17.

“It's crazy doing this kind of tour when you’re a teenager. It’s pretty easy to get to this big stage and think you’re a rockstar. I became complacent and stopped working hard.

"[The injury] was totally the kick up the arse I needed to get to work. In that whole year