6 Months on from Milano-Cortina | Josie Baff

As six months tick over from the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games, Josie Baff is unmissable at the top of Hotham, where her pink helmet stands out among the low fog covering the resort. The Olympic gold medalist took to the ‘mini’ mic and answered some of our burning questions.

Born and raised Snowy Mountains, Josie has been on the pathway to success for a long time and arguably came into the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics as a medal favourite.  Her years on the slopes from a young age showed just how much hard work and dedication can pay off, culminating in a place on top of the treasured podium steps.

“It was definitely a dream come true. The emotions when I crossed the line was a lot of relief, and then satisfaction. I guess it just kind of solidified that everything I’ve been doing for the past four years has been working and it kind of builds that confidence.”

It’s this confidence Josie is taking into the 2026-27 Northern Hemisphere season, where she’s aiming for nothing less than world domination, at least on the FIS World Cup Tour.

“I mean my goal is to win every single race, and that’s how I go into it. Obviously, that's very, very hard to achieve, but that's the goal.”

For many, an Olympic gold medal can be life-changing if you let it, however the unofficial queen of Jindabyne hopes not too much changes for her. 

“I definitely have a few more opportunities that come up, and fun events I can attend. But I also quite liked my life before, so I've been trying to keep it as much the same as it was before.

“I want to keep it that way, I don't really want to be too busy, I just want to be doing the things that I want to be doing. But it has been really fun.”

On race day, you might find Josie going through her warm-up routine, something that she claims has changed a lot over the years. 

“Now, I do a bit of jumping around and try to activate my balance and proprioception. I also do a lot of hand-eye coordination drills to try and activate different parts of my brain that might be sleeping.

“It kind of adapts to how I am feeling that day as well, like, if I’m feeling like I really need to amp up then I do a bit extra.”

Looking to the future, Josie hopes to help push women’s snowboarding to the next level.

“I think we’re really on the cusp right now and it’s a really exciting prospect.

“There’s a bunch of girls doing really incredible things. I am excited to see where we can go and beat the boys. I think we are pretty close to doing that.”

Asked on her best piece of advice, Josie circled back to the idea of having fun, and how it is the baseline for almost everything in her life. 

“I think to enjoy it and have fun makes hard work seem easy, and that is the main thing, life is about having fun.

“I definitely have more advice, but I don't know what that is right now. It’s all been so solidified into my actions and my day-to-day life that I kind of forget my best advice.”

As the  midway mark of the  Southern Hemisphere winter season passes, the countdown begins for the Northern season, when Australia will once again have the chance to watch Josie Baff do what she does best. 

Image Credit: Chris Hocking