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Alpine Community Update - March 2026

Published Thu 05 Mar 2026

With Australia having its most successful Winter Olympic Games to date, I just want to take a second to congratulate all the athletes who competed and gave their best. Australia was represented by three alpine athletes and one ski cross athlete, three seeing their Olympic debut in Milan Cortina 2026!

Harry Laidlaw represented the Alpine men in Bormio recording a solid 29th place, from bib 39, in the Giant Slalom in his second Olympic Games.

Madison Hoffman and Phoebe Heaydon were both on debut in Cortina. Phoebe contested both the GS and SL, recording a very strong 34th place result in the GS, starting from bib 52. Phoebe unfortunately DNF’d early in the Slalom race however has gained invaluable experience which she will carry forward in her racing career. Madison Hoffman, also on debut, stepped in to the start gate in Cortina after missing out on her Olympic debut in Beijing 2022 due to injury. Madi skied very strongly and attacked on her second run finishing in 23rd position in the Slalom.

Meanwhile up in Livigno, Kyra Wheatley was on debut for her first Olympic Games in the Ski Cross. Kyra managed a 23rd in the individual seeding run and then in the final’s heats found herself in a battle to the line ultimately finishing in 25th position.

With the Olympics finished, there is still much racing action to come over the coming weeks. The Paralympics kick off on March 6th though the 15th, and I encourage everyone to cheer on the Aussie athletes!

The Para Alpine Skiing Team is (classification in brackets):

Watch all the action from Milano-Cortina live on 9Now

Alpine World Junior Championships in Narvik, Norway also will kick off next week with five Aussie’s competing between March 8th and 15th. Abbey Evans will start things off, along with Felix Sachs, competing in the Super G. Abbey will then compete in the Giant Slalom alongside teammates Phoebe Heaydon, fresh off her Olympic debut, as well as Cate Dance and Madison Gilson, who will also compete in Slalom. On the men’s side it will be Felix Sachs representing Australia also in the Giant Slalom and Slalom races. Congratulations to all the athletes selected and fast skiing up north!

  • Abbey Evans (2005) – Super G, Giant Slalom
  • Phoebe Heaydon (2005) – Giant Slalom, Slalom
  • Cate Dance (2005) – Giant Slalom, Slalom
  • Madi Gilson (2008) – Giant Slalom, Slalom
  • Felix Sachs (2008) – Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom

Watch all the Aussies in Action at the Junior World Championsips via SnowLive

On the Children’s race calendar, we will have a group of U16 and U14 athletes competing in Folgaria ITA at the Alpe Cimbra FIS International Children’s races on March 5-6th. This competition will bring together U14 and U16 competition from around Europe and overseas for two days of giant slalom and slalom. For the U16’s we will have Zahli Books, Xavier Lees, Zephyr Lusted, Harry Gilson, Sam Davis, Will Thompson and Oscar Johnson, while in the U14 age category we will have Lucas Books and Clover Rogers competing.

Moving a little later in March we can keep our eyes open for the Ski Cross World Junior Championships being held in St. Moritz, SUI on March 19-21st. I want to say congratulations and fast racing to those athletes representing Australia:

  • Duncan Cowan (2006)
  • Dakota Turner (2006)
  • Ellie Coomber (2008)
  • Charlotte Coomber (2006)

There is still a lot of winter left for training and racing, and I look forward to seeing what all of our Aussie athletes can achieve over the next months.

Cheers
Shawn Fleming
National Alpine Director

Read Full Alpine Community Update Here

In this edition:

  • Para Alpine SKiers Named For Milano-Cortina
  • 2026 Olympic Wrap Up
  • Five Aussies to Compete at 2026 FIS Alpine Junior World Championships
  • 2026 FIS Ski Cross Junior World Championships Team Announced
  • Dual Paralympian Sam Tait Announces Retirement
  • 2026 Snow Australia Awards - Tickets Now On Sale
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