Snow Australia Medal design unveiled ahead of Awards night presentation

The design of the Snow Australia Medal has been unveiled today, with the first medals to be presented during the Snow Australia Awards night in Melbourne, on Thursday 29 April. The accompanying lapel pin has also been revealed. 

The Snow Australia Medal was launched during the 2020 domestic winter to recognise the achievements and careers of those past and retiring athletes who represented Australia at the highest level of snowsport competition.

“We developed this important project to connect our sporting alumni and celebrate Australia’s proud history in snowsports. The medal is our version of the Baggy Green,” said Snow Australia CEO Michael Kennedy.

“The Snow Australia Medal is also the first step of a broader legacy programme that we will roll out over the next months and years to keep inspiring young talent and continue the success of our sport in the future,” he said.

Due to the restrictions imposed by Covid-19, a decision was made to start announcing the medal recipients online first. Since June last year, Snow Australia has presented the stories of over 60 among the pioneers of Australian snowsports, along with unique insights on the challenges they faced in the early days of the sport.

With restrictions to public gatherings eased, Snow Australia is now looking forward to presenting the medals in person to nine of its alumni during the Awards presentation on Thursday. The identity of the former athletes has not been revealed.

“Reading the stories of our champions dating back to the 1952 Winter Olympics has been fascinating,” Kennedy said.

“We are delighted to be in a position to present the first tranche of medals in person at the Snow Australia awards on Thursday. Nine of our Alpine Ski Racing alumni will be among the first to be presented and we look forward to recognising them for the contribution they have made to the development of snowsports in Australia. 

“We are very excited to have the community come together for the first time after a tumultuous 15 months since the COVID-19 pandemic began,” he said.

The medals have been designed by Frayne Work, an integrated creative agency based in Melbourne. They weigh approximately 250 grams each and will be manufactured in bronze and casting materials. Senior Graphic Designer Erin Newman said the creative team deemed it essential to represent the skiing and snowboarding tracks within the concept. 

“As the design evolved, the track forms were refined down to simple crescent shapes.

“The tracks merging to form a circular motion is also symbolic of a jump. These shapes depict the dynamic and fluid movement of snowsports,” she said.

After the first official presentation, Snow Australia will continue to formally recognise all Australian athletes who have won a medal at a FIS World Championships or World Cup, or have represented Australia at the Olympic or Paralympic Games. The initial list of medal recipients comprises almost 200 top Australian snowsports athletes and includes the biggest names of the sport such as Malcom Milne, Kirstie Marshall, Zali Steggall and Olympic Gold Medal winners Alisa Camplin, Torah Bright and Lydia Lassila, just to name a few. 

Recipients will be presented the medals in the future months at Snow Australia events and other public gatherings in the Australian snowsports community calendar.