Nominees Announced For 2022 Snow Australia Athlete Of The Year Awards

April 26th, 2022
Jakara Anthony, 2022 Olympic moguls champion, and nominated for Snow Australia’s Athlete of the Year. Photo: Australian Olympic Team

Mountainwatch | Press Release

Snow Australia is pleased to announce the nominees for the upcoming 2022 Athlete of the Year awards in the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines.  

During the 2021/22 season, our athletes performed magnificently on the world stage, in yet another historic year for Australians snow sports. Overall, Australia stood on the World Cup podiums 26 times as our skiers and snowboarders took home four medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, four Crystal Globes and 11 World Cup gold medals.

Snow Australia discipline committees were tasked with selecting the athlete of the year in each respective discipline, who then become the nominees for the overall Athlete of the Year Award. From these nominees, finalists are selected by the Snow Australia judging panel and the winner(s) decided and announced at the 2022 Snow Australia Awards on Thursday 28 April. Get your tickets HERE.

The nominees for Athlete of the Year are as follows:

Louis Muhlen is nominated for alpine skiing off the back of his 23rd place in Giant Slalom at the Olympic Winter Games, a result which equalled Australia’s best ever Olympic Giant Slalom result set by Zali Steggall in 1992.

Three-time Olympian Sami Kennedy-Sim is nominated for ski cross following her 8th place in ski cross at Beijing 2022, the second best result ever for an Australian ski cross athlete at the Olympic Games, behind Scott Kneller and Katya Crema’s 7th places at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 respectively.

 

Three-time Olympian Sami Kennedy-Sim Nominated for Athlete of the Year

Former American Birkebeiner Champion Jessica Yeaton was once again the most successful Australian on the nordic skiing circuit, winning bronze in the Kincaid Park 10km Classic and producing some standout results in the World Cup and at the Olympic Games, including a 29th place in Val di Fiemme’s Tour de Ski Final Climb and a 16th place in the Team Sprint Classic event (with Casey Wright) at Beijing 2022.

Women’s freestyle skiing has brought much success to Australia over the years, and last season was no different. In fact, Jakara Anthony had a record-breaking campaign – the most successful ever by an Australian snow sport athlete – which included 11 World Cup moguls podiums (with three golds) from 12 starts, two FIS Crystal Globes (moguls discipline and moguls overall) and an amazing Olympic title in Beijing, the first Australian gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games in 12 years.

On the aerials side, two-time World Champion Laura Peel followed up her brilliant 2020/21 season with another positive campaign, winning her seventh career World Cup event in Deer Valley, USA, with a near world record score on a full-full-full, triple twisting triple back somersault, making the Olympic Super Final in Beijing (fifth place) and ending the season with a third place overall on the World Cup Aerials standings.

 

Tess Coady, all smiles after winning the bronze medal  in women’s slopestyle. Photo: Snow Australia

Tess Coady and Scotty James are once again the athletes nominated in the Park and Pipe disciplines.

Coady continued to impress on the slopestyle and big air circuit after a breakthrough 2020/21 season, triumphing in the slopestyle event at the prestigious LAAX Open. More importantly, she finally made her Olympic debut in Beijing, taking out a spectacular bronze medal in the Women’s slopestyle.

James established himself as one of the legends of the sport as he claimed silver in an epic Snowboard Halfpipe final in Beijing, becoming only the fifth Australian snow sport athlete to win two Olympic medals. James also keeps updating the history books of the X-Games Superpipe, which he won for the fourth time this year.

In snowboard cross, 2021 Mixed Team World Champion Belle Brockhoff is nominated as she finished in fifth place overall for the SBX World Cup season, after claiming two podiums in Montafon (Austria) and Cervinia (ITA) and narrowly missing out on an Olympic medal with a fourth place in the SBX Big Final in Beijing.

Ben Tudhope and Josh Hanlon are the two athletes nominated for the Athlete of the Year award in the para-disciplines.

It would be easy to forget that Ben Tudhope is only 22 years old as the para-snowboarder added yet two more Crystal Globes to his collection, claiming five wins on the World Cup circuit, two medals at the World Para Snow Sports Championships and his first Paralympic medal, a bronze in the Men’s Snowboard Cross SB-LL2, on his third Games participation.

 

Ben Tudhope competing in the Para Snowboard Men’s Snowboard Cross. Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games .Photo: OIS/Chloe Knott.

Paralympic debutant Josh Hanlon is nominated in the para-alpine discipline. The 24-year-old Riverina athlete announced himself as a future star of Australian alpine skiing collecting multiple top-10 results in the World Para Snow Sports Championships and at Beijing 2022, in just his first year of FIS competition.

The finalists and the winners of the Snow Australia Athlete of the Year Awards in the Olympic and Paralympic disciplines will be announced during the Snow Australia Awards night on April 28, 2022.

In addition to the Athlete of the Year award, Snow Australia will also recognise the Junior Athlete of the Year. Nominees include 2022 Olympians Valentino Guseli, snowboard halfpipe and border cross athletes Josi Baff.

Valentino Guseli  finished sixth on Olympic debut with a spectacular performance in a star-studded men’s halfpipe final at the 2022 Winter Games. The 17-year-old finished the season high in the FIS standings, ranked 4th overall in slopestyle and 11th overall in halfpipe. Guseli claimed the first two World Cup medals of his young career winning bronze in Silvaplana (Switzerland) and Bakuriani (Georgia), also finishing fifth in halfpipe at the prestigious LAAX Open.

 

Valentino Guseli and Scotty James doing Austraian and snowboarding proud in Beijing. Photo: Australian Olympic Team

In Snowboard cross, 2020 Youth Olympic Champion Josie Baff earned her nomination off the back of a breakthrough international season, capped with the FIS World Cup Rookie of the Year award. The 19-year-old also made her Olympic debut in Beijing, finishing 18th in the individual event and 13th in the mixed team event, paired with Adam Lambert. Baff’s season highlights feature two top-10 results in the World Cup, including a career-best seventh place in Veysonnaz (Switzerland).

Snow Australia 2022 Junior Athlete of the Year nominees:

Thomas Hoffman (Alpine Skiing), Hugo Hinckfuss (Cross Country),  Zana Evans (Cross Country),  Indi Speirs (Moguls),  Valentino Guseli (Snowboard Slopestyle/Halfpipe),  Daisy Thomas (Freeski Slopestyle), Josie Baff (Snowboard Cross)

Retired elite athletes will also be recognised with Snow Australia Medal presentations.