Snow Australia Awards – Female Athlete of The Year
Mountainwatch |Press Release
The Snow Australia Awards recognise the achievements of our elite snowsport athletes over the past 12 months, and today we congratulate the Female Athletes of the Year for the Olympic disciplines, as nominated by their respective National Discipline Committees.
These athletes are now nominated for the overall Female Athlete of the Year – Olympic Disciplines, which will be presented at the Snow Australia Awards on Thursday 2 May in Melbourne.
Mogul Skiing Female Athlete of the Year – Jakara Anthony
Jakara Anthony produced one of the most remarkable seasons in not just Australian winter sport – it was without doubt one of the greatest in international snowsports history.
Jakara was close to unstoppable this season, winning 14 World Cup gold medals and scoring another bronze from 16 starts. Those results saw her lift three Crystal Globes, and set a new record for the most World Cup wins ever in a single season by any moguls skier. She now sits on 22 World Cup wins, just two behind the Australian record held by Jacqui Cooper.
Freeski Park & Pipe Female Athlete of the Year – Daisy Thomas
Daisy Thomas kickstarted her 2023/24 campaign with a big air seventh place at the Junior world Championships in New Zealand. She went on to make her World Cup debut at Cooper Mountain in December where she qualified for the big air final and finished seventh overall. After being selected for the Youth Winter Olympic Games, Daisy scored a top five finish in slopestyle, before landing a podium finish in big air by taking the silver medal for Australia.
Cross Country Female Athlete of the Year – Rosie Fordham
Rosie Fordam’s 19th place in the 20km Freestyle at the 2024 U23 World Championship was Australia’s first top 20 at the World U23s since Ben Sim in 2008 and builds on her 30th place from 2023. Rosie broke through for her first career World Cup points in Goms, Switzerland in the 20km freestyle mass start, then backed that up with another top 50 result in the 10km freestyle in Minneapolis, USA. She also finished one place off the podium at the USA 20km Championship and achieved a third place finish at the FIS International in Soldier Hollow.
Alpine Skiing Female Athlete of the Year – Madison Hoffman
Madison Hoffman had an amazing start to her 2024 season, becoming the first Australian female since Zali Steggall in 2002, to record World Cup points in Slalom. Her 25th place finish in Levi also saw her become just the fifth Australian female alpine skier to earn World Cup points. Madi also scored strong Europa Cup results throughout the season, victory on the Nor-Am Cup circuit and a number of podiums at the NCAA Championships, helping University of Utah to second place overall.
Aerial Skiing Female Athlete of the Year – Danielle Scott
Danielle Scott entered the 2023/24 season as the reigning women’s aerials Crystal Globe winner, with high hopes of going back-to-back. She started the season with a second place finish at Ruka in Finland, going on to finish on the podium five times from six World Cup events. Going into the last event of the season, Dani was 12 points behind American Winter Vinecki on the overall standings. She went on to qualify in second, and while Vinecki qualified in 10th, the race for the Crystal Globe was still alive. However when weather intervened and qualification results were counted as final, Dani went to the front of the standings by 42 points to defend the Crystal Globe.
Snowboard Cross Female Athlete of the Year – Josie Baff
Josie Baff’s step up from the junior to senior ranks in 22/23 was truly impressive, and she was again able to prove she is one of the best in the world in one of the most competitive disciplines in snowsports. Josie’s second full season was a measure of consistency, never failing to make either the big or small final in any of the 12 World Cup events. Josie raced herself onto the podium five times to finish fourth on the overall standings. In the past two seasons, she has now achieved World Cup medals in 42% of her race starts.
Snowboard Park & Pipe Female Athlete of the Year (Big Air/Slopestyle) – Tess Coady
While injury hampered her 23/24 campaign, Tess Coady again showed why she is considered one of the most talented riders on the circuit.
Tess opened her season in China with her first-ever Big Air World Cup podium, earning a silver medal under the lights in Beijing. She was again super impressive at the Laax Open in January, finishing just off the podium in fourth, at an event she has medalled at twice previously. Unfortunately an injury in practice denied her the opportunity to add to her X-Games medal tally.
Snowboard Park & Pipe Female Athlete of the Year (Halfpipe) – Emily Arthur
Emily Arthur had four World Cup starts in the 2024 season, and finished inside the top 12 on three occasions. Her best result came in Calgary when she finished in eighth place, two places away her two career-high World Cup results of sixth. A highlight of the season was Emily’s invitation to compete at her first ever X-Games in Aspen where she placed seventh in the SuperPipe.
Alpine Snowboard Female Athlete of the Year – Millie Bongiorno
Millie Bongiorno returned to some of her best form this season, claiming her first Europa Cup podium in almost two years. After a sixth place parallel slalom result in Pamporovo, Bulgaria in January, she returned to the second race the following day and claimed the bronze medal. Millie also raced extensively on the World Cup circuit where she tasted more success in Bulgaria, with an 18th place finish scoring her the best individual World Cup result of her career.
