AUSTRALIAN WINTER OLYMPIC ATHLETES PREPARE FOR MILANO CORTINA

More than 70 athletes aspiring to make the Australian Winter Olympic Team for Milano Cortina 2026 came together for the first time as part of an Olympic Team Orientation session in Melbourne.

A mix of athletes from triple Olympians to newcomers striving to make their first Games took part in the major Olympic milestone, which involved being measured up for Olympic uniforms by Karbon, XTM, Volley and Sportscraft, team building activities, information sessions and connecting with their winter teammates.

Held at worldwide Olympic Partner Deloitte’s Melbourne Headquarters, the event provided a platform for Chef de Mission Alisa Camplin to announce dual ski-cross winter Olympian Katya Crema as the Team’s Deputy Chef de Mission.

It also marked the launch of the Australian Olympic Committee’s Team campaign – #ForzaTeamAUS. Forza means both ‘Force’ and ‘Come on’ in Italian, with the retro-style creative campaign, featuring our winter stars, set to drive support for Australian athletes in the lead up to and during the Games in Italy.

Ms Camplin said with only 281 days until the Olympic cauldron is lit, and the Orientation session complete, the Australian athletes will now focus on a series of qualification events in the hopes of securing their place in the Team for Milano Cortina.

“It was fantastic to experience the energy and excitement of our winter athletes coming together today in Melbourne,” Ms Camplin said.

“We have such breadth and depth in this group, and the optimism of what they want to achieve together is electric.”

“There have been less than 300 Australians in our history who have competed at a Winter Olympics; every athlete here today is striving to add to our proud Winter Olympic story.”

“I am also thrilled to have Katya Crema join our leadership team for the Games as Deputy Chef de Mission. Katya brings incredible experience both from her sporting career and in her professional work since retiring from competition.”

“Australia has grown into a true winter sport force and I look forward to seeing millions of Australians get behind our athletes through the #ForzaTeamAUS campaign in the coming months,” she said.

An expected Australian Team of around 60 athletes from 12 winter sports will face off with 2900 athletes from more than 90 nations from 6 – 22 February 2026, with the Games hosting 116 medal events across 16 sports.

A Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 Olympian and fluent in Italian, Crema said she was looking forward to using her experience to help Australian winter athletes in Milano Cortina.

“I’m incredibly excited to accept this role, working alongside Alisa Camplin and the whole Olympic Team,” Ms Crema said.

“It’s such an honour to be a part of it and to hopefully share my knowledge and experience, bringing those learnings back into this Team environment.”

Twenty-year-old mogul skier and New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder Charlotte Wilson is aiming to make her Olympic debut in Italy, after winning the Olympic test event at the World Cup in Livigno in March.

“It’s actually sinking in now that this is what my life could look like in in 10 months and I can’t wait,” Ms Wilson said. “It definitely helped to be so successful on the Olympic course, I’m looking forward to going back there.

“I’m very lucky to be able to train with so many successful mogul athletes. We’ve got a few Olympic medallists in the team and I try my best to learn as much as I can from them, I’m really looking forward to being a part of the team’s Olympic Journey.”

World number one ranked aerial skier and triple Olympian Laura Peel won the 2025 World Cup event at Livigno, which will host the Olympic aerials competition in 2026.

“Livigno has such a nice feel, it feels like what you imagine a Winter Olympics would look like with beautiful alps, cute little chalets, it’s a great place,” Ms Peel said.

“I’m excited to get back there and I’ve got a lot of steps ahead of that, but it’s a really exciting day. I’m looking forward to getting back to work and back to training.”

Australian Olympic Committee