Snowboard Cross Olympic Champion Josie Baff claims silver in Montafon World Cup

Josie Baff, a New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder, has finished second at the World Cup Snowboard Cross event in Montafon, Austria, marking her first podium since winning gold at the Milano‑Cortina Olympic Winter Games and the 17th World Cup podium of her career.

Baff raced strongly in the overcast conditions, taking an early lead that she held comfortably to win both her quarterfinal and semifinal heats and secure a place in the big final medal round.

The big-final featured Baff alongside Switzerland’s Sina Siegenthaler, Great Britain’s Charlotte Bankes, and France’s Chloe Trespeuch. Baff and Siegenthaler traded the lead down the Montafon course, but Siegenthaler pulled ahead in the second half of the course to take the win, with Baff finishing second and Bankes third.

Also competing for Australia were NSWIS schoarship athletes, Mia Clift finished 11th and Abbey Wilson placed 18th, while Adam Lambert was 17th and James Johnstone 29th in the men’s event.

The World Cup tour now heads to Mont‑Sainte‑Anne in Canada for the final event of the season on March 28, with both Baff and Lambert still in contention for the Crystal Globe.

The podium result moves Baff into third place on the World Cup standings with 339 points, trailing France’s Léa Casta in second on 360, while Bankes leads the standings on 373 points.

Lambert also sits third in the men’s World Cup standings on 313 points, behind France’s Aidan Chollet in second on 354, with Germany’s Leon Ulbricht leading on 354.

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA)

Photo Credit: FIS Snowboard