EVERY WINTER OLYMPIAN works hard to reach the pinnacle of their sport, but we’d argue Australian Olympians work harder than most. That’s because, well, there just isn’t much snow here. That leaves them with two options: spend most of the year chasing snow in a different hemisphere, or get creative with your training.
If anything, this makes Australia’s performance at the Winter Olympics all the more impressive. And while our Olympians’ training routines are highly specialised to their respective sports, there’s still something to be learned from the way elite athletes train.
We sat down with six Olympians who are representing Australia in Milano Cortina to get an insight into how they’ve been preparing for the Games. This is what we learned.
Jakara Anthony, moguls skiing
2022 Olympic gold medallist Jakara Anthony has been training relentlessly in the lead-up to the 2026 Games. A typical day involves three to four hours with skis, practicing on a moguls course. In the afternoon, she’ll head to the gym and do a strength and cardio session. Outside of that, she’s still working on recovery, physio, mental skills and staying on top of nutrition. “It fills the day up pretty quickly, to be honest,” she says.
When there’s no snow, Anthony practices jumps on plastic ramps that lead into a pool at a facility in Brisbane that opened in 2020. “Up until then we were using a dam in Melbourne,” Anthony says. “It was probably one of the least pleasant facilities in the world for something like that.”
Scotty James, snowboarding halfpipe
Two-time medallist and five-time Olympian Scotty James is a veteran of the Australian team, so he knows what he needs to do to get his body in the right state. He uses a fairly unorthodox routine that emphasises core and lower body strength.
“I do a lot of core work, a lot of core strength and unlike a lot of people that do interviews for Men’s Health, I never do anything with my arms,” he says. “The smaller my arms are, the better. The smaller my chest is, the better. Everything below that is prioritised.”
“You’ve got to have strong legs, so I do a lot of leg strength work,” James continues. “I do a lot of core work. And then the last one, because it’s actually a passion in my life, is cycling. I do a lot of cycling, obviously for the snowboarding benefit, but I love watching the Tour de France. I live in Monaco. I find it [cycling] is a really good crossover because you have that consistent strength, power, and burn in the legs that I get in snowboarding. That really helps me once I get into the glaciers or at a high altitude.”
Danielle Scott, aerials
Danielle Scott’s training days are dictated by weather, but the structure rarely changes: two days on, one day off, then three days back on snow. Mornings start with a warm-up before heading to the hill, where the first job is preparing the site itself – chopping and softening the landing hill to reduce impact. Jumps can run anywhere from two to four hours depending on conditions, followed by gym work, recovery sessions and detailed video reviews with her coach. Ice baths, saunas, physio – all of it feeds into making sure she’s as fit as she possibly can be.
During the offseason when she’s away from snow, Scott continues training and leans into alternative movement. “I love any form of cross training,” she says. “A lot of people might think that for aerials, we shouldn’t do anything other than our sport and wrap ourselves in bubble wrap. But for me, I’m always chasing fun adventures, whether that’s being on a motorbike, surfing, skating, mountain biking, four-wheel driving, camping, anything that keeps me active really is good cross training.”
Valentino Guselli, snowboarding halfpipe and big air
Valentino Guselli’s training days are a blend of high-intensity conditioning, strength work and plyometrics. Recently, he’s been pushing himself on the assault bike. “I actually just did a zone five bike session five minutes ago,” he says during our chat. “I tried not having distractions and just focusing on it, but now I’ve decided the easiest way is to pair it with something I really enjoy. So I’ve been bingeing TV shows on the bike.”
Josie Baff, snowboard cross
“I’m in the gym twice every day,” youth Olympic champion Josie Baff says. Usually she’ll do one strength session followed by a cardio workout. She works on power, balance and coordination, and lately she’s been doing plenty of cross training. “I try to go mountain biking often,” she says. “I think it’s quite similar with how you read different tracks, how you carry speed through different sections and then it also has the added bonus of cardio.”
Charlotte Wilson, moguls skiing
Rising moguls star Charlotte Wilson has been putting in an enormous amount of work. Her training weeks are physically brutal. Technical sessions come first, on snow or at the water ramp in Brisbane, followed by long afternoons in the gym. “We do a lot of upper body work to limit injuries and give us a bit of muscle to take hits on,” she says. Cardio days on the bike are built in, as are heavy lower-body sessions with “lots of squats and heavy lifts to keep us strong and ready to take all the forces that moguls throws at us.”
