Josie Baff wins snowboard cross gold for Australia
The 23-year-old player from Jindabyne, who is world number 2, beat some heavyweights on her way to the podium, eliminating world number 1 Charlotte Bankes and number 9 Sina Siegenthaler in the quarter-finals, and world number 3 Julia Nirani-Pereira in the semi-finals.
“I was definitely playing a little tactically,” he said of the quarter- and semi-finals.
“All through training my starts were good and today they weren’t so good. I’m not sure if it was nerves and my legs get heavy when I’m nervous so I was definitely struggling a bit but it worked out well for me.”
“I knew I could pass low; turns are my strong suit. Even though I crashed in the qualifying run… I was confident I could still do it.”
Australia’s gold medalist Josie Baff.Credit: Getty Images
The daughter of two ski instructors, she was sidelined when her father, Peter, crossed the gold line in Livigno.
Loading
“I feel very, very satisfied right now. My glass is full,” Peter said.
“Of course it’s ingrained in me, it’s an incredible feeling but I’ve always believed in Josie, I believe in all my children and I knew she could do it, but in this sport you never know what’s going to happen and I think it comes down to instinct, her own desire and passion.
“I also think he really felt the support of our nation and Australia. He felt like all his friends and family were here.”
When Baff crossed the line to win gold, he threw his arms up in the air before falling into the snow.
“Probably a lot of relief,” Baff said of what he felt the moment he crossed the line.
“I was very nervous after qualifying, especially because things didn’t go the way I’d imagined – it wasn’t on my bingo chart – so I definitely just went with the flow. I was already a bit emotional going into the grand final, so when I came down and no one was next to me on the jump, I was like ‘wow’.”
Baff won Australia’s first Youth Olympic gold medal in Lausanne in 2020 and then made her Olympic debut in Beijing in 2022, finishing 17th overall.
More to come
Winter Olympic Games are broadcast on TV 9Network, 9Now And Stan Sports.
News, results and expert analysis from the sports weekend delivered every Monday. Sign up for our sports newsletter.
