Australia’s Winter sports given $28 million funding boost

The Australian Institute of Sport has announced an investment of $28.6 million in core funding over the next four years for Australia’s Winter Olympic and Paralympic sports allowing the sports to plan their entire 2026 Games campaigns with confidence.

This is the first time, Australia’s Winter sports have been given a funding commitment in advance for their full four-year preparation, enabling sports and athletes to focus all their energy towards preparations for the 2026 Games in Milan-Cortina. The funding will go to the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia and Snow Australia, through to the end of June 2026.

Australia’s Winter Olympics team finished with a record four medals at Beijing earlier this year, including a break-through gold medal for moguls skier Jakara Anthony while Snowboarder Ben Tudhope earned bronze at the Paralympic Games.

Federal Minister for Sport Anika Wells said the long-term investment was a show of confidence in Australia’s representative athletes.

Minister Wells notes “Australia continues to build its reputation as a competitive international force in Winter sports and this longer-term investment gives athletes the chance to build plans for sustainable improvement and success.”

As Australian sport embarks on a Green and Gold decade of major events towards the Brisbane 2032 Games, Australian Sports Commission Chief Executive Kieren Perkins OAM said strategic planning was crucial to success.

Perkins advised “we’re in one of the most exciting periods in Australian sporting history, we have the opportunity to build sustainable sporting success that will inspire and motivate Australians for generations to come. I thank the Australian Government for sharing the vision of the AIS and providing longer-term funding to sports.

“We’ve also confirmed core funding to our Summer Olympic and Paralympic sports through to Paris 2024.

“In addition to this direct core funding to National Sporting Organisations, the AIS continues supporting athletes and sports through targeted funding strategies, including direct athlete grants and performance pathways, as well as coaching and leadership, innovation and technology, medicine and science, wellbeing and community engagement, and high performance facilities.”

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia Chief Executive Geoff Lipshut said it was a great way to start the four-year approach to Milan-Cortina 2026.

“The Olympic Winter Institute of Australia is very appreciative of this support from the Federal Government and Australian Sports Commission, it provides funding certainty and an increase leading into Italy.

“The Australian Sports Commission, via the Australian Institute of Sport, provided a lot of additional support to the winter sport athletes and our organisation in the lead up to the excellent success at the 2022 Beijing Games during COVID and the very difficult circumstances around travel, qualification and competition overseas. We look forward to working together over the next four years.”

Snow Australia Chief Executive Michael Kennedy added “Australia’s growing success in Olympic, Paralympic and World Cup competition tells us that we are on the right track, so this funding will be a tremendous boost for our longer-term planning as we look to provide the best possible training environments and athlete development programs in the years ahead.”

Image: Snowboarder Ben Tudhope won Australia's first medal at the Beijing Winter Paralympics, claiming bronze in the men's snowboard cross SB-LL2. Tudhope said he hope his bronze medal would inspire others to realise their dreams. "If there is any kid out there with cerebral palsy, with a disability: you can achieve anything," he said.