With the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics just weeks away, a dedicated band of Australian athletes are engaged in a final, globe-trotting quest to secure their spots on the plane to Italy. Among them are aerial skier Reilly Flanagan and cross-country skier Hannah Price, whose contrasting journeys epitomise the grit and determination required to compete for a nation not traditionally associated with winter sports.
The Aerialist on the Cusp of History
Reilly Flanagan stands on the verge of making Australian Olympic history. If the 21-year-old from Canberra qualifies, it will mark the first time Australia has contested the mixed team aerials event at a Winter Games. This follows a strong season where Flanagan and his teammates finished fourth at the world championships in St Moritz in March 2025 and clinched a World Cup bronze medal last January.
However, his path to Italy is not yet secure. To be eligible for the team event, Flanagan must first qualify for the individual discipline. With qualifying events in Canada beginning imminently, followed by two final opportunities in the United States, his Olympic fate will be decided by 12 January. "It's a very exciting time – chasing my first Winter Olympics," Flanagan said. "Going to the Olympics has been one of my biggest dreams since I was a young kid."
Speaking from a sunny Queensland during a brief Christmas respite from the northern hemisphere winter, Flanagan reflected on the stark contrasts of his season, having recently competed in China in temperatures feeling as low as minus 30. The heat, he says, provides crucial mental rest before the hectic final qualification push.
The Cross-Country Scholar's Unwavering Passion
While Flanagan enjoys Australian summer warmth, Hannah Price has been enduring a European winter based in Östersund, Sweden, a hub for cross-country skiing. The 24-year-old moved there in September to train alongside the world's best, balancing her athletic ambitions with her recent graduation from a law degree.
Price acknowledges that qualifying for the Games was always a difficult prospect, and results this season have made it a mathematical long shot. Despite the likely outcome, she remains philosophical and focused on performance. "This is likely to be my last ski season for a while, before I knuckle down and become a lawyer," Price explained. "I wanted to put my best foot forward and give myself the best possible chance of finishing up this phase of my skiing career with a bang."
She has shifted her mindset from chasing a specific result to simply skiing as well as she can. "Skiing is the thing I love most in this world," Price stated. "I've gained so much from chasing it, that if I fail, I haven't lost anything. If anything, I've gained more from failing than I would have if I had not tried at all." Her final qualification races will run until 19 January.
Australia's Underdog Spirit on the World Stage
Both athletes hope their endeavours, regardless of the final result, will inspire greater interest in winter sports back home. Australia sent a record 43 athletes to the Beijing 2022 Games, returning with four medals, and a team of over 50 is anticipated for Milano-Cortina.
"Australia is obviously not a very wintery country, we're seen as the underdogs," Flanagan noted. "We don't have the luxuries that the big Winter Olympic nations have to train on snow on home soil." He highlighted the recent opening of a specialist water ramp facility in Brisbane as a game-changer for aerial skiing development in Australia.
Echoing this sentiment of growth, Price said, "Cross-country skiing is on a really exciting trajectory. Australia is climbing the ranks, slowly but surely." For these athletes, the pursuit of Olympic qualification is as much about paving the way for future generations as it is about personal glory, embodying the resilient spirit of Australian winter sports.
