Updated to include James Johnstone (The Scot’s College, Sydney) who replaced Cam Bolton in the men’s snowboard cross.
The finalisation of the Australian team for the Milano-Cortina Games sees a team of 53 (33 women, 20 men), including 30 debutants. That brings to 310 the number of athletes who have represented Australia at the Winter Olympics since our first – Ken Kennedy – who competed in speed skating in Germany in 1936.
We know plenty about where the team is from and in which sports/disciplines they will compete, but where did they spend their formative school years? Here are the high schools that have produced multiple members in Milano. (Note: many attended more than one high school).
With its proximity to the NSW ski resorts and the National Snowsports Training Centre, Jindabyne High (formerly Central) School provides four Olympians for the second Games in a row: Adam Lambert and Josie Baff who both started in year 1 at Jindabyne Central School, while Cooper Woods and Jackson Harvey also spent some of their secondary years there.
The school featured on a 9 News Sydney report last month.
With women comprising 62 per cent of the Australian team, it’s no surprise that a girls’ school – PLC Sydney (Croydon) – also shares top spot with four alumni in Milano. Emma Bosco started at PLC in kindergarten, Charlotte and Abbey Wilson commenced in year 8, while Phoebe Cridland attended from year 7 to 10 then spent her final two years at SCEGGS Darlinghurst. Lucy Glanville (biathlon 2014) is PLC Sydney’s only other Winter OIympian. The school also had a strong cohort at the last summer Games in Paris in 2024 with three members of the team: Kendall Brodie (rowing), Ellie Cole (diving) and Kaitlin Nobbs (hockey).
Some other interesting points
• Jindabyne High (Central) School and PLC Sydney (Croydon) equal the record of Monaro High School (Cooma) and Snowy Mountains Grammar (Jindabyne) who placed four alumni onto the Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 teams respectively.
• Four members of the team attended specialist winter sports schools in the USA: Maddie Hoffman (Rowmark Ski Academy, Utah), Phoebe Heaydon (Vail Mountain School, Colorado), Maddie Hooker (Stratton Mountain School, Vermont) and Harry Laidlaw (Burke Mountain Academy, Vermont)
• Also educated overseas are Ellen Søhol Lie and Lars Young Vik (Norway), Jason Chan and Brendan Corey (Canada), Amelie Haskell and Misaki Vaughan (USA) and Anastasiia Golubeva (Russia)
• Others who spent some of their high school years overseas are Mela Stalker (New Zealand), Darcie Morton (Italy) and Jackson Harvey (USA)
• Two members of the team are still at school: Indra Brown (Loreto Mandeville, Toorak, Melbourne) and Ally Hickman (St Clare’s College, Waverley, Sydney)
• Former sprinter Desi Johnson (Bobsleigh) went to the same high school as London 2012 Olympic 100m hurdles gold medallist Sally Pearson (Helensvale State High School)
• Several primary schools have also produced multiple Olympians in Milano including Jindabyne Public (Central) School (Adam Lambert, Josie Baff) and Mansfield Primary School (Harry Laidlaw, Mia Clift). Danielle Scott and Kyra Wheatley also attended primary school at Pymble Ladies’ College, Abbey and Charlotte Wilson went to primary school at Snowy Mountains Grammar, while Daisy Thomas, Jarryd Hughes and George Murphy also spent primary years at Redlands, Sydney