COOPER WOODS
Olympic Winter Games Attended
BIOGRAPHY
Cooper Woods was born in the coastal town of Merimbula and resides in Pambula Beach on the New South Wales South Coast.
With his mother Katrina Woods an Australian aerial skier, and uncle Peter Topalovic the legendary Perisher and Australian mogul team coach, Woods was always destined to follow in their footsteps, and joined the Perisher Winter Sports Club at age 12. Woods was rewarded for his promising results as a junior in 2016, when he was awarded a New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship. In the 2016-2017 season, Woods also made his World Cup debut at Deer Valley, USA, finishing 24th in the dual moguls, and competed regularly on the World Cup circuit in the 2017-2018 international season. Woods made history in December 2018, becoming the first Australian male to win a US Selection event in Winter Park. In the first competition, Woods improved from a qualifying position of eighth, to claim his first major overseas victory. In the second event he backed up his day one win with another podium, a silver medal to finish an impressive week of competition. Over the rest of the season 2018-2019 season, Woods competed on the Nor-AM and World Cup circuits, with his highlight recording four consecutive top-10 Nor-Am performances. Back competing exclusively on the World Cup circuit in 2019-2020, Woods started to find some consistency, improving his World Cup results to record a then personal best 17th in Calgary, Canada. Over the season the NSWIS skier also had four top-25 results. In the 2020-2021 World Cup season, Woods qualified for his first ever World Cup final in Idre Fjall, Sweden, finishing in 13th, and achieved his second World Cup final in Deer Valley, USA, recording a personal best 12th place performance. Woods also made his World Championship debut in Almaty, Kazakhstan, qualifying for the final in an impressive fifth place and finished the highest place Australian in the men’s final finishing in 15th position. On the back of his breakthrough 2020-2021 season, Woods was offered a contract with the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia. Woods continued his improvement in the 2021-2022 World Cup season, to qualify for his first ever Olympic Winter Games. At the final Olympic Qualification Events in Deer Valley, USA, Woods had a personal best fifth place performance, competing in the first top-six super-final of his career, and his second top-10 performance in January after finishing ninth a week earlier in Mont Tremblant, Canada. Competing in his firs Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, Woods had a spectacular performance, advancing through to the big final medal round. Finishing in sixth place, Woods was the highest placed Australian male, showing the world he has a great future in the sport. In the 2022-2023 season, Woods best performance was at the World Cup event in Idre Fjall, Sweden, where he placed seventh in the second event of the World Cup season. Woods competed at the World Championships, finishing with an 11th place performance in the moguls and a ninth place result in the dual moguls. The highlight of 2023-2024 season for Woods was undoubtedly the first World Cup podium of the 23-year-olds career, with a silver medal performance in Waterville Valley, USA, in the single moguls. Woods also made finals in all but one event, with a top-six super final performances in Alpe d'Huez and a fifth place dual mogul finish in Val St. Come, Canada. Woods season finished early due to injury after the World Cup events in Deer Valley, USA, where he was ranked a personal best seventh overall, sixth in the single moguls and eighth in dual moguls. Woods delivered a strong 2024–2025 FIS World Cup season, producing multiple top‑10 results, with his best performances coming in the dual moguls, where he had a season best fifth place finish in the World Cup final test event on the future 2026 Olympic course in Livigno, Italy. At the St. Moritz World Championships, Woods capped the season strongly finishing ninth in the moguls and eighth in dual moguls, narrowly missing the super-final in single moguls. In the 2025–26 FIS World Cup season, Woods recorded a best result of ninth in moguls at Ruka, Finland in December. He also placed 21st in moguls at Val St. Come and 22nd at Waterville Valley in January, with a 27th-place finish in dual moguls at Val St. Come. At the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, Cooper Woods produced a performance for the ages. Entering the final without having registered a World Cup victory in his career, he advanced through qualification after placing outside the top ten in the first round, and was required to progress via the second qualification stage. His impressive performance continued through the finals, where he recorded 83.60 in Final 1 to move into the super final in first position. In the medal round, Woods was the last skier in the gate, and under huge pressure delivered an 83.71-point run, matching the score set by Mikaël Kingsbury, the most successful moguls skier in World Cup history. As the final athlete to start, his run was decisive in determining the outcome of the event. The result was separated on the turns component, where Woods recorded 48.4 compared to Kingsbury’s 47.7, securing the gold medal. Woods won all three phases of the competition on the final day in a dominant performance. In the dual moguls event in Milano-Cortina, he finished 13th after advancing through the early rounds to the round of 16. Q & APlace of Birth: Cooma
Current place of residence: Pambula Beach Childhood Ambition: To win a gold medal Proudest Moment: Winning gold at the 2026 Milano- Cortina Olympics I began this sport .... In 2011 Participation in other sports: Surfing, Rugby, Surf Life Saving, Skateboarding Favourite overseas competition and why: Deer Valley World Cup - the noise and atmosphere is insane. Famous relative: Ethan Topalovic Sports Hero: Mick Fanning When I am not training/competing I am: Surfing and Travelling Highest level of education achieved: HSC Sponsors: IDone skis, Dalbello, Smith Optics LINKSOWIA News Search: Additional Links:
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