The prestigious ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships were held in Seoul, Korea, over the weekend, where Australia achieved top-10 finishes in both the pairs and ice dance events.
 
In the pairs skating, Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore made a great start in the short program, recording a personal best score of 65.36 points, the sixth highest score of the round.
 
The final free skate program saw the pair score the seventh highest score of the round with 113.40, and a combined score of 178.76 for a final ranking of sixth.
 
“I am really happy, at Skate Canada earlier in the season we set our seasons best, and now to beat that again in our second comp wea re really happy with that” said Giotopoulos Moore after the short program.
 
Holly Harris and Jason Chan also had personal best score in the opening rhythm dance program, scoring 108.75 points in seventh place.
 
In the final free dance, the couple scored 69.37, and a combined total of 178.12 points to be ranked seventh overall, which is also their highest ever finish at the Four Continents.
 
In the women’s singles event Australian skaters Maria Chernyshova finished 21st and in the men’s singles Darian Kapitch was 18th and Douglas Gerber 20th.
 
The next major event is the ISU World Championships will take place this year in Boston, USA, from March 25-30.

Three-time QAS Olympian Alex Ferlazzo has finished the FIL World Cup season with a 12th place result on the 2022 Olympic track in Yanqing, China.
 
Following strong recent World Cup performances which included a season’s best 9th place result last week in Korea, Ferlazzo was a seeded slider for the final event, and did not have to qualify via the Nations Cup race.
 
Ferlazzo opened with the 17th fastest time in the first heat in a time of 58.858 seconds.
 
In the final run, Ferlazzo improved to record the 10th fastest time of the round in 58.531 seconds, giving him a two-run time of 1:57.389 and a final ranking of 12th.
 
Taking the win 2.338 seconds ahead of Ferlazzo was Max Langerhan of Germany, with Austrian Jonas Mueller in second and another Austrian David Gleirscher in third.
 
On the final rankings for the season, Ferlazzo finished in 17th.
 
Another highlight for Ferlazzo this season was the World Championships in Whistler, Canada, where he placed 11th, his second best performance at the major event.

The final World Cup event before the 2025 World Championships has taken place in Falun, Sweden, featuring events in sprint (Classic), 10km Interval Start Classic and 20km Mass Start Free.
 
The highlight was recent U23 World Championship medallist Rosie Fordham achieving her best World Cup result in the 20km Mass Start Free distance, finishing 35th.
 
Seve De Campo was the highest placed Australian male in all three events, finishing 69th in the sprint, 70th 10km and 66th 20km.
 
Next up is the 2025 FIS Cross Country World Championships, on February 26 to March 9 in Trondheim, Norway.
 
Result Summary

Women’s Sprint Classic
Tuva Bygrave – 53rd
Phoebe Cridland – 54th
Ellen Soehol Lie – 55th

Men’s Sprint Classic
Seve De Campo – 69th
Phillip Bellingham – 71st
Fedele De Campo – 75th
 
Women’s 10km Interval Start Classic
Rosie Fordham – 54th
Phoebe Cridland – 56th
Ellen Soehol Lie – 57th
Tuva Bygrave – 58th

Men’s 10km Interval Start Free
Seve De Campo – 70th
Phillip Bellingham – 75th
Bentely Walker-Broose – 84th
Fedele De Campo – 87th

Women’s 20km Mass Start Free
Rosie Fordham – 35th
Phoebe Cridland – 44th
Tuva Bygrave – 47th

Men’s 20km Mass Start Free
Seve De Campo – 66th
Phillip Bellingham – 69th
Bentely Walker-Broose – 74th
Fedele De Campo – DNF

2022 Olympic curlers Tahli Gill (QAS) and Dean Hewitt (VIS) have had a successful week competing in Europe, with a gold medal at the Stadler Mixed Doubles International in Switzerland and reaching the quarter-finals of the Tallinn Masters Mixed Doubles in Estonia.
 
Stadler Mixed Doubles International
 
Competing in the Swiss capital of Bern against five international teams, Gill and Hewitt dominated the round robin opening stage going undefeated with five wins.

Defeated Zoetermeer/Hoekman (NED) 7 to 4
Defeated Perret/Rios (SUI) 7 to 1
Defeated Abbes/Harsch (GER) 8 to 7
Defeated Schwaller/Schwaller (SUI) 8 to 3
Defeated Tiuliakova/Totzek (GER) 8 to 5
 
With the best record, Gill and Hewitt went straight to the gold medal match and faced Swiss pair Schwaller and Schwaller, taking victory 6 to 2.
 
Tallinn Masters Mixed Doubles
 
The pair made a strong start to the event in the round robin stage, winning Pool B with victory in four of the five games.

Pool B Results
Defeated Schoell/Sutor (GER) 9 to 8
Lost to Perret/Rios (SUI) 7 to 4
Defeated Holtermann/Holtermann (DEN) 9 to 2
Defeated Barone/Nikolov (LAT/UKR) 7 to 4
Defeated Immonen/Sipila (FIN) 9 to 4
 
In the quarter finals, Gill and Hewitt were match up against Engler and Wunderlin of Switzerland, the Swiss team won 8 to 5, giving the Australian’s a final ranking of fifth.
 
Victory went to Norwegians Skaslien and Nedregotten over local Estonian team Kaldvee and Lill 8 to 7.
 
Hewitt reflected on a successful week.
 
“It was a big week of games for us with two back-to-back events in Switzerland and Estonia.
 
“We kickstarted the week at the Stadler Mixed Doubles International. We had a great event, finishing undefeated in the round robin and securing the gold in the final!
 
“After a quick one-day turnaround we started the next event in Tallinn where we completed the round robin at 4W:1L and ranked 2nd in the field of 18 leading into playoffs. Unfortunately, we came up just short in the quarterfinal, narrowly going down in the extra end on some challenging ice conditions.
 
“Although we didn’t quite reach our goal in Tallinn, we’re happy to have achieved 10 wins and just 2 losses for the week.
 
“We now head back to the AIS European Training Centre in Italy for a week of off-ice training before our last event of the European leg the following week.”
 
The final event in Europe for Gill and Hewitt will be the Hvidovre Mixed Doubles Cup in Denmark on February 28 to March 2, before the pair return to Canada to finishing the international season.

Brendan Corey has finished 10th in the final World Cup event of the season in Milano, Italy, which also doubled as the Milano 2026 Olympic Test Event. Corey advanced to the B-Final in the 1500m, ultimately securing a 10th place ranking for the World Cup season in this distance.
 
Corey was joined by two other Australian Ice Racing skaters Lucas Wareham and Hyo Jin Kim competing in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m individual distances at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
 
In the 500m Corey made it through to the repechage quarterfinals finishing 40th, but in the 1000m he received a penalty in the quarterfinals resulting in a ranking of 22nd.
 
Corey continued his strong form in the 1500m, finishing second in his opening quarter final to advance through to the semifinals. In his semi-final, Corey crossed the fine in fourth out of a field of seven, placing him in the B-Final.
 
In the B-Final, Corey was in third place, and a final ranking of 10th.
 
“I am extremely happy with that result, that’s my fourth top-10 finish this season, I would say it’s a huge improvement over the last year and much more consistent,” said the 2022 Olympian.
 
“In the semi-final I had a plan going into it, I just wanted to stay near the front of the group, I executed my plan pretty well and that set me up in a good position to qualify for the B-Final and I had a similar strategy in the final race. When things get crazy, I try to stay calm and collected, so to take home a 10th place I am happy.
 
“Sometimes other countries who have multiple skaters in the same race they help each other, but the best thing I can do is try to split them up, as once they are up the front working together it gets difficult to pass them both.
 
“The facility here was great, I have had good results so far, I will be happy to come back here to Milan, it will be a good atmosphere here for sure.”
 
Fellow Australian Wareham placed 31st in the 500m, 60th in the 1000m and 58th in the 1500m and in the women’s event Kim was 45th in the 500m, 32nd in the 1000m and 23rd in the 1500m.
 
The ISU Short Track Speed Skating season will conclude with the World Championships, t in Beijing, China, on March 14-16. 

Alex Ferlazzo has achieved his best result of the season in the penultimate World Cup race of the season on the 2018 Olympic track in PyeongChang, Korea, finishing ninth.
 
The three-time Olympian secured his place to the main World Cup field after finishing in fourth in the Nation’s Cup qualifying event.
 
In the first run of the World Cup, Ferlazzo had the ninth fastest time in 48.090 seconds, and in the second run he again was ninth best n 48.139 seconds.
 
His combined time was the ninth best in 1:36.229, his best finish of the 2024-2025 season and one place higher than his previous best World Cup result of eighth from last season in Sigulda, Latvia.
 
“It’s the first time I’ve been back here since the 2018 games and it’s been interesting, I’m reliving those games again with new eyes, it’s refreshing,” said the QAS slider from Townsville.
 
“Ninth today means a lot to me, finally breaking that top-10 barrier again this season has done my confidence a world of good.”
 
Taking the win was Austrian Wolfgang Kindl 0.087 seconds ahead of Ferlazzo in a combined time of 1:25.422. Italian Dominik Fischnaller finished second with Latvian Kristers Aparjods in third.
 
The final World Cup will take place next weekend on the 2022 Olympic track in Yanqing, China, on February 23, Ferlazzo is ranked 17th on the standings.

Bree Walker has finished the monobob World Cup season in spectacular fashion, winning back-to-back races on the Lillehammer track over the past seven days, and earning her a second place ranking on the final IBSF Monobob World Cup standings for the second consecutive year.
 
The QAS bobsleigh pilot made an impressive start on the 1994 Olympic track in Norway, setting the second fastest push time. This speed at the top together and her driving skills combined to set a new track record, winning the first run in 54.01 seconds, 0.09 second ahead of Canadian Cynthia Appiah.
 
In the final run with the track slowing down, Walker had the last run of the event and was able to maintain her lead with the fourth fastest time in 54.56 seconds, and a combined time of 1:48.51, in first place ahead of Appiah by 0.15, and German Lisa Buckwitz 0.16 behind in third place.
 
The 2022 Olympian now has three World Cup monobob victories and 13 career podiums.
 
“Super happy to go back-to-back here in Lillehammer” said the 32-year-old from Queensland.
 
“It’s a really fun track, I enjoy driving it and so today it was about going out there and executing two clean runs and stoked to come away with the win again.
 
“Feels so great to secure the second place Crystal Globe again, a big goal was to win a crystal globe again, so really happy that my consistency throughout the year has paid off.”
 
Also in action for Australia was fellow Queenslander Sarah Blizzard in 15th place.
 
On the final World Cup standings, Walker is ranked second in the world for the second straight year on 1596 points, trailing Buckwitz by 41, who again won the title. Third on the standings was another German, Laura Nolte on 1555. Sarah Blizzard finished 21st on 523 points.
 
In the two-woman competition, Sarah Blizzard and brakewoman Ashley Werner finished in a personal best finish of 13th. Walker and her brakewoman Kiara Reddingius elected to skip the final two-woman race.
 
The bobsleigh world will now travel to the USA for the mid-March World Championships in Lake Placid, New York. The monobob competition is on March 8-9, and the two-woman event scheduled for March 15-16.

The fifth ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup event of the season took place over the weekend in Tilburg, Netherlands, where Brendan Corey recorded a top-10 B-Final performance in the 1500m.
 
Corey along with Australian Ice Racing teammates Lucas Wareham and Hyo Jin Kim competed in all three individual distances, the 500m, 1000m and 1500m.
 
In the 500m and 1000m, Corey made it through to the repechage semifinals, placing 24th and 22nd.
 
Corey performed well in the 1500m, finishing second in his opening heat to advance through to the semifinals. In the semi-final, Corey crossed the fine in fourth out of a field of eight, placing him in the B-Final.
 
In the B-Final, Corey crossed the finish line in second place, and a final ranking of ninth.
 
Wareham placed 48th in the 500m, 54th in the 1000m and 30th in the 1500m.
 
In the women’s event Kim was 34th in the 500m, 29th in the 1000m and 27th in the 1500m.
 
The final Short Track Speed Skating World Cup of the season will take place in Milano, Italy, on February 14-16, which will also double as a test event for the Milano-Cortina games in February 2026.

The Australian Team in the Netherlands
© Australian Ice Racing

In the history of international cross country skiing, no Australian athlete had ever finished on a major international podium.
 
Until now.
 
Rosie Fordham has written herself into Australian snowsports folklore with a second place finish at the U23 World Championships, taking the silver medal in the 10km Interval Start Free at Schilpario, Italy.
 
Starting 20th out of 74 athletes, Fordham was not one of the 15 seeded athletes but it was clear early on that something special was in the air.
 
As she passed the first interval at 3.33km, Fordham took 23 second lead over USA's Kendall Kramer, however as the seeded athletes continued to take their timechecks, the Australian remained on top.
 
It was not until Germany's Helen Hoffman - who started 12.5 minutes after Fordham - passed the first interval that Fordham was pushed into second place, just four seconds adrift.
 
Less than a minute after Hoffman took the provisional lead, Fordham passed the 6.67km checkpoint and was again in front, this time holding a 37 second advantage over Kramer.
 
Once again, higher-ranked athletes continued to pass the checkpoint but no one could surpass Fordham except for Hoffman who extended her advantage to 14 seconds.
 
Buoyed by support around the course and knowing she was having a career-best day, Fordham maintained the push through to the finish, stopping the clock at 33:02.1, 35 seconds clear at the front of the field.
Canada's Liliane Gagnon was nine seconds behind Fordham at the second interval, however when she crossed the line 12 seconds behind the Australian, a podium was all but confirmed. No one else bettered Fordham's time until Hoffman stormed up to victory, however it mattered little for the 22-year-old, for whom silver was tasted as sweet as gold.
 
"Oh my goodness, I can't believe that just happened," exclaimed Fordham post-race. "I was hoping for a top 10 on a good day and I was hearing the splits and I was like 'no way!' I can't believe it.
 
Fordham credited her performance to adherance to a game plan to start strong and see how long she could maintain the pace with the front-runners.
 
"I just went out hard, I always go out hard. This course was for me; it was big uphills it was terrible conditions, it was slow and that's what I love - just grinding hard out there."
 
The result was a big jump from Fordham's 40th place in the 10km Classic at the 2024 U23 World Championships in Slovenia, however there have been signs of her improvement at the highest level.
 
While Fordham only made her first World Cup appearances 12 months ago in Switzerland and the USA, she has featured in five World Cups already this season already scored three top 40 results in 10km races.
 
The World Cup season continues throughout February and March with stops in Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Finland, however the biggest competition of the 24/25 campaign will be the World Championships in Trondheim, Norway from 26 February to 9 March. 
 
Article Courtesy of Snow Australia

IMAGE by Tom Hoogenraad

Three time Olympian Alex Ferlazzo has finished in 11th place at the 2025 FIL World Championships in Whistler, Canada, his best performance of this season.
 
The result is also the second best World Championship finish of his career, after Ferlazzo placed an incredible fifth last year in Germany.

Ferlazzo started well on the 2010 Olympic track, placing second in the preliminary  event to determine seeding for the main competition.
 
In the main event, Ferlazzo opened with the 11th fastest run in a time of 50.406 seconds.
 
Ferlazzo again had the 11th fastest final run, improving his time to finish in 50.260, giving him a combined time of 1:40.666 and final ranking of 11th.
 
Finishing 0.744 seconds ahead of Ferlazzo in first place was German Max Langenham, Felix Loch also of Germany was second and Austrian Nico Gleirscher was third.

Ferlazzo reflected on his performance after the race.

“Finishing 11th in Whistler isn’t too bad. I can’t be unhappy putting down two decent runs and landing where I did. It was special having my family and friends there to cheer me on.
 
“All training sessions on the ice was far harder, making it more of a home track advantage but it warmed up on race day making it much more drivable for the Europeans.
 
“There’s s more Worlds Cups left this season taking us to Korea and China. It’s been a while since anyone has slid either of these tracks so it should be a very interesting end of the season!”

The luge season is set to wrap up with two World Cup events in Asia on the 2018 and 2022 Olympic tracks. The first event will take place on February 15 in Pyeongchang, Korea, then the season will then culminate on February 23 in Yanqing, China.

QAS bobsleigh pilot Bree Walker has secured her first World Cup victory of the season and second of her career, with an impressive win in Lillehammer, Norway, sharing the gold medal with American Kaysha Love in a dead heat, the first tie in monobob World Cup history.
 
Walker opened with a time of 54.56 seconds in the first heat, recording the second fastest time of the round, trailing 2022 Olympic champion Laura Nolte of Germany by only 0.01 seconds.
 
In the final run, Walker again posted the second fastest time in 54.58 seconds, giving her a combined time of 1:49.14, to equal American Kaysha Love. Nolte, the last competitor down the 1994 Olympic track, was unable to surpass Walker and Love, slipping 0.07 seconds behind in third place.
 
The 2022 Olympian now has 11 career monobob World Cup podiums.
 
“Really happy to be able to secure my first win of the season after being so close a few times” said the 32-year-old from Queensland.
 
“I really love sliding here, I was feeling really good coming into this race, but I knew it would be a very competitive race as always, so I just went out there and focused on pushing really fast and driving well and was able to come away with the win so very happy with that.”
 
“Lillehammer is a special place for me, I came away with my first career bobsleigh medals in European Cup races in the 2018-2019 season, and to also secure my second World Cup medal on this track after a silver last season, I really love the track and I enjoy sliding here.
 
“We are going into tomorrow’s two-woman race with the same expectations I had today, to push hard and put down two consistent drives, and see what the results are on the other side.”
 
Fellow QAS pilot Sarah Blizzard finished in 22nd place.
 
The win sees Walker move back into second place on the monobob World Cup standings on 1371 points, trailing Lisa Buckwitz of Germany on 1437 points, with Nolte third on 1371.
 
Crash for Walker & Reddingius in two-woman
 
In the two-woman event, unfortunately 2022 Olympians Bree Walker and brakewoman Kiara Reddingius suffer a bad crash near the end of the track, sliding the last section to the finish line on their side.

The Australia number one sled was fifth fastest off the start and was placed top 10 by the intermediate times just before crashing on the lower track. 
 
The fall resulted in the pair finishing in 21st place and missing the top-20 cut for the second run.
 
Sarah Blizzard and Ashley Werner were also in action for Australia finishing in 20th.
 
The final monobob and two-woman World Cup race of the season is scheduled on the same track in Norway next weekend on February 15-16.

The Cross Country Skiing World Cup tour was in Cogne, Italy, over the weekend, with Australian athletes competing in the team sprint, individual sprint and 10km interval start free events.
 
In the team sprint events, the Australia 1 men’s team of Hugo Hinckfuss and Lars Young Vik did well, finishing in 22nd place from a field of 34 teams, and the women’s team of Rosie Fordham and Tuva Bygrave were 19th from a field of 21.
 
Rosie Fordham the highest place individual finisher in 37th in the women’s 10km interval start free.
 
Fordham and Hinckfuss will remain in Italy for the Under 23 World Championships, taking place in Schilpario from February 3 to 9.
 
Result Summary
 
Women’s Team Sprint Classic
Rosie Fordham/Tuva Bygrave – 19th
 
Men’s Team Sprint Classic
Hugo Hinckfuss/Lars Young Vik – 22nd
Bentley Walker-Broose/Fedele De Campo 31st
 
Women’s Sprint Classic
Tuva Bygrave – 55th
Phoebe Cridland – 56th
 
Men’s Sprint Classic
Lars Young Vik – 48th
Hugo Hinckfuss – 57th
Fedele De Campo – 81st
 
Women’s 10km Interval Start Free
Rosie Fordham – 37th
Tuva Bygrave – 39th
Phoebe Cridland – 52nd
 
Men’s 10km Interval Start Free
Hugo Hinckfuss – 44th
Lars Young Vik – 68th
Bentley Walker-Broose – 73rd
Fedele De Campo – 78th