Legendary Australian snowboarder Torah Bright has been officially inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, with the Olympic gold and silver medallist cementing her legacy in the nation’s sporting history.
 
The announcement was made at the annual gala in Melbourne on November 17 2025, where Bright joined six other sporting greats, including Lleyton Hewitt, Jason Dunstall, Laura Geitz, Cameron Smith, Mark Schwarzer, and sports medicine pioneer Dr Peter Harcourt.
 
Born and raised in Cooma, at the foot of the NSW Snowy Mountains, she began skiing at an early age before transitioning to snowboarding at 11. Bright made her Olympic debut at 19 during the 2006 Turin Games, finishing fifth in the halfpipe, just one point shy of the podium.
 
Her competitive excellence continued at the prestigious Winter X-Games in Aspen, USA, with gold medals in 2007 and 2009, and silver medals in 2006 and 2008.
 
Her defining moment arrived at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. After carrying Australia’s flag at the Opening Ceremony, Bright faced injury concerns heading into the halfpipe final. Rising to the occasion with remarkable determination, she delivered a magnificent performance to claim the gold medal, a victory that transformed both her life and snowboarding’s status in Australia.
 
At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Bright made history as the first female athlete to compete in three snowboarding events: halfpipe, slopestyle and snowboard cross. Her silver medal in the halfpipe secured her position as Australia’s most successful Winter Olympian.
 
“I hope my legacy shows that no dream is too big! I want the next generation of snowboarders and athletes in general to truly believe in themselves. Belief, real, unwavering belief in yourself, your vision and what’s possible, isn’t something you’re just born with. It’s a skill. Like a muscle it has to be built, stretched and strengthened every day. People often point to talent or genetics as the key to success. But in my experience, belief is the foundation. It’s the silent force that carries you through every challenge.
 
“Sport has taught me everything. Those early days skiing with my family built the foundation – connection, freedom and fun. Sport gave me confidence in who I am beyond results. It taught me discipline, self-awareness, and the importance of creating an environment that supports who you truly are. It taught me to believe in myself and in what’s possible. It also taught me resilience: to feel pain, but still choose hope. To trust the unknown. Most importantly, I’ve learned that it’s all a game. Perspective shapes our experience. Mindset and leading with heart is something I carry into every area of my life now.”

Australia's Holly Crawford and Nate Johnstone have finished seventh and tenth in the final Halfpipe World Cup prior to PyeongChang 2018.

Competing in Laax, Switzerland, Crawford put down a best score of 46.50 on her second of two runs in the 8-woman final.
 
Crawford's teammate and fellow three-time Olympian Torah Bright progressed through to the final earlier in the week but did not start leaving her in eighth place overall. 

China dominated the competition with Jiayu Lu claiming top spot with a score of 96.25, beating compatriot Xuetong Cai and Spaniard Queralt Castellet.

In the men's event Johnstone put down a best run of 46.00 to end the event in tenth as he builds towards competing at his second Olympic Games in PyeongChang. 

Sochi 2014 gold medallist Iouri Podladtchikov impressed on home soil taking out the victory with a score 90.50 ahead of Yuto Totsuka of Japan and China's Yiwei Zhang.

The event did not feature a number of highly ranked athletes from the USA who had their final selection event at Mammoth Moutain in Colorado. 

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au

Some of Australia’s top snowboarders will drop into the halfpipe in Laax, Switzerland in this year’s second World Cup and final PyeongChang qualifier.
 
Among those competing at the Swiss resort include Holly Crawford, Torah Bright and Sochi Olympian Nate Johnstone, who is hoping for “redemption” after Snowmass “didn’t go to plan for me at all”.
 
Johnstone finished in 36th place with a best score of 19.00 last week, missing out on Saturday’s 10-man final after he “couldn’t manage to put one [run] down in either of my competition runs”.
 
“I just want to put down a solid run and build on that through the event,” he said.
 
“Training has been good, we had a great first day of training but the snow has rolled in hard and put a handbrake on the event for the time being.”
 
Crawford, Bright and Emily Arthur finished within the top 15 of last week’s Halfpipe World Cup but were unable to secure spots in the eight-woman finals.
 
Crawford, a three-time Olympian, finished in 14th place with a best score of 56.75 while Torah Bright wasn’t far behind, placing 15th with a best score of 55.75.
 
Bright, who like Crawford is hoping to compete in her fourth Winter Olympics, recently stepped up to the podium twice during the North-American Cup circuit in December after making a stunning return to the Snowboard Halfpipe competition.
 
Arthur, who competed in Snowmass after securing her best ever World Cup result at China’s Secret Garden in December, finished in 12th place with a best score of 60.25.
 
With PyeongChang looming, the 18-year-old has elected to remain at her “home mountain” of Mammoth, California while she tests some new tricks on airbags.
 
“It really helps with fear, because you literally have nothing to lose when you try a trick, so it definitely helps me get tricks much quicker,” she said.
 
“My coach and I thought it would be good to compete here and get some extra training in and not worry about travelling so close to the Olympics.”
 
Fellow Halfpipe riders Kent Callister and Scotty James will also remain in the U.S. and compete alongside Arthur at the Mammoth Grand Prix in California.
 
In last week’s World Cup final, described by commentators as the “most impressive event in the history of snowboarding”, James claimed silver with a best score of 96.25.
 
“Australia, more now than ever in my career, I can really feel the energy and the camaraderie coming from them and I really appreciate it,” the 23-year-old said following the event.
 
With snow showers and low visibility on the forecast for Laax, Wednesday’s qualification runs were put on hold with event organisers hoping that a window will open on Thursday for combined qualifiers and semi-finals.
 
“But with more snow on the forecast, we’ll see what tomorrow brings,” Johnstone said.
 
“Otherwise, everything is good and it’s great being back in Laax!”
 
For live updates from Laax click HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.
 
David Barden
OWIA

Three-time Olympian Torah Bright has made a successful return to Snowboard Halfpipe competition with two podium finishes on the North-American Cup circuit this week.

In her first event since the 2015 World Championships, Bright won gold with a strong score of 93.50 at the Copper Mountain Nor-Am Cup on Wednesday, and backed up that result with a second place finish at the second event this morning.

The 2010 Olympic Champion has made her intentions clear with Ski and Snowboard Australia that she is aiming to qualify for a fourth Winter Olympic Games at PyeongChang 2018.

The 30-year-old is Australia’s joint most successful Winter Olympian, a title she shares with two-time Olympic medallist mogul skier Dale Begg-Smith.

After placing fifth at her debut Games at Torino 2006, the Cooma-born snowboarder who carried the Australian flag during the 2010 Opening Ceremony, won gold at the Vancouver Games.

Four years later she became the first competitor to compete in three Snowboard events at the same Games, taking on the Slopestyle and Snowboard Cross in addition to the Halfpipe.

At the age of 27, Bright went one better than just making her mark in the history books. After finishing seventh in the Snowboard Slopestyle on Day 2 of the Games, she produced a blistering performance in the Halfpipe on Day 5 to earn the silver medal, before going on to finish equal 18th in the Snowboard Cross, proving she was the most versatile snowboarder at the Games.

Prior to this week, the only major competition Bright has contested Since Sochi is the Kreischberg 2015 World Championships where she placed 6th in the Halfpipe.

If she qualifies for the PyeongChang 2018 Games, Bright will join Colin Coates, Jacqui Cooper, Lydia Lassila and Adrian Costa in the elite group of Australian Olympians who have contested four or more Winter Olympic Games. 

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

OWIA/Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) snowboarder Scotty James has finished third in the Men’s Super Pipe Final at the X-Games in Aspen, Colorado, USA.

The 2015 World Champion, competing in his fourth X-Games, put in an impressive performance in his first run.

With a huge crowd looking on, the sole Australian in the field had an average jump height of 14ft 10 inches, that impressed the judges and spectators.

James narrowly missed second spot by just two points, which was taken by Ben Ferguson of the United States, with Matt Ladley, also of the United States winning gold.

Unfortunately dual Olympic medallist and OWIA/NSWIS supported athlete Torah Bright was unable to compete after suffering a concussion.

Image: Scotty James at X-Games Photo: © Peter Morning Photography

Dual Olympic medallist and OWIA/NSWIS supported athlete Torah Bright has finished second at the Halfpipe event at the Laax Open in Switzerland.

Bright advanced to the final after winning her semi-final with a score of 87.00.

In the final, Arielle Gold of the United States put in a great performance, scoring 90.12, with Bright scoring 84.12 and third place went to Hikaru Oe of Japan.

Fellow OWIA athletes Scotty James and Kent Callister, as well as NSWIS athlete Matthew Cox, both reached the semi-final stage in the men’s event.

Image: The top-3 women in Laax © Torah Bright Instagram

Good luck tonight to OWIA athletes Torah Bright, Scotty James, Kent Callister and NSWIS athlete Matthew Cox who will all be competing in the semi-finals of the Halfpipe at the Laax Open in Switzerland.

As seeded athletes, Dual Olympic Medalist Bright, World Champion James, and Olympic Finalist Callister, automatically qualified for the semis.

Matthew Cox finished an impressive third in his qualifying heat to also progress and will join James in the second semi final heat.

The top-6 from each of the men’s heats will make the 12 in the final. Bright will need to finish in the top 6 to qualify for the ladies final.

Being an open event, the Laax open offers all riders an opportunity to participate in this international contest.

The event runs from 18th to 24th January.

IMAGE: Kent Callister flying high in Laax © Kent Callister Instagram