Sonnpark is an alpine training centre and base set up in Axams, near Innsbruck, Austria. It started in 1993 as a joint venture between the Australian and Austrian Olympic Committees for both summer and winter sports. [1] Colin Hickey said about Sonnpark "Yeah. It's great ... With that sort of back-up, we'd have given [the Europeans] a run for their money." [1] Australia sold the base in 2002. [2]
Steven John BradburyOAM is an Australian former short track speed skater and four-time Olympian. He won the 1,000 m event at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He was the first athlete from Australia and also the Southern Hemisphere to win a Winter Olympic gold medal, and he was also part of the short track relay team that won Australia's first Winter Olympic medal, a bronze in 1994.
Australia first competed in the Winter Olympic Games in 1936 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and has participated in every games since, with the exception of the 1948 Games in St. Moritz.
Australia competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
Kieran Hansen is an Australian short track speed skater who competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics, in the 1994 Winter Olympics, and in the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Andrew Murtha is an Australian short track speed skater who competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics and in the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Richard Nizielski is an Australian short track speed skater who competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics, in the 1994 Winter Olympics, and in the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Gweneth Molony is an Australian figure skater. She is the 1949–1951 Australian national champion. She represented Australia at the 1952 Winter Olympics, where she placed 21st. She and Nancy Burley were the first ladies singles skaters to represent Australia at the Olympics. Molony also competed in pair skating; she is the 1949 Australian national champion with partner Adrian Swan. In 2020 at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, she was recognised as Australia's first female Winter Olympian. She was presented with her Olympian certificate, and became the earliest Olympian to sign the athletes wall at the new IOC headquarters.
Joanne Henke is a former Australian alpine skier who represented Australia at the 1976 Winter Olympics. She is the daughter of former ice hockey player and Australian winter sports administrator Geoff Henke and 1952 figure skating Olympian Gweneth Molony.
Zeke Steggall is a former Australian Olympic snowboarder. He competed at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics. His sister Zali Steggall was an alpine skier and Australia's first individual Olympic medalist. Steggall came 28th out of 34 in 1998 and 26th out of 32 in 2002 in the parallel giant slalom.
Geoffrey "Geoff" John Henke, AO is a former Australian ice hockey player and Australian Olympic Committee official. He was the chef de mission of the Australian Winter Olympic delegations from 1976 until 1994, and is credited with ending the neglect of winter sports in Australia.
Ian Andrew Chesterman is an Australian sports administrator serving as the current President of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), succeeding John Coates. He previously served as a Vice President of the AOC, and the Chef de Mission of the Australian Team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
John Kah is an Australian former short track speed skater, who represented Australia at the 1992 Winter Olympics in the relay team.
Peter Wenzel is a former Australian alpine skier who competed at the 1964 Winter Olympics. He was a reserve and was called in to compete after Ross Milne died in a training accident soon before the games. He came 68th out of 77 competitors in the slalom and was 68th out of 80 in the giant slalom.
Robert George Chisholm was an Australian sports administrator. He was the manager of the Australian teams that competed at the 1952 and 1956 Winter Olympics.
Mervyn John Bower was an Australian pair skater who competed at the 1956 and 1960 Winter Olympics in a pairing with Jacqueline Mason. In 1956 they failed to take to the ice after Bower was injured. In 1960, they placed 12th out of 13 duos.
Jacqueline "Jackie" Mason Kendall-Baker was an Australian pair skater who competed at the 1956 and 1960 Winter Olympics in a pairing with Mervyn Bower. In 1956, they failed to take to the ice after Bower was injured. In 1960, they placed twelfth out of thirteen duos. In 1979 she was a judge in the World Figure Skating Championships in Vienna; in 1980 Mason was a judge in the Winter Olympics.
The Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) is an Olympic & federal government-funded elite sports training institution of Australia for the purpose of training athletes and coaches in sports involved in the Winter Olympics.
Henry Alfred Gordon, was an Australian journalist, war correspondent, author, and historian of the Olympic Games. During his journalistic career, he served as editor of The Sun News-Pictorial, and editor-in-chief of The Herald and Weekly Times and Queensland Newspapers. From 1992 to 2015, he was the official historian of the Australian Olympic Committee.
Majella Brown is an Australian female volleyball player. She was part of the Australia women's national volleyball team.
Janni Bach is a Danish-born, former Australian female handball player.