Josie Baff Wins Gold Medal for Snowboarding Cross Big Final at Olympics 2026

Josie Baff became the first Australian woman to medal in the women's snowboard cross with her gold-medal performance on Friday.

Baff was in front for a majority of the race, but she had to fend off a late challenge from Czechia's Eva Adamcyzkova.

Italy's Michela Moioli, the 2018 gold medalist, added to Italy's medal haul with a bronze.

Women's Snowboard Cross Final Results

1. Josie Baff (Australia)
2. Eva Adamcyzkova (Czechia)
3. Michela Moioli (Italy)
4. Noemie Wiedmer (Switzerland)

Josie Baff was an unlikely gold medal winner based on where she started the day.

The Australian qualified for the knockout races in 17th place. The other three finalists all had top-six times in the preliminary round.

Baff then won her round-of-16 race, took second in her quarterfinal heat and won her semifinal heat.

The last two of those races also featured Eva Adamczykova, so both racers had a good chance to feel out how the other would approach the course.

Baff took an edge over Adamczykova in the final and held off the Czechia athlete despite a final push near the finish line.

Italy's Michela Moioli couldn't win another gold for the host nation. Moioli was racing from behind the leaders for most of the race and ended up with the bronze medal ahead of Switzerland's Noemie Wiedmer.

Baff's victory was the first ever for an Australian woman in snowboard cross. She earned the second-ever Australian medal in the men's or women's snowboard cross.

The gold was the second of the Milan Cortina Games for Australia. Cooper Watts won the men's freestyle skiing moguls.

Moioli's bronze helped Italy in its race to beat out Norway for the most overall medals. Italy now has 18 medals compared to Norway's 16.