Welcome Home Josie Baff

Jindabyne’s Winter Olympic Gold Medallist, Josie Baff, was greeted with a hero’s welcome home in grand style on Easter Sunday, with a large crowd attending Banjo Paterson Park to acknowledge her achievement.

Baff won the snowboard cross gold medal in Italy in February, and due to other World Cup commitments, only arrived home this past weekend.

With sirens blazing, Baff arrived in style in the Jindabyne Fire & Rescue 328 truck, then walked along the lake foreshore path to the Strzelecki monument, where the crowd were raucous with applause.

With the Lake Light Sculpture festival as the backdrop, two-time Olympian Manuela Berchtold introduced the town’s first Winter Olympic gold medallist.

Baff was then interviewed by emcee Steve Cooper, who thoroughly entertained the crowd with his deep dive into Josie Baff's life.

“It’s very, very cool, I feel very welcomed home,” said Baff, answering a wide range of questions.

“Thank you for watching, thank you for cheering and keep on watching boardercross, please. We know everyone loves it and it’s very highly watched sport, particularly at the Olympics, because it’s so simple. First one to the bottom is the winner. And the more people watching, the better it is for us, and it’s also way more fun to share this with everyone.”

“Thank you everyone for coming.”

The Dream

Baff said when she tried boardercross, she knew it was a sport she could pursue for the future. She made history as Australia’s first-ever Winter Youth Olympic Games Champion, winning gold in the snowboard cross at Lausanne 2020.

“At the Youth Olympics, I guess, I realised what’s possible. That’s when it became a realistic dream,” said Baff, about her ambitions to win gold at the Winter Olympics.

Commenting on now holding both the youth and Olympic gold medals, she said, “I think they are going to like their journey together.”

The Future

With a month off from training, she is excited to participate in other activities she never had the energy for while training.

“I like to go rock climbing, been to pickleball, the local pickleball, very fun and addictive.”

“Just kind of enjoying the small things, we are playing a lot of golf. My boyfriend loves, loves, loves golf. We’ve been doing that the last few days we’ve been home too. Just a bunch of activities that I normally don’t have the energy and time to be doing.”

At the next Winter Olympics in France, Baff will be 27 and still has several games beyond the French games. When pressed on her future and a four-year cycle centred on the Winter Olympics, Baff said she would “take the learnings of the last four years and get even better”.

“The level of our sport is improving very quickly and rapidly, and I would like to be at the forefront of developing those skills. I think we are trending in that direction.”

When asked what age she could still compete, she said that at 35 she wouldn’t be too old, noting that the American athlete Lindsey Jacobellis won gold at 36. 

“So we’ll be seeing how long I can go for as long as I’m enjoying it, I will keep on going.”

Jindabyne has three other Winter Olympians, Adam Lambert and sisters Abbey and Charlotte Wilson, who were still overseas and unable to attend the welcome home. Another Jindabyne event is expected in winter when they are all present.