Jacqui Cowderoy was introduced to skiing by her parents when she was just five, along with her sister. “I loved it,” remembers Cowderoy, “Every skiing holiday to Thredbo I would stay on the mountain all day in any conditions, sometimes skiing alone because the weather was so bad.”

Cowderoy joined the Thredbo Ski Racing Club at the age of nine. She trained every weekend and school holidays with the club and began travelling overseas to train and race by the time she was 11. She then went on to be a member of the Australian Ski Team for 13 years, competing in Australia and Europe on the FIS, Europa Cup and World Cup circuit – that’s 26 winters of consecutive ski racing.  

Cowderoy attributes much of her success to the family environment of the Thredbo Ski Racing Club and the support of the people in her home town of Ulladulla, on the NSW South Coast. Their training support and fundraising were instrumental to help Jacqui chasing her goal of making the Australian Olympic team. But Cowderoy also highlights her father’s dedication as a crucial component of her success: “My father was the greatest support to me during my racing career. Always offering gentle encouragement and dedicating his time and finances,” says Cowderoy.

Cowderoy’s career breakthrough season was 1979, her final year of school and the Olympic selection year. She somehow benefited from the additional pressure of having to balance her HSC studies and training, and produced a fantastic racing season which brought her the Australian Championships title and ultimately led to her Olympic selection for the Lake Placid 1980 Olympic Winter Games. Cowderoy was initially the only female Alpine skier selected along with Kim Clifford, Antony Guss and Robbie McIntyre. She was later joined by Jenny Altermatt, who replaced the injured Kim Clifford.

Cowderoy still remembers when Snow Australia Medal recipient Malcom Milne sent her a message of support after the Olympic selection. Although the two had not met before, Milne wanted to offer his support and prepare Cowderoy for the pressure she would encounter in the lead up to the Games. Words of wisdom which were much appreciated by a young Olympian who was just about to embark on the most amazing experience of her life. “Malcom’s achievements are incredible and his story was inspirational. He is a true champion and was a role model to me,” says Cowderoy.

At Lake Placid, Cowderoy placed 17th in the Slalom and was disqualified in the Giant Slalom. 

After her racing career, Cowderoy obtained a bachelor of Physical and Health Education and started coaching. Her new career gave her the opportunity to meet another one of her role models, Heather Minty, who was a ski racer and Australian champion in the late ‘60s and ‘70s. “I was on the mountain coaching young ski racers when I ran into Heather. She was impressed with the team of racers I was coaching and the modern equipment we were using. I was happy to have impressed her, after all those years she impressed me.

Watching her train and race was an inspiration.” Cowderoy was also very proud to watch two of the children she had coached, Jeanette Korten and Brad Wall, compete at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Usa. 

In 1998 she began a new career as a flight attendant with Qantas, a career she has now loved for 32 years, still wearing a uniform and representing her country. She continues skiing all over the world, in her time off and while working.