World Rookie Tour winner Daisy Thomas thrilled to make FIS World Cup debut

Few athletes will be more excited than 16-year-old Aussie hopeful Daisy Thomas when the FIS Park & Pipe World Cup events get underway this weekend at Copper Mountain, Colorado. 

The up-and-coming freeskier is expected to make her World Cup debut at one of the most prestigious resorts on the circuit, competing in the Freeski Big Air on Thursday 14 December (local time). 

“I am pretty excited to emerge on the big stage for the first time,” confirmed Thomas. “I’m excited to see some friends I’ve met along the way, but also really perform my best. 
“I’ll be under pressure, but hopefully I’ll whip out the big tricks and stomp them!”

The first World Cup start of Thomas’ career caps a season punctuated by good performances, including two seventh-place finishes in Big Air and Slopestyle at the recent FIS Junior World Ski Championships and a bunch of top-10 results across Nor-Am, Europa Cup and ANC competitions. 

Last season’s World Rookie Tour winner credits her breakthrough to a lot of hard work and the opportunity to spend time training on the airbag at the National Snowsport Training Centre (NSTC) in Jindabyne, trying new tricks in a comfortable setting. She is now looking forward to seeing all her hard work put to the test in a World Cup environment.

“My preparations have been really good, spending a lot of time in the gym, doing a lot of cardio, working on my coach to fine-tune my tricks so it becomes muscle memory for me. 
“[The airbag] has been great, being able to have that repetition we don’t get on snow and be able to perfect these tricks and landings, grabs and different movements has been fantastic,” she said.

Making her FIS World Cup debut is a dream come true for Thomas, but not the only goal on the horizon for an athlete whose development was also recognised with a nomination for Snow Australia Junior Athlete of the Year last season.

“After the World Cup I’ll be heading back to Europe to do a big training block, before hopefully going to Korea to compete at the Youth Olympics,” she explained.

Thomas is one of the young talents vying for Winter Youth Olympic Games selection, with the team representing Australia at Gangwon 2024 (19 January to 1 February, 2024) to be announced on 22 December. 

The FIS Freeski and Snowboard World Cup events in Copper Mountain take place from Wednesday when Valentino Guseli and Josh Robertson-Hahn enter qualifying for snowboard big air.

On Thursday, Thomas will take part freeski big air qualifying along with Kai Martin, while snowboard halfpipe qualifying features Secret Garden winner Scotty James alongside Guseli, Emily Arthur and Sascha Elvy.

Head to Snow Live x FIS TV for live streaming details.

Image: Winter Games NZ