Alpine Ski Racing Winter Olympic superstar Alice Robinson has been crowned the overall NZ 2024 Snow Sports Athlete of the Year at the organization’s annual awards. The 22-year-old from Queenstown enjoyed an outstanding 2023/24 season, securing five podium finishes in World Cup giant slalom and achieving five more top-10 finishes in both giant slalom and Super G events. In this one season, she doubled her podium tally in the World Cup in his career.
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Robinson is the 2024 New Zealand national giant slalom champion and triumphed at the NZ FIS ANC Giant Slalom Winter Games earlier this season, both events taking place at Coronet Peak. The awards night was held on Saturday, where she also received the title of Alpine Athlete of the Year.
Freerider Ben Richards is the 2024 Freeride Athlete of the Year, after an outstanding rookie season on the Freeride World Tour, winning the Fieberbrunn Pro stop, placing third overall in the 2024 Freeride World Tour and earning the title of World Tour Freeride Rookie of the Year.
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Free ski Athlete of the Year Nico Porteous finished second at the 2024 Aspen X Games, setting a unique streak the likes of which has never been seen before, combining the most technical tricks in the game with his style and creativity of known Zoi Sadowski-Synnott was once again awarded Snowboard of the Year for her gold medal performance at the Edmonton FIS Snowboard Big Air Cup. Meanwhile, Adam Hall claimed Adaptive Athlete of the Year after another impressive season on the Para Alpine Slalom World Cup circuit, which included a podium finish in Sapporo, Japan.
The Athlete of the Year run was hotly contested, with Lake Hāwea’s Luke Harrold taking the trophy home. He secured second place in his FIS Free Ski Halfpipe World Cup debut and also returned with a gold and a bronze medal from the Gang won 2024 Winter Olympic Youth Games. This year’s Coach of the Year Award was jointly award to coaches Alice Robinson, Nils Coberger and Tim Cafe.
Coaching Excellence and Recognition
They undertook the planning, coaching and support of Alice’s World Cup campaign during the 2023/24 season said the awards organizers. Alice had an outstanding season, which is due not only to Alice’s exceptional talent, but also to the equally important experience, professionalism, support and sound development coaching brought to the growing team by Nils and Tim.
Frank Wylie of Coronet Peak was award Instructor of the Year, recognizing his 30 years of commitment to teaching snow sports. Kerry Trevalla-Hall and Geoff Hunt were name Masters of the Year, finishing the season as the top female and male ski racers, respectively. The annual Snow Sports NZ Awards presented by Sidekick is a fantastic event to celebrate the year it’s been and a great way to send off Kiwi athletes as they head to the Northern Hemisphere.
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Thanks to our partners, sponsors and the amazing snow the sports community that participated in this evening was an absolute pleasure. You can read Winter Olympic Milano Cortina 2026: Enjoy the Thrill of Alpine Ski Racing Once Again. NZSIA Sponsored Instructor of the Year – Frank Wylie (Coronet Peak) Masters of the Year sponsored by Arrow Town Lifestyle Village – Kerry Trevalla-Hall and Geoff Hunt Trainer of the Year sponsored by SITE Trampoline – Nils Coberger and Tim Cafe (Queenstown) NZ Winter Olympic Sponsored Advanced Season – Luke Harrold (Lake Hāwea) Mons Royale Sponsored Free Skier of the Year – Nico Porteous (Wanaka) Cardrona / Koni Treble Sponsored Adaptive Athlete of the Year – Adam Hall (Dunedin) Freeride Athlete of the Year, sponsored by The Remarkable – Ben Richards (Wanaka) Snow Sports NZ Overall Female Athlete of the Year – Alice Robinson (Queenstown).
Alice Robinson a Rising Star in Alpine Skiing
Teenage sensation Alice Robinson set for big things in alpine skiing this season. The 17-year-old has already been to one winter Olympics, representing New Zealand at PyeongChang 2018, but last season saw her make stunning progress. Just a month after winning giant slalom gold at the World Junior Championships, Robinson finished second to Mikaela Shiffrin in the final World Cup slalom of the season in Soldeu, Andorra.
This will be her second full World Cup campaign and, with no World Championships or Olympic Games to build on, the teenager has the chance to add to her experience and perhaps claim a first win in the senior ranks. The winter Olympic Channel caught up with Robinson ahead of the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden, Austria.
Mikaela Shiffrin Concludes Challenging Season
Alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin has wrapped up the most challenging season of her career with an impressive 106th World Cup podium finish. The American placed second in the giant slalom at the finals in Lenzerheide, behind Alice Robinson, who secured her first win of the season.
The 19-year-old Kiwi was fourth after the first run but made a strong push in the second, overtaking first-round leader Shiffrin by 0.28 seconds. Slovenia’s Meta Hrovat finished third, 0.48 seconds behind Robinson.
With her 106th top-three finish in 192 starts, Shiffrin has reached the podium in 55% of her World Cup races. Petra Vlhova, the overall winner of the 2021 World Cup, looked fatigued in 11th place, while Super G globe winner Lara Gut-Behrami opted to end her first run early.
Shiffrin Reflects on a Challenging Season
Marta Bassino, who had already clinched the GS globe, finished 7th in the season’s final race. “A lot of things went completely differently this season, and I had a lot of personal uncertainty,” Shiffrin remarked after the season finale slalom on Saturday.
While the season has quite successful, it was relatively less so compared to others. Shiffrin’s previous season ended on a different note, as she faced the tragic death of her father, Jeff, in early February 2020, followed by a global pandemic that kept her off the slopes for several months.
Shiffrin Looks Ahead to Winter Olympic
The combination of personal tragedies and COVID restrictions affected her summer training and testing of new equipment. This season, after missing her Soelden debut due to a back injury, Shiffrin made her long-awaited comeback in Levi, Finland, where she finished second. In December, she returned to winning form in Courchevel, France, followed by slalom victories in Flachau in January and Jasna this month. Her performance at the 2021 Cortina World Championships was particularly notable, where she won four medals, including a gold in the combined event, marking her sixth title overall. As the season comes to a close, Shiffrin is already looking ahead to next season and the Winter Olympics in Beijing, indicating that she may adjust her schedule to prioritize her fitness and health.
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