Chasing Winter Gold

Inspiring and motivational stories about amazing athletes 

Released in time for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics  in Italy beginning on the 6th of February.  

The first-ever Winter Olympics book that tells and shows each story via the QR Codes allowing you to 'meet' the athletes; read the stories and experience the Olympics like never before.  

    
 


Meet Aussie Athletes 

Valentino Guseli


Valentino “Val” Guseli – Snowboard HP / Slopestyle / Big Air.  


 

Valentino “Val” Guseli – Snowboard HP / Slopestyle / Big Air.     The teenage prodigy who broke Shaun White’s air record and took 6th in the Beijing halfpipe at just 16. He’s chasing the rare feat of riding all three park-and-pipe events at one Games, though a 2024 ACL injury means his focus is rehab plus qualification.  

Update: 21/12/25.   In short:   Valentino Guseli claimed third place at the Copper Mountain half-pipe World Cup, his first event at the competition in 21 months.   Val suffered a knee injury 12 months ago that kept him out of the entire 2024/25 World Cup season.

What's next?
The next snowboard half-pipe World Cup will take place in the new year in Calgary, Canada, on 2/1/26.

Bree Walker – Monobob / Two-woman Bobsleigh
Bree Walker 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBI1dzD1gRc


Bree Walker – Monobob / Two-woman Bobsleigh.      Finished 5th in monobob at Beijing 2022 and now owns a stack of World Cup medals, sitting near the top of the world rankings. With teammate Kiara Reddingius she’s also improving rapidly in two-woman, so Italy could see Australia’s best sliding results yet.  


Update: 15/12/25. Australia's Bree Walker claimed back-to-back World Cup wins in the Monobob with victory in Latvia.  Bree is firming as the gold medal favourite in the monobob ahead of February's Winter Olympics.

UPDATE:  Channel 9 interview with Bree after she claimed gold at Switzerland’s St. Moritz-Celerina.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VPEX9SVO4g

What's next?   ABC Sport will be covering all the action from the Milan-Cortina Games from February 6.


Click here to order CHASING WINTER GOLD 




Scotty James – Snowboard Halfpipe.  Two-time Olympic medallist (bronze 2018, silver 2022), three-time world champion and serial X-Games winner. Since Beijing he’s added more World Cup and X-Games titles and openly says the one thing missing from his career is Olympic gold in Italy.  

UPDATE: 20/12/25.  A snowboarder from Australia? Scotty James is on cusp of being five-time Winter Olympian.
See: https://www.news-gazette.com/a-snowboarder-from-australia-scotty-james-is-on-cusp-of-being-five-time-winter-olympian/article_a7a199a7-5807-5814-b046-27140f40f3e0.html

UPDATE: 25/12/25.  "The Elephant In ithe room is I haven't won an Olympic Gold medal...yet!"  See: https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/news/scotty-james-olympic-journey-milano-cortina-2026-ambitions

UPDATE: 1/1/26.  Aussie icon Torah Bright previews the Winter Olympics and Scotty James' chances at glory.
https://wwos.nine.com.au/videos/olympics/bright-backs-scotty-james-quest-for-gold/cmjtpu4l9002z0hrvulmhcfmc

UPDATE:  MELBOURNE, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Snowboarder Scotty James will head to the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics as one of Australia's biggest medal chances after more than a decade of pushing the limits in halfpipe.
Australia's flag-bearer at Pyeongchang 2018 took bronze at the Games in South Korea, silver at Beijing four years ago and is desperate to go one better in the Italian Alps where he will drop in at his fifth Olympics.  "The elephant in the room for me is I haven't won a gold medal yet," the 31-year-old said in the Netflix documentary, "Scotty James: Pipe Dream" released in December.  Check it out at:  https://www.instagram.com/reels/DSDb0LokQU5/


Tess Coady – Snowboard Slopestyle / Big Air


Tess Coady – Snowboard Slopestyle / Big Air.   Won Australia’s first Olympic slopestyle medal with bronze in Beijing 2022. A concussion disrupted her 2024–25 season, but she’s already shown she can come back from setbacks and remains a genuine podium threat if healthy by 2026.  

UPDATE:  2/1/26. Australian snowboarder Tess Coady says she is fit and 'feeling good' ahead of her second Winter Olympics next month in Milan-Cortina in Italy.   Tess tore her ACL right before the Pyeongchang Games in 2018, then won a bronze medal in women's slopestyle in Beijing despite competing with a fractured ankle.  See: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-01/aussie-coady-fit-and-firing-in-time-for-italy-winter-olympics/106192850




Danielle Scott – Freestyle Aerials



Danielle Scott – Freestyle Aerials.   Aerials star with multiple World Championship medals and back-to-back overall World Cup crystal globes. Her consistency—10 podiums from 15 World Cups since Beijing—makes her one of the safest bets to be in the team and in the medal conversation.  

UPDATE: 12/01/26  Danielle Scott wins Lake Placid World Cup aerials 


Laura Peel – Freestyle Aerials



Laura Peel – Freestyle Aerials. Two-time world champion and one of the few women regularly competing triple-back somersaults. She has 11 World Cup wins, including two this season, and if she nails her triples in Italy, she’s capable of turning years of near-misses into gold.  

UPDATE: 7/12/25.      On the women’s side, Laura Peel (AUS) showed last season that she has no intention of slowing down. The 36-year-old was the undisputed champion after standing top of the podium five times. 
She said: “It’s going to be a big year. Everyone’s been pushing. I’m really excited to see the women and see how many women we have there on the triples. Obviously, we’re building, not trying to peak here, but in February, but really excited to see what’s to come.  “I reckon we could definitely see a full superfinal (with triples) – that would be pretty cool.” 

UPDATE: 8/10/26.  Australia’s aerial skiing double World Champion Laura Peel has stormed back to form, securing her first World Cup victory of the season with an impressive performance at Lac-Beauport, Canada. 


Matt Graham – Moguls / Dual Moguls




Matt Graham – Moguls / Dual Moguls.    Olympic mogul skiing champion Jakara Anthony and Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham have launched their Olympic campaign in perfect fashion, claiming a double gold medal overnight at the FIS World Cup in Ruka, Finland.


PyeongChang 2018 silver medallist who fought back from a badly broken collarbone and is again medalling at World Cups. Silver and bronze at the 2023 World Championships plus recent podiums show he still has the speed and edge to challenge the stacked men’s moguls field.  


UPDATE: 10/12/25
Olympic mogul skiing champion Jakara Anthony and Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham have launched their Olympic campaign in perfect fashion, claiming a double gold medal overnight at the FIS World Cup in Ruka, Finland.

UPDATE: 13/12/25.  Matt Graham leads World Cup moguls ahead of Olympics






Jakara Anthony - Moguls/Dual Moguls

Defending Olympic champion from Beijing 2022, where she won Australia’s first moguls gold. She then produced a ridiculous 2023–24 season, winning 14 of 16 World Cups before breaking her collarbone in late 2024, but rehab is on track and she remains Australia’s No.1 medal hope.  


UPDATE: 12/01/26 Jakara Anthony was equally impressive, taking gold at the Val Saint‑Côme World Cup to move to the top of the women’s overall standings.



Cam Bolton – Snowboard Cross



Cam Bolton – Snowboard Cross.     Three-time Olympian and World Cup medallist, still mixing it with the top men. Bolton is currently Australia’s highest-ranked male SBX rider on the World Cup standings, making him a strong candidate for both individual and mixed-team events.  


Ben Tudhope – Para Snowboard (SB-LL2)


Ben Tudhope – Para Snowboard (SB-LL2).      Co-captain in Beijing 2022 and bronze medallist in snowboard cross, Ben has since won a world title, multiple World Cup crystal globes and a string of podiums, including seven last northern winter. If all goes to plan, Milano-Cortina will be his fourth Games. 



Josh Hanlon – Para-Alpine Sit Skier



Josh Hanlon – Para-Alpine Sit Skier.      Sit-skier in the LW12-2 class who raced at Beijing 2022 and has recently hit career-best form. In 2024–25 he claimed two World Cup slalom bronzes in Germany and sits inside the top 10 on overall standings, putting him firmly in the medal and selection frame.  



Georgia Gunew – Para-Alpine (Vision Impaired)
Visually-impaired alpine skier working with guide Ethan Jackson.



Georgia Gunew – Para-Alpine (Vision Impaired).     Visually-impaired alpine skier working with guide Ethan Jackson. In just her second World Cup season she scored two bronze medals (slalom and GS) and features on the official Milano-Cortina para-athletes list as part of the high-performance alpine squad.



Sam Tait – Para-Alpine Sit Skier



Sam Tait – Para-Alpine Sit Skier.   Veteran sit-skier who raced at both PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022, and famously became the first paraplegic to climb Mt Kosciuszko (captured in the film All The Way Up). With long experience at Paralympic level, he’s a leading candidate for another Games.  


Sean Pollard – Para Snowboard (SBX & Banked Slalom)



Sean Pollard – Para Snowboard (SBX & Banked Slalom).      Competed at PyeongChang 2018 (5th in banked slalom) and has returned from injury to place 10th at the 2025 World Championships. Snow Australia’s season wrap highlights him as a key member of the resurgent para-snowboard squad heading towards 2026.  



Amanda Reid – Para Snowboard (SB-LL1)



Amanda Reid – Para Snowboard (SB-LL1).    Amanda Reid – Para Snowboard (SB-LL1)
Already a multi-gold-medal Paralympian in cycling and a former Paralympic swimmer, Reid added para-snowboard world champion to her CV with gold in SBX and bronze in dual banked slalom at La Molina 2023. She’s now balancing cycling and snow, and is a standout SB-LL1 contender.  



Indra Brown
Australian teenager Indra Brown leaves her rivals in shock as she delivers a remarkable run to win gold in the freeski halfpipe event.






Click here to order CHASING WINTER GOLD (About Winter Olympians and Paralympians)
and/or CHASING GOLD ( (About Summer Olympians and Paralympians)



Click here to order CHASING WINTER GOLD (About Winter Olympians and Paralympians)
and/or CHASING GOLD ( (About Summer Olympians and Paralympians)




BREAKING NEWS (June 2024):  After two months Amazon.com has rated CHASING GOLD as "#1 Most Gifted Sports Coaching Book on Amazon.com."   
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About the book:  Olympians have been inspiring us since the first Modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens; the first Winter Olympics in 1924 in Chamonix and the first Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome.

Australia has always been known as a 'sports-mad' country. As such Australia has been one of the five
countries that have competed in every Olympic and Paralympic Games. As well, Australia has competed in every Winter Olympics except for 1948.

Proud Australian Olympic devotee Max Hitchins has for many years, been collecting and memorizing the stirring stories and fabulous feats of these amazing athletes. We invite you to be motivated and inspired by these superheroes.

Proudly we say that this is the very first book about the Olympics and Olympians where, as well as reading the book, you are able view videos of the events, interviews and reports about the athletes. You simply use your mobile phone to scan the QR codes you will find throughout this book.  

Also, we believe CHASING GOLD is the first book ever to have a QR code on the cover of the book. This allows you to 'meet the author' and learn about the contents of the book.   



Buy the Paperback on Amazon by clicking here or buy the Kindle version here.

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