General News
6 February, 2026
Olympic dream a reality: Sarah Blizzard arrives in Cortina
From the running on quiet grass tracks to competing on the world stage, Sarah Blizzard has arrived in Cortina ahead of the XXV Winter Olympics.
Once a sprinting star on the track, including reaching four consecutive Stawell Gift finals, Ms Blizzard gave up her running spikes for a bobsled in search of something exciting and new.
While her journey in the Olympics began ahead of the Beijing Games in 2022, she narrowly missed out on selection as the brakewoman for Australia's two-woman bobsleigh, being named an alternate on the team.
But now she's back, better than ever, and Ms Blizzard said this Olympics isn't about redemption, it's about knowing she did everything she could.
Following Beijing, she switched from brakewoman to pilot, leading her own two-woman sled, ‘Team Blizzard’.
A journey of discipline and persistence, Ms Blizzard and her offsider Desi Johnson qualified to go head-to-head against the best bobsled teams in the world at the event starting on February 6.
Team Blizzard won't compete until later in the month, but as she told Wimmera Mallee News, there's plenty to keep Ms Blizzard focused and occupied as she bides her time.
While the 29-year-old said she hasn't taken in many of the sights of the Italian town yet, she's been revelling in the fact that being part of the Olympic team means Australian food and snacks, including her absolute favourites.
"We have a dietician cooking absolutely amazing meals every night, and for lunch as well," Blizzard explained, before adding excitedly: "And we have Australian snacks!”
“I finally have my Weet-Bix, and I am so happy about it.
"There's also Caramello Koalas.”
After it was announced late January that Ms Blizzard and her team had qualified for the Olympics, the group returned to the Czech Republic for a week to get everything organised.
Following that, they travelled to Germany, where they were able to complete pushing for a couple of days, something Blizzard describes as "really valuable".
"We were able to push with my sled and really work on our team pushes, which is, again, extremely valuable heading into this time," she explained.
From there, the group travelled to the Australian Institute of Sport - European Training Centre and from there, Ms Blizzard said it all started to get real.
"There we got our kit, had our inductions and a lot of media," she said.
"It was a busy time, but it was an exciting time ... it kind of made everything a lot more real.
"That was a cool moment, and there are great facilities there as well, and (we are) fortunate to be able to access all that."
The team then travelled to Cortina, and the athlete said it is "absolutely stunning" there.
"Everything has changed from when we were here for the testament; it's a lot more ready for an Olympics now, which is great," she said.
"We haven't seen a lot yet, because we have been busy and we haven't been here for long, but we have unloaded the sled, I've done my first track walk, we've done some training here, and we start sliding in a couple of days."
Team Blizzard will train on Wednesday and Thursday, then take a break before official training takes place closer to the competition, from February 17 to 19.
"So we have quite a bit of time, but we are getting settled in," she said.
"We have an extremely supportive network here with all the staff, and we are in a nice little bubble to focus on being in our own space and doing all we can to prepare.
"We are being so well looked after, and the experience has been great, but I know it's only just getting started.
"There are a lot of things I am able to do at the moment for performance down the track when we do start sliding, and I'm trying to give it everything possible every day, thinking about the things I can do to improve the race."
