Cooper Woods may have heard the cheers from Australian soil as he won a gold medal at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics overnight.
The 25-year-old became the seventh Australian to be crowned a Winter Olympic champion when he won the men’s mogul run.
Locals from his home town of Pambula Beach on the NSW far south coast were weary eyed with hoarse voices this morning after watching his gold-winning run.
Cooper Woods shows his Olympic gold medal after winning the moguls title at the 2026 Games. (ABC Sport: Hamish Harty)
Family friend Tracy Thew, who organised a watch party at the local pub, said watching the feat had been heart-stopping.
“The room was deathly quiet and yet you could feel the buzz running through everyone as we waited for that score to drop,” she said.
“We had a full house there and everyone just went absolutely crazy.”
Tracy Thew, a family friend of Cooper Woods, organised a watch party at Pambula. (ABC South East NSW: Adriane Reardon)
Woods met his family at the bottom of his gold-winning run, but there were plenty of Australians back home equally as proud.Â
“You could see the fire in his eyes and the determination,” Ms Thew said.
“He’s a power pack and the conviction and the strength that he has for his mental game has helped him get through.”
Cheers to Coop
Students from Pambula Public School, where Woods graduated in 2012, were also chuffed about his win.
Students Oliver Kryskow (left) and Archie Ceercke are fans of Cooper Woods. (ABC South East NSW: Adriane Reardon)
Oliver Kryskow, 9, and Archie Ceercke, 10, were both wearing Woods’s Olympic uniform to school.
“Good job mate,” Oliver said. “We’re really excited to see you come back to Pambula.”
Woods’s gold has proved an inspiration for Archie.
“I want to be an Olympian, just like you,” he said.
The gold medal win has sparked calls to install a statue or mural of Woods in his hometown.
Momentum is also growing to have a welcome home party for him when he returns from Italy.Â
Pambula Beach locals are already planning a welcome home party for Cooper Woods when he returns from Italy. (ABC South East NSW: Adriane Reardon)
Reward for ‘hardworking athlete’
Residents from the town of Jindabyne in the NSW Snowy Mountains have also celebrated Woods’s win.
Woods is well known in the NSW alps, training there regularly.
‘Welcome to the gold medal club’
Two-time winter Olympian and former moguls skier Manuela Berchtold hosted a watch party in Jindabyne last night.
She described Woods’s performance as “truly special”, with many in left in tears by his achievement.Â
“Knowing Cooper his whole life, I’ve watched [him] grow as a human, grow as an athlete. I think he is the kindest, happiest, most hard-working athlete,” she said.
“All of us were saying, we will never, ever forget this.
“It will be one of those things; where were you when Cooper Woods became Olympic Champion?”Region’s next medallist?
Meanwhile, in the town of Dalmeny, also on the NSW far south coast, all eyes are on local Olympic hope Valentino Guseli.
Valentino Guseli, pictured in 2024, will compete in the snowboard halfpipe final this weekend. (Supplied: Henrieke Ibing/NEAC)
The 20-year-old snowboarder has had an incredible campaign so far, after making the finals in the big air.
He will also compete in the men’s snowboard half-pipe final this weekend, along with fellow Australian Scotty James.
Students and staff at Guseli’s former school in Narooma are behind him.
“The buzz is just electric,” principal Paul Sweeney said.
“Seeing a local kid on the world stage is something which our kids can aspire to.”
Narooma Public School students cheer on Dalmeny snowboarder Valentino Guseli. (ABC South East NSW: Toby Hemmings)