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Indra Brown (right) stands on her first World Cup podium with stars Zoe Atkin (left) and Eileen Gu Ailing (centre). (Getty Images: Lintao Zhang)<\/p>\n
Despite it being her World Cup debut, Brown instantly showed she belonged on the world stage.<\/p>\n
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Her dazzling performance put her on the podium alongside three-time Olympic medallist and defending Olympic champion Eileen Gu<\/a> and defending world champion Zoe Atkin \u2014 illustrious company indeed.<\/p>\n Her lack of World Cup experience did not show on the snow.<\/p>\n But when it came time to pop the corks on the celebratory champagne, Brown looked a little bit out of her depth for the first time.<\/p>\n Fortunately, Gu was on hand to help in what turned into one of the most innocent, heartwarming exchanges on the tour this season.<\/p>\n Eileen Gu helps Indra Brown with her champagne. (Supplied: FIS Park and Pipe)<\/p>\n Gu, the America-born Chinese superstar<\/a> who became the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single Winter Olympics in 2022, is one of the most recognisable athletes in the world, having appeared on the front cover of Elle, GQ and Vogue, amongst others.<\/p>\n The surrealism of having this global megastar help her out on a World Cup podium was not lost on Brown.<\/p>\n “It was an extremely special moment,” she said.<\/p>\n “Just to stand there with an idol that I’ve looked up to for so long.<\/p>\n “That big-sister moment with her helping me out with the champagne, that made it even better.”<\/p>\n Record-breaking start Indra Brown has finished third, second, first and fourth in her first four World Cup events. (Getty Images: Sean M. Haffey)<\/p>\n With such a brilliant start to her career, there’s little surprise that with just five FIS World Cup starts under her belt, Brown has been named to the Australian Winter Olympic team to compete in the Milan Cortina games next month<\/a>.<\/p>\n Australia names 53-strong Winter Olympic team<\/a><\/p>\n From five teenagers making their Winter Olympics debut to five-time Olympian and gold medal hopeful Scott James, Australia has named its second-largest team in history for the Milan-Cortina Games.<\/p>\n It takes a rare talent indeed to be able to jump straight into the cut and thrust of elite competition and look at home.<\/p>\n Even for the world’s greatest winter sports athletes, those who make sliding appear an art and seem to bend the most treacherous terrains to their will, baby steps are the wisest way to proceed, at first.<\/p>\n Which is why the start to Brown’s World Cup career has been so extraordinary.<\/p>\n Of course, Brown is not new to skiing \u2014 she has been on snow since she was 3, family trips to Mount Hotham sparking a love that was honed into artistry during five years living in Calgary, Canada.<\/p>\n “I think I just loved the thrill of it,” she told ABC Sport from Aspen, Colorado, a day out from her fourth World Cup event, where she would finish fourth.<\/p>\n Indra Brown made her first World Cup appearance at Secret Garden in Jiangjiakou, China. She won bronze. (Supplied: FIS\/Li Runsheng)<\/p>\n “I think the fun aspect was a huge part of [pursuing freestyle skiing] and the creativity you can have just to express yourself and show the true love you have for the sport.<\/p>\n “You can be creative, change your style \u2014 there’s no right or wrong in the sport.<\/p>\n “It just gives that way of freedom and a sense of just being able to express yourself in such a fun way.”<\/p>\n Having fun is one thing. But surely not even in her wildest dreams did she expect to hit the ground running to the extent that she has done on the World Cup circuit.<\/p>\n There was that third place on debut in the 2022 Olympic halfpipe at the Secret Garden resort in Zhangjiakou.<\/p>\n Then, a second place a fortnight later in Copper Mountain, Colorado<\/a>.<\/p>\n Indra Brown has soared high in record time. (Getty Images: Sean M Haffey)<\/p>\n Then, remarkably, a maiden World Cup gold medal<\/a> \u2014 in just her third World Cup start \u2014 on home snow in Calgary.<\/p>\n It was only the second time in history that an athlete won three medals in their first three World Cup freeski starts, equalling Swedish skier Jennie-Lee Burmansson.<\/p>\n “I think I just wanted to go in and land a run,” Brown said of her breakout debut performance in China.<\/p>\n “I’ve been working really hard this season.<\/p>\n “So just to go out there and land a run I was really happy with \u2026 and then get the result I got, just made it even more incredible. I couldn’t be happier.<\/p>\n “It definitely gave me lots of confidence just to know that I do belong here and I can contend with these incredible athletes.<\/p>\n “It boosted my confidence a lot, for sure.”<\/p>\n ‘It’s a pretty special thing to be able to give a kid an opportunity to dare to dream’ Indra Brown is shooting for the stars. (Getty Images: Lintao Zhang)<\/p>\n Brown, one of four children, has been travelling the tour this season with her mum, Anne, and her younger brother, who also shows an aptitude for skiing.<\/p>\n Her dad, Grant, has been back at home in Melbourne with her other two siblings for most of the year, but did head over to Canada and the USA for Christmas and will be in Livigno for the Olympics.<\/p>\n “For us it’s just wonderful,” Grant told ABC Sport.<\/p>\n “The happiness that the sport gives Indra.<\/p>\n “So long as she’s still performing and she’s really genuinely enjoying it, and it’s her choice to do this, if all those planets align, it’s a pretty special thing to be able to give a kid an opportunity to dare to dream and that’s what she’s thriving on at the moment.”<\/p>\n Indra Brown first skied in a halfpipe in Calgary, where she won her first World Cup gold. (AP Photo: The Canadian Press\/Jeff McIntosh)<\/p>\n Grant said one of the most important things \u2014 apart from ensuring that Indra kept up with her schoolwork \u2014 was how well his daughter had been welcomed onto the tour, a supportive environment that was allowing her to thrive, the Zhangjiakou champagne moment a perfect example.<\/p>\n “That sense of community is a really, really important thing,” he said.<\/p>\n “You’ve got these athletes that come together from all parts of the world for competitions, or training camps or whatever, and they genuinely enjoy seeing each other, hanging out, as well as being able to ski together.<\/p>\n “That’s been really reassuring for us as parents.”<\/p>\n Indra has plenty of people she can talk to about what it is like making the Olympics at such a young age.<\/p>\n Brown will be the youngest Winter Olympian to represent Australia since Scotty James and Britteny Cox both competed as 15-year-olds.<\/p>\n She said that she had spoken to Guseli, who finished sixth in the snowboard halfpipe in Beijing as a 16-year-old<\/a> and had gone on to become the only snowboarder in history to win a World Cup medal in all three park and pipe disciplines in a single season<\/a>.<\/p>\n Indra Brown won her first gold in Calgary, the first halfpipe she ever competed on. (Supplied: FIS Freeski)<\/p>\n Injury stymied his quest for a spot in all three events at this year’s Games, something Brown hopes to achieve in 2030 when the Games shift over to the French Alps.<\/p>\n “I’ve definitely been speaking to Val and all the other Aussie athletes, it’s been super nice just to get their insight on taking in this experience,” she said.<\/p>\n “It’s such a special, once-in-a-lifetime thing. So just taking it in, not putting any pressure on myself, just having fun, enjoying the moment and just seeing where I go.<\/p>\n “It’s been really special to have such a great team and group of athletes around me.”<\/p>\n Brown also credits her “amazing” mum and family for all their support as she competes, including keeping her supplied with a steady amount of the two Australian staples she can’t live without: Weetbix and Up and Go.<\/p>\n It’s things like that which, despite Brown having a definite Canadian twang, means she was never going to represent Canada in international competition: “No,” she said, “I’m full Aussie”.<\/p>\n And her stunning rise means she is heading to Milan a genuine medal chance.<\/p>\n “It’s a dream come true to be able to represent Australia at the Olympics,” she said.<\/p>\n “It’s something I think, once I really start to get into skiing, I wanted to do for so long and dreamt of.<\/p>\n “To have this opportunity at my age and to be getting these experiences, it’s just incredible.<\/p>\n “I’m so excited to get to Milan.”<\/p>\n![\"Eileen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/eeac5fa1b11d8f07d9003e7bec3b54ae.jpeg\")
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