If there's one thing Australians do well at the Winter Olympics, it's punching above their weight.
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And days away from Games starting on February 4, one sporting legend believes two local hopefuls could be wearing gold in the most successful Games ever for Australia.
Beijing's record-setting four-medal haul in 2022 of one gold, two silver and a bronze is on track to be beaten at Milano-Cortina, says Channel Nine expert commentator Torah Bright.
"We have quite a few medal hopes including Josie Baff and Valentino Guseli," Olympic champion Bright told The Canberra Times.
"There's a handful of legitimate medals coming for Australia from moguls, snowboard-cross, aerial skiing, and halfpipe.
"I just believe anything is possible."
Former Australian flag-bearer Bright famously won gold at the Vancouver Games 16 years ago, and backed it up with silver in the same halfpipe event at Sochi in 2014.
Now in her role as a commentator, the snowboarding icon has predicted big things for Canberra-born Guseli and Cooma product Baff in their quest for gold in northern Italy this month.
Bright used to train in Jindabyne and overseas in Saint Moritz with Baff's ski coach father, Peter, before Josie was even born.
With their shared Jindabyne roots, for Bright it makes seeing the now-23-year-old's rise in the thrilling racing discipline of snowboard-cross extra special.
"I was living overseas for such a long time, but coming from Jindabyne, I've always been cheering for her," Bright said.
Soon-to-be two-time Olympian Baff is almost certainly set to improve on her last Games performances of 18th (individual) and 13th (mixed team) finishes at Beijing, then just a teenager.
She's a genuine gold medal chance judging by her recent form.
Baff won silver in a FIS World Cup event last month in China, and earned two bronze and another silver medal in 2025. She also claimed gold in a team World Cup snowboard-cross event last year, and topped the podium again at the European Cup in Austria in November.
"Her World Cup circuit medals are stacking up now," Bright said of Baff.
"She's proving that she's one to watch. Anything happens on that one day every four years, but she's definitely one of the best in the sport.
"For Josie, it's all possible to end up on top of a podium."
In contrast, Guseli has had a rollercoaster build-up to these Games after his debut as a 16-year-old in Beijing.
He's since continued on a stunning trajectory to stack medals in multiple snowboarding disciplines of slopestyle, big air and halfpipe, but faced a serious injury hurdle in December 2024.
During a big air event in China he tore his anterior cruciate ligament, leaving him sidelined for much of last year, which limited his Olympic qualification chances.
The 20-year-old bounced back fast though, winning bronze in his first halfpipe competition in the US in December upon return from his knee injury, then claimed gold in Calgary.
Guseli wasn't able to regain top form as quickly in other disciplines, but did enough in the halfpipe to seal his spot in the Australian Olympic team, and will be out to better his sixth-place finish four years ago.
"With his injury for him to still reach the Olympics, it's just incredible," Bright said.
"I am sad we won't see him in the big air and slopestyle, but that might put a fire under him to put on a real show. He's out to be the best.
"I don't know what is in his bag of tricks, but in the men's halfpipe there's a few dark horses behind another Aussie star Scotty James and the Japanese guys who are the ones to beat."
There are 53 athletes featured in Australia's second-biggest Winter Olympic team and the largest since Sochi.
Baff and Wilson also represent a promising new trend for snow sports, with female athletes making up 62.3 percent of the Australian team - the most for a Summer or Winter Olympics squad.
Bright can see how snow sports have continued to grow in popularity in Australia, and she hopes she's played a role in inspiring the next generation like Baff and Guseli undoubtedly do already.
"When the path isn't paved yet, there's no gateway," she said.
"There's now pathways for those little frothers who just love snowboarding, to those who want to make it to the Olympics, and it allows them to have their dreams realised like mine were."
The 2026 Winter Olympics will run from February 4 to 23 in Milano and Cortina, in Northern Italy. Coverage will be live on Channel Nine and the WIN Network
