By Colin MacGillivray

Ararat athlete Sarah Blizzard’s long-held Olympic dream is now a reality.

The sprinter-turned-bobsleigh competitor earned a place in Australia’s two-woman bobsleigh team for next month’s Winter Olympics in Italy after qualifying in the final week of International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, IBSF, competition at the weekend.

Blizzard was an injury alternate for the two-woman Australian team at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, but did not appear in competition.

Now she will not only compete, but spearhead the Australian two-woman Olympic team in Milan after qualifying as a pilot – the lead member of a bobsleigh responsible for steering the sled through the course.

The 28-year-old made a switch from brakeman – at the rear of the sled – to pilot after the previous Olympic cycle, and the bet on herself paid off.

In a post on social media, Blizzard thanked her supporters and her team-mates Desi Johnson, who qualified alongside her, and Hayley Silvester, an injury alternate.

“I’m so unbelievably proud of myself, my team and everyone who has made this happen,” she wrote. “Thank you for the support and for believing in me. This is a huge team effort and it wouldn’t have been possible without all of you.

“Being an alternate at the last games broke my heart and I have worked so hard to make sure that I turned it around to be a different story this time.

“It definitely hasn’t been easy but it’s been worth it. Not just for this moment, but for all the moments within the sport every single day.

“I truly love this sport and I am so grateful to not only represent my country on the world stage, but now to be heading to the Olympics.”
Blizzard’s path to Olympic qualification was a difficult one, hinging on her results throughout the IBSF World Cup and lower-tier European Cup circuits.

Entering the final round in Altenburg, Germany, she said her focus was simply on finishing.

“Most of this season we were sitting within qualifying, with only once or twice dropping out when races were happening overseas,” she said.

“So, heading into the last weekend of racing we knew where we were sitting for qualification but we didn’t want to say it out loud just yet. 

“We had a race to go first and I needed to focus on the driving. Especially in Altenberg.

“The second I crossed the line all the emotions came flooding in and when I turned around to [Desi] she had already been crying.”

At the start of the season Blizzard launched a public appeal to raise money for a new set of runners for her sled, with government support for her chosen winter sport limited.

The public and new sponsors came on board to back her, helping raise more than $21,000.

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