"See you at the pub": Beers all round for Aussie's Olympic gold

"See you at the pub."

Four Words Australia's newest Olympic gold medallist Cooper Woods told the media as he departed the mountain to celebrate his historic win at Cortina.

Woods claimed Australia's first medal of the 2026 Winter Olympics in the men’s moguls overnight.

The New South Welshman (ranked 20th in the world by the FIS) delivered one of the best runs of his career to beat the likes of Canadian great Mikael Kingsbury and Japanese World Champion Ikuma Horishima in the Super Final to win Australia’s seventh gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

After missing out on the top 10 cut to make the first final in the initial qualifying round, the Aussie would need to go into the second and final round of qualifying to have any chance of claiming a medal.

And Woods made the most of it, having secured his spot to the first final with a score of 80.46, the highest total in that qualification run.

And in the finals, the boy from Cooma continued to deliver a performance of a lifetime.

The 25-year-old topped the first final run with a score of 83.6, which meant he would go last in the Super Final.

With all his competitors having gone before him, Woods knew he needed to beat Kingsbury, who had scored an 83.71.

Instead, the Australian tied the Canadian's score, with judges required to use a tiebreaker to split the two.

And with Woods having a better turns score (48.4) than the 2018 Olympic champ (47.7), he would be crowned Olympic Champion and celebrated accordingly.

According to reporters on the grounds, Woods may also have broken his medal fairly soon after being presented with it.

“I’m probably going to have a few beers,” he said about how he planned to celebrate.

“I might get in trouble for this, but it (medal) is a pretty nice-looking beer coaster.”

Speaking with Channel 9 after the run, Woods was still surprised that he had won the gold.

"I have no words,” he said.

"The highs and the lows, the injuries and the setbacks, the time away from family and friends and home. It’s all sacrifices for this little thing.

"I’m so happy to have my family here to celebrate. It’s the first time they’ve watched me ski. What a journey.

"After qualification one, I had a pretty deep meeting with my sports psychologist.

"I felt pretty lost as an athlete, I skied my heart out in qualifying one and we joked about what if we turned it around in a couple of days. This is pretty incredible.

"There was a bit of sunshine that came through, so I’ve got to thank someone higher above me for doing that. I’ve got to pay credit to my team, they’re sensational. All my teammates look after one another.

"I am Cooper Woods and I’m an Olympic champion. C’mon,” Woods told Channel 9.

“I have no words. The highs, the lows, the injuries and the setbacks, all that sacrifice has been for this little thing.

“I was really nervous at the top. I felt pretty lost after qualifiers. It’s just been crazy what has actually happened in the last couple of days."

He becomes the second Australian man to have won gold in the moguls, joining Dale Begg-Smith from the 2006 Winter Olympics, which was also in Italy.

There would be an additional Australian touch in the medal ceremony with three-time Olympic Gold medallist and member of the IOC Athletes' Commission Jess Fox giving out the medals to the three athletes.

Two other Australians did manage to make the Super Final alongside him.

Pyeongchang silver medallist and co-flagbearer for the Opening Ceremony, Matt Graham, finished fifth.

While 23-year-old Jackson Harvey claimed eighth in the Super Final.