Cooper Woods is a mogul skier who was awarded a Tier 2 Scholarship within the 2021 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program, and was promoted to a Tier 1 Scholarship in 2022 in order to be paired with John Eales AM as his Mentor.

Cooper was born in Merimbula, NSW, in 2000 and began mogul skiing at Perisher Sports Club in 2011. He now spends most of his time overseas as a full-time international skier due to the short snow season in Australia, and chases the endless winter in resorts such as Zermatt, Switzerland.

In 2017, Cooper was a member of the first Australian team to compete at the Asian Winter Games in Japan, and continued his winning streak in 2018 when he became the first Australian male to compete at the US Selections event in Winter Park, Colorado, where he finished first.

Between 2017 and 2021, Cooper finished in the top 20 in eight world cup events, and in the 2019/2020 season he made the final in three world cup competitions. He also finished fifth at the 2019 Australian/New Zealand Continental Cup.

As the 2020/2021 season drew to a close, Cooper was ranked 17^th in the world and earned selection in the Olympic Shadow team for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games after a strong performance at the World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He is now dedicating himself to taking the next step to Olympic selection, as well as completing a Bachelor of Commerce, and he enjoys surfing when at home on the NSW South Coast.

“To be a Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship recipient is an honour and a privilege. Having a one-on-one relationship with John Eales is extremely exciting. He is regarded as one of the best rugby players of all time! To have mentorship from someone who is heavily respected both in and outside of sport and to be able to communicate/talk about moments and opportunities to better yourself as an athlete and person would be game-changing for me. LETSSSS GOOOOO!” –  Cooper Woods on being selected as a 2022 Tier 1 Scholarship Holder.

Awards, Honours & Achievements

• 2017: Asian Winter Games – First Australians to compete at this event
• 2018: US Selections in Winter Park – 1^st & first Australian male to achieve
• 2019: Australian New Zealand Continental Cup – 5^th
• 2019: Calgary World Cup – 17^th, singles
• 2020: Deer Valley World Cup – 12^th, singles
• 2020: Deer Valley World Cup – 21^st, duals
• 2020: Mt Tremblant World Cup – 20^th
• 2021: Almaty World Championships – 15^th (5^th in qualifications), singles
• 2021: Idre Fjall World Cup – 13^th, duals
• 2021: Idje Fjall World Cup – 15^th, singles
• 2021: Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Holder – Tier 2
• 2022: Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Holder – Tier 1
• 2022: Deer Valley World Cup – 5^th on day 1 and 11^th day 2 (first super finals)

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Bio picture credit: OWIA & Chris Hocking