Australian · Australia · Born 10 November 1974Australian aerial skier who won Olympic gold in 2002 despite competing on two fractured ankles, becoming just the second Australian in history to win a Winter Olympics gold medal.
Alisa Camplin was born on 10 November 1974 and grew up a gymnast and competitive Hobie Cat sailor with no experience of snow, not buying her first pair of skis until age 22. Her path into winter sport began in 1994 at a Melbourne trampoline demonstration, where she was scouted by officials trying to identify gymnasts who might transition into the emerging discipline of aerial skiing for the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia. Camplin made her World Cup debut in 1997, working three part-time jobs to fund her training, and steadily progressed through the top 10 over the following five years without recording a victory. Weeks before the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, she fractured both ankles in a training accident caused by a headwind, initially misdiagnosed as bone bruising. Competing against medical advice with teammate Jacqui Cooper - the pre-Games favorite - sidelined by injury, Camplin delivered two clean triple-twisting double somersaults to score 193.47 and win gold, becoming just the second Australian gold medalist in Winter Olympics history, days after short track skater Steven Bradbury's famous victory. Camplin backed up her surprise triumph by winning the World Championship and World Cup titles in 2002-03, before injuries - including two torn cruciate ligaments in the same knee - repeatedly threatened her career. She recovered from the second tear just six weeks before the 2006 Turin Olympics to win bronze, becoming the first Australian woman to win medals at consecutive Winter Games, then retired immediately after. Beyond skiing, Camplin built a career in corporate leadership at IBM, served on the Collingwood Football Club board, and became Australia's chef de mission for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics. She and her husband Oliver Warner lost their infant son Finnan to a congenital heart condition in 2011, and subsequently established the charity Finnan's Gift to fund early detection equipment for other families.
Winning Olympic gold in aerial skiing at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games despite competing on two fractured ankles
How They Played
Technically precise aerialist known for her trademark triple-twisting double somersault, executed with remarkable consistency under extreme physical duress
Lasting Impact
Remembered for one of the most improbable and courageous gold medal performances in Australian Olympic history, and for her subsequent charitable work in pediatric heart health following personal tragedy
Career Honours
- 2002 Olympic Gold Medalist, Aerials - competed on two fractured ankles
- 2006 Olympic Bronze Medalist, Aerials
- 2003 World Champion and World Cup Champion
- First Australian woman to win medals at consecutive Winter Olympics
Australian Athletes