Winter Wonderland

2019; Liam Petterson

To say 2019 was an eventful year for Ski Cross star Robbie Morrison is an understatement. The Bachelor of Agriculture student dominated UniSport Nationals Snow, competed at the World Uni Winter Games in Siberia, and became the University’s Male Athlete of the Year.

He spent much of the year travelling to train and compete, including to the Czech Republic in February, where he won a gold medal in an International Ski Federation (FIS) event, and to Russia in March where he reached the Quarter-Finals at the Winter Universiade in Russia – the university equivalent of the Winter Olympics.

Returning to Victoria’s Mount Hotham for the Australian New Zealand Cup in September he won a silver medal before earning second place in Austria in November.

The hectic training schedule and regular long-haul flights would be exhausting to anyone, but a deep passion for snowsports kept him going.

“I got into skiing as young as three. My parents got us up to the snow every winter and all my siblings loved it as did I,” the Trinity College student said.

“What motivates me to train is the thrill of being on snow … whether that is training in gates, doing drills or even just free skiing, as it all helps me to be a better skier. Off-snow training is just as rewarding for me, as I train in a high-performance environment with other winter athletes, who push me to be better.”

His passion and talent for skiing was evident at UniSport Australia’s Nationals Snow in Thredbo, announcing himself as the competition’s premier male skier by winning gold in the Alpine Super G and silver in the Alpine Giant Slalom (missing gold by less than a second), before blowing the field away to win gold in his pet event Ski Cross.

This performance earnt him the University of Melbourne’s Male Athlete of the Year Award at the annual Blues and Sport Awards, ahead of student-athletes including Noam Tidhar (Judo) and Jose Martinez-Rebollar (Volleyball), who each won gold medals at Nationals Div 1. It’s hard to believe Morrison has any time for study, but the Agricultural Science student excels at the balancing act.

“It’s tough but also very rewarding,” he said.

“With the University’s assistance I’m able to do what I love while also getting a valued education, which is important to me.

“I chose to study Agricultural Science because it’s more relatable to me compared with other courses. I like being out and about, and this was a quick and easy decision I made, doing something that I can relate to and that I would enjoy.”

This story was originally posted in our 2019 Annual Report.