Kiara Reddingius grew up in Leonora, a tiny gold-mining town in the Australian outback where temperatures soared, animals roamed the family’s hobby farm, and organised sport barely existed. Snow was something she’d only seen in movies.
Fast-forward three decades and Reddingius now hurtles down icy tracks at 145 km/h as part of Australia’s two-woman bobsleigh team with pilot Bree Walker. The pair are pushing toward qualification for their second Olympic Winter Games at Milano Cortina 2026.
Her path to bobsleigh was anything but direct. Reddingius started formal sport only at 20, becoming a heptathlete strong enough to hit the 2018 Commonwealth Games qualifying mark—though she narrowly missed selection. At a national meet, she was approached about trying bobsleigh, but the financial burden of a self-funded sport initially put her off.
After moving to Melbourne to pursue elite athletics, injury and the pandemic shifted her trajectory again. Curious about bobsleigh, she finally reached out to Australia’s small squad. Five weeks later she was training in the USA—and seeing snow for the first time in Europe.
Her debut season ended with a first Olympic appearance at Beijing 2022, where she and Walker finished 16th. But the financial strain forced her to quit—until a chance conversation at her sister’s wedding changed everything. Local guests, inspired by her Olympic journey, offered to sponsor her future campaigns. More joined in minutes later.
Encouraged by Walker and coach Pierre Lueders, Reddingius returned to the sport with renewed purpose.
Now, as the IBSF World Cup opens on the new Cortina D’Ampezzo track—also the Milano Cortina 2026 test event—Reddingius is all in. From the red dust of Leonora to the frozen chutes of Europe, her journey is a reminder that improbable dreams can still carve their own path to the Olympic stage.
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