Feature
The pink race suit that started it all
Alice Robinson's story
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Alice Robinson's story
No – it was the lure of the pink race suits.
“I was doing a holiday programme and I saw all these kids wearing these cool race suits. I begged my parents, ‘Please can I do the ski racing fulltime programme?’ I just loved the pink suits,” the Kiwi alpine skiing sensation says.
She’d been just four when she was first strapped into a pair of skis.
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Growing up in the winter-sport mecca of Queenstown, Alice learned on the slopes of Coronet Peak – only a 15-minute drive from her home.
“It was so very easily accessible which is how I got into skiing,” she says. “I moved to Queenstown when I was four with my parents and two siblings. It was very special.
“I did so many different sports growing up, and it was such a cool place with so many different opportunities, especially with the amazing outdoors on your doorstep. I always loved winter.”
Alice tried every sport she could – and enjoyed netball, football and horse riding. “I love sport so much and there were a lot of different alleyways I could have gone down. But eventually ski racing took the cake.
Although neither of her parents were skiers, Alice says their support has always been unwavering.
“They both loved competitive sport, and they instilled a really strong work ethic in me. And things like, hard work pays off; and if you’re going to do something, do it well. I always had a lot of drive growing up especially when it came to sports.”
She feels the backing of her family and close friends constantly – a crew gathers at her parents’ home to watch her races live, often in the middle of the night.
“They make a bit of a party around it,” she says. “I’ve always felt a strong connection and strong support from home.”
That support extends to the wider Coronet Peak and Queenstown communities.
“It’s been amazing how the community has supported me, especially in the last few years. Now there’s more access to watching overseas competitions online, they’ve been super supportive,” Alice says.
“Coronet Peak has supported me so much, giving me great training. So I feel really lucky to have grown up in this area, around people who also have such a love for snow sports and the outdoors.”
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Alice was just 16, and a student at Wakatipu High School, when she competed at her first Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang 2018 – the youngest member of the New Zealand team.
Her determination was unmistakeable – she’d qualified after only seven months with her FIS licence, the earliest she was allowed to compete at that elite level.
Friends sent her photos of teachers stopping class, so fellow students could watch her compete in the Giant Slalom (where she finished 35th). “They were all in the big hall, taking time out from classes to watch, which was pretty special.”
Alice was hailed as a rising star when she won the Emerging Talent award at the 2019 ISPS Handa Halberg Awards, following her first Giant Slalom World Cup victory in Austria.
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She returned for her second Winter Olympic Games at Beijing 2022, racing the Downhill, Giant Slalom and Super G, and will no doubt be hoping to stand on the podium at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
In recent seasons, she’s taken the alpine skiing world by storm.
In 2025, at the age of 23, Alice made history by winning New Zealand’s first-ever medal at a FIS Alpine Ski Racing World Championships, securing silver in Giant Slalom. She also finished on the podium at every GS World Cup race she finished.
She then opened her 2025-26 season in style with a FIS Giant Slalom World Cup victory at Copper Mountain, Colorado – elevating her to the most successful female alpine skier of all time from outside North America and Europe. That took her to a career World Cup medal total to 18.
It’s meant living a largely nomadic life, chasing winter from one hemisphere to the other. She’s now a recognisable sporting figure in central Europe, yet Alice has never forgotten where she comes from or the people who’ve helped her reach the summit of alpine ski racing.
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“I’ve also met so many amazing people along this journey who have given me so much, giving me new insights into how to do things.
“With all the ups and downs that come along with sport, I think I’ve learned something from every situation – whether it’s positive or negative. And that’s something I really want to continue doing.”