Torah Bright
OAM

Bright modelling in the 2013The Heart Truth show in New York City
Personal information
Full name	Torah Jane Bright
Born	(1986-12-27)27 December 1986 (age 38) Cooma,New South Wales
Height	5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Snowboarding
Coached by	Ben Bright[1]
Medal record Women'ssnowboarding Representing Australia Olympic Games 2010 Vancouver Halfpipe 2014 Sochi Halfpipe Winter X Games 2007 Aspen Superpipe 2009 Aspen Superpipe 2006 Aspen Superpipe 2008 Aspen Superpipe 2015 Aspen Superpipe World Championships 2013 Stoneham Slopestyle

Torah Jane BrightOAM (born 27 December 1986) is anAustralian former professionalsnowboarder. She is Australia's most successful Winter Olympian, formerOlympic gold and silver medalist, two time X Games gold medalist, three time US Open winner, two time Global Open Champion, three time World Superpipe Champion, former TTR World Champion and recipient of the Best Female Action Sports Athlete at the ESPY awards. In 2014 Bright became the first Olympic athlete (male or female) to qualify for all three snowboarding disciplines; halfpipe, slopestyle and boarder-cross.

Bright was born inCooma,New South Wales on 27 December 1986, to parents Peter and Marion Bright; she is the fourth of five siblings. Her parents named her "Torah" after her sister Rowena learned from her Jewish piano teacher that the name referred to the Jewish name for thefirst five books of the Tanakh and meant "bearer of a great spiritual message" and suggested the name for her new sister.^[2][3][4]

Bright grew up inCooma, New South Wales and attended Cooma North Public School at the base of theSnowy Mountains. She started out as a downhill ski racer.^[5]

Bright's brother, Ben, is also a professional snowboarder and was her coach.^{[citation needed]} Her older sister, Rowena, competed in the2002 Salt Lake City Olympics in alpine skiing.

Bright uses agoofy stance.

Bright finished 30th overall at the2005 World Championships inWhistler, Canada and was runner-up for the World Cup title during the 2003–04 season.

Bright entered only three World Cup events during the 2004–05 season, both in February at the 2006 Winter Olympic venue ofBardonecchia. She placed third in both events, qualifying for the Australian Olympic team.

In 2006, Bright earned a silver medal at the WinterX Games inAspen, Colorado. She returned the following year, winning the gold medal in the women'ssuperpipe event. She is the first Australian snowboarder to ever win gold at the Winter X Games (11), beating Winter Olympic medalistsGretchen Bleiler andHannah Teter.

In 2007, Bright took first at the Nissan X-Trail Nippon Open in the women's halfpipe, giving her back-to-back wins in two consecutive competitions. At the 2007 World Super Pipe Championships inPark City, Utah, Bright won first place, beating 2002 Olympic gold medalistKelly Clark. In late 2007, she made the podium for both events in theRoxyChicken Jam, the final event in the TTR (Ticket to Ride) Snowboard Tour, where she became the 2007 TTR world champion.^[6]

In 2010, at theWinter Olympics at Vancouver, Bright was chosen to carry the flag for Australia at the opening ceremonies,^[7] and qualified for the no. 1 spot for the final of the women's halfpipe, despite suffering two concussions beforehand in training. Crashing out in her first run in the final, Bright was the first competitor to make a second run. With a successful second run, she posted a score of 45.0, which remained the highest score through the field's second run. Bright became the fourth Australian to win a Winter Olympicsgold medal.

In 2013 at theWinter X Games XVII inAspen, Colorado, Bright came in fourth in thesuperpipe behind medalistsKelly Clark,Elena Hight, andArielle Gold.^[8][9]

In 2014 at theWinter Olympics at Sochi, having entered an unprecedented triple of slopestyle, halfpipe, and boarder-cross, Bright finished 7th in the inaugural women's slopestyle final and went on to win silver with a score of 91.50 in the women's halfpipe. This was Australia's first medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics. The medal also saw Bright surpassAlisa Camplin to become Australia's most successful female Winter Olympics athlete.^[10]

Bright was a participant in thefourteenth season ofDancing with the Stars.^[11]

In 2020 Bright appeared in the documentary filmOut of Bounds, snowboarding some of the most extreme reaches of the planet: "I came out of the journey totally inspired by nature and people. There are so many people who do care and are doing their part to create awareness and change. There is a shift in consciousness and it's a beautiful thing to witness."^[12]

Bright rarely entered competition after the 2014 Olympics, and suffered a wrist fracture after returning to competition 2 months before the2018 Olympics. She officially announced her retirement from competition in January 2020.^[13]

Bright has a lifelong sponsorship with Rhythm Snowsports, located in her home town Cooma. She also has a head-to-toe sponsorship withRoxy, the female-specific brand of action-sports companyQuiksilver. For the 2008–09 season, she worked to expand her career into design, working on a new addition to the Roxy's women's line, dubbed the "Bright Series," which includes her snowboard, the Roxy Eminence.^[14] Her other sponsors includeSubway andBoost Mobile.^{[citation needed]}

Bright is a member ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^{[citation needed]}

Bright was married to American pro snowboarder Jake Welch from 2010 to 2013.^[26]

Bright married snowboarder Angus Thomson in September 2015.^[27] The couple has two sons, born in July 2020 and May 2023.^[13][28]

• Religion gives Olympian Bright a boost
• Torah Bright wins Women's Halfpipe at 2010 Winter Olympics
• ROXY Team Rider Torah Bright Official Bio
• Stepping Out Of Bounds With Torah Bright

• 1986 births
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Cooma
• Sportswomen from New South Wales
• Australian female snowboarders
• Olympic snowboarders for Australia
• Snowboarders at the 2006 Winter Olympics
• Snowboarders at the 2010 Winter Olympics
• Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Olympics
• Australian Latter Day Saints
• X Games competitors
• Olympic gold medalists for Australia
• Olympic silver medalists for Australia
• Olympic medalists in snowboarding
• Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics
• Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics
• Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
• Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
• 21st-century Australian sportswomen

• Webarchive template wayback links
• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from January 2015
• Use Australian English from January 2012
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from November 2024
• Articles with unsourced statements from March 2025