Jakara Anthony has continued her perfect start to the World Cup season in the single moguls discipline, winning her third straight event, and also won a bronze medal in the dual moguls at Alpe d’Huez, France.

The 2022 Olympic champion recorded the seventh World Cup victory of her career, in yet another dominant performance leading from start to finish, moving through all three rounds of the competition in first place.

Competing under sunny skies in the French Alps, the NSWIS skier had the highest turn and jump points in the final to score 79.70 points to finish 3.89 points ahead of French skier Perrine Laffont while American Elizabeth Lemley took third with 74.75 points.

“Three competitions and three wins on this course is pretty crazy” said the 24-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
“It’s heaps of fun in there, it doesn't look as hard as it is, it’s pretty difficult to ski in there so you really have to be on your game.”

In the men’s event, all three Australians made finals, led by 2018 Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham who narrowly missed advancing to the super-final in seventh place, with teammates Cooper Woods and Jackson Harvey recording strong qualifying performances but both made mistakes in the final to finish in in 15th and 16th place respectively.

BRONZE FOR ANTHONY IN DUAL MOGULS
At the dual moguls event in Alpe d’Huez in France, Jakara Anthony made it a double medal weekend with a bronze medal finish on day two, and has found the podium in four of the five moguls events this season.
 
In the semi-final round Anthony narrowly went down to eventual winner Anri Kawamura with a score of 19-16 in the Japanese skier's favour. In the dual for third place, Anthony rebounded strongly to take the bronze medal with a score of 22-13 against Avital Carroll from Austria. Perrine Laffont from France finished in second.
 
“I am very happy to be walking away with a third place today” said Anthony who is currently ranked number one in the world on the overall moguls World Cup standings.
 
“The women’s field is so strong, and myself, Perrine and Anri keep tossing around those top few spots, so it’s pretty exciting to see that keep switching up and keeping it fresh the whole tour again.”

Matt Graham and Copper Woods both finished in 19th place in the duals, with Jackson Harvey in 49th.

The mogul skiing World Cup tour will resume in North America in late January, with the first event being a double event in Val St Come, Canada.

2022 Olympic champion Jakara Anthony has made it back-to-back victories to open the season with a gold medal performance in Idre Fjäll, Sweden.

The NSWIS skier was dominant, leading from start to finish, moving through all three rounds of the competition in first place to record the sixth World Cup victory of her career, and second win of the season following on from the success at the opening World Cup event last weekend in Finland.

In the super-final, Anthony again had the highest scoring turns and jumps to score 81.75, and finish ahead on the podium of Anri Kawamura of Japan with a score of 80.02 points in second place, with French skier Perrine Laffont in third scoring 76.08.

“What a way to kick off the season” said the 24-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“I am really proud of how I have been able to progress over the days we have been on the course, there has been a lot of figuring out to do and a lot of changes to make, and I think I am making progress in the right direction.”

In the men’s event, three Australians again made finals, led by 2018 Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham who continued his strong comeback from injury with a sixth place finish, with teammate Cooper Woods narrowly behind in seventh and Jackson Harvey in eleventh in just his second World Cup start.

George Murphy improved on his debut performance the week before in Finland to finish in 35th place.

DUAL MOGULS
A dual mogul event also took place in Idre Fjäll, with Jakara Anthony again the highest placed Australian advancing through to the semi-final round. In her semi-final, Anthony was outscored 15-20 to eventual event winner Elizabeth Lemley of the USA, and in the dual for bronze narrowly lost 17-18 to Perrine Laffont of France.

Matt Graham was unlucky not to advance through to the semi-final, after going down to American Nick Page 17-18 to finish in sixth place for the second time for the weekend. NSWIS teammates Cooper Woods finished in 16th, Jackson Harvey 27th and George Murphy 37th.

Next up for the mogul skiing athletes is a double World Cup event next weekend in Alpe d'Huez, France, their final competitions before the Christmas and New Year break.

Australia’s best skiers have made a fantastic start to the mogul skiing World Cup season, with a double podium and four athletes reaching finals at the opening event in Ruka, Finland.
 
2022 Olympic Gold Medallist Jakara Anthony was spectacular, earning the highest turn and air points in the women’s super final to claim the fifth World Cup victory of her career for the 24-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria, with a huge score of 81.69, more than 3 points ahead of second place.
 
Behind Anthony on the podium was Perrine Laffont of France and Anri Kawamura of Japan finishing with identical 78.33 scores, with the tie break for second favouring Laffont.
 
“It’s my first win in Ruka ever,” Anthony said after stepping off the Ruka Podium.
 
“To kick off the season with the win and the yellow bib is pretty massive. You come into the first event and you don’t know what everyone’s been doing since last season, so it’s exciting to come out and see what everyone can do and show off what you’re capable of.”
 
“It’s a bit of a different experience for me this year, coming off such incredible experiences last season with the gold medal and the crystal globes,” Anthony continued, “I’ve definitely got a bit of a target on my back now and I think there’s going to be a lot of learning experiences this season, but I’m really looking forward to it.”
 
In the men’s event, 2018 Olympic Silver Medallist Matt Graham bounced back strongly from his injury interrupted Olympic season, to record the 19th podium of his World Cup career.
 
Joining Graham in finals were teammates Cooper Woods in tenth place, and rookie NSW Institute of Sport skier Jackson Harvey making finals in a very strong World Cup debut in 14th.
 
Canadian mogul skiing legend Mikael Kingsbury took home the victory scoring 84.5 points, ahead of Ikuma Horishima of Japan with 80.48 points, and Graham scoring 80.12
 
“I was over the moon to be back here skiing Ruka and competing again so to come away with third place is kind of nice”, said the 28-year-old from the NSW Central Coast.
 
 “It’s been a long 12 months for me, getting injured before the Olympics, and then not having the best Olympic experience, and during the off season spending a lot of time rehabbing my collarbone which I broke last year, and not able to train as much as I would normally, so it’s nice to come here and know that I have still got it.”
 
Also in action for Australia making his debut was George Murphy in 49th.
 
The mogul skiing athletes will now head to the Swedish resort of Idre Fjäll for a double event next weekend on December 10-11.

Standing in the start gate of a World Cup event, staring down at the slope while your teammates cheer you on is a dream for many young skiers who grow up in the sport, hoping one day to compete on the world’s stage. 

The dream is about to become a reality for two young mogul skiers in the Australian team, Jackson Harvey and George Murphy, who are set to make their World Cup debut in Ruka, Finland, this weekend.

“I've been dreaming of standing in a World Cup start gate since I was probably 8 years old, so the excitement I'm feeling leading into my debut event is electric,” said Harvey, who at 20 years of age is the oldest of the two athletes. He added that as a kid he used to watch World Cup events with a sense of awe at the insane level of mastery of the sport.
 
“Now, I have a chance to earn my wings and establish myself at this level, so I'm pretty stoked!” he said.

Together with his teammate Murphy, who is 19, the pair have been training hard during the domestic season and in preparation for the European winter, focusing on key aspects of the discipline and the technical elements of both skiing and jumping. 

Under the guidance of coaches Peter McNeil and Kate Blamey, Harvey able to notch his personal best FIS result at the Australian National Championships, claiming the second place overall behind his idol (and now teammate) Matt Graham.

“I've made some pretty substantial adjustments to my approach to training and have seen huge improvements in my technical execution of acrobatic skills and on snow performance,” Harvey said. 

Murphy too had very positive results in the Australia/New Zealand Continental Cup (ANC) and at the ABOM Mogul Challenge, taking out the Junior category (U20) in both events and achieving top 10 results in Open Divisions against a competitive field. 


“I was really happy with my progression over the recent domestic season,” Murphy said. “I feel as though I was able to bring it all together.” 


The young Aussies have been working off snow as well, focusing on the necessary conditioning to compete at elite level and trying to make the most of the off-season, in order to give themselves the best chance to succeed in their first World Cup campaign.


“I'm extremely proud of how I've adapted to this new lifestyle and embraced the challenges of training with the best mogul skiing program in the world,” continued Harvey. 


Murphy said he is also happy with the leaps he has made in the gym after working closely with his strength and conditioning coach, Janina Stratus. “Throughout the year it has allowed me to push my physical strength. This has been a catalyst in helping me develop my skills on snow and consistently complete top to bottom runs,” he said.


Even though the two mogul talents have been working hard to be ready for their World Cup debut in Ruka, managing expectations will be key as they approach their rookie season. They are both cognizant that their focus should be on getting experience of the competitive environment at that level, familiarising themselves with the reality of being elite athletes and learning how to stay healthy and focused while travelling and competing. 


“I have not set any expectations,” confirmed Murphy. “I just want to go out there, show the world the work that I’ve put in throughout this year and have fun along the way.”


Similarly, Harvey is approaching the World Cup season without any objective goals in terms of results, concentrating on improving his skills and refining his craft, instead.


“For me, success this year means enjoying the privilege of travelling to incredible locations, taking advantage of every training and learning opportunity, and having fun doing what I love,” he said.


As they achieve their dream of competing in a World Cup event, Harvey and Murphy are surrounded by many of the athletes who used to be their idols just a few years ago, and still are role models they look up to.


“Since I started watching the FIS World Cups from a young age, I have always followed and looked up to Matt [Graham] and it is awesome to get the chance to get in the gate with him this weekend,” Murphy confessed. 


“Being able to train closely alongside high achievers in my sport including Matt, Jakara [Anthony] and Cooper [Woods] over the past year has really inspired me to push myself to work as hard as they do.


“Even now it still feels a little surreal to be training alongside them everyday,” echoed Harvey. 


“Matt has given me valuable tactical advice to help me manage the difficult course here in Ruka, and Jakara has been a great source of knowledge for nutrition and recovery strategies.


“I'm both humbled and thrilled to go to battle with the world class crew that is the Australian moguls team this week - I can't wait to step in the gate!”


The Ruka Moguls World Cup will be held on 3 December with five Aussie athletes competing; Jakara Anthony, Matt Graham, Cooper Woods, Jackson Harvey and George Murphy.


Tune into the finals LIVE from 2am AEDT on Sunday 4 December at https://www.snow.org.au/live/

Article by snow.org.au