NSWIS skier Matt Graham has claimed Australia’s first medal at the 2025 FIS Freestyle and Snowboard World Championships, winning bronze in a courageous performance in the iconic Swiss resort St Moritz, where three of the top four men suffered heavy crashes in a wild semi-final round of championship mogul skiing.
 
Graham now has five World Championship medals in his remarkable career, the most of any Australian winter sports athlete, surpassing snowboarder Scotty James, who will be aiming to join Graham on five podiums next week in St Moritz.
 
The opening event at the World Championships was the single moguls, where Graham showed he was in strong form advancing through to the top-eight super final. Graham was in contention for a medal, but a mistake just before the finish line saw the 2018 Olympic medallist finish in fifth place. Joining Graham in finals was NSWIS teammate Cooper Woods in ninth, missing the super-final by one place, George Murphy 22nd and Jackson Harvey was 28th.
 
In her World Championship debut, Charlotte Wilson qualified for the eight-woman medal round super final and finished seventh in her World Championship debut. Also on debut and just missing the final cut for top 20 was Emma Bosco.
 
In the dual moguls competition, Graham advanced through the early rounds with a 19-16 victory over Sweden's Robin Olgaard in the round of 16, followed by a 23-12 win against Mateo Jeannesson of Great Britain in the quarter-finals.
 
In the first semi-final, Graham went head-to-head with legendary Canadian skier Mikael Kingsbury in a thrilling duel. Both athletes pushed themselves to the absolute limit, but just before the bottom jump, Graham lost a ski at high speed, causing him to cartwheel down the course. After this setback, Kingsbury advanced to the big final and Graham to the small final and the opportunity for the bronze medal.
 
The second semi-final saw Japan's Ikuma Hiroshima and Sweden's Filip Gravenfors both crash heavily across the finish line, Hiroshima was the skier to advance to the gold medal match up but was injured and unable to compete further.
 
In the small final, Graham's opponent Gravenfors pushed out of the start gate but could not continue due his semi-final crash, Graham completed the course in a solo run to claim the bronze medal, while Hiroshima's withdrawal from the final race off duel gave Kingsbury the gold medal.
 
“It was probably one of the hardest earned podiums of my career” said the 30-year-old Graham from the NSW Central Coast.
 
“After a big crash last week in Livigno and not knowing if I would be able to compete, to keep skiing the way I did today and get down the run, then having a big crash in the semi-final against Mikael rattled everything a little bit. Fortunately, I was able to ski to the bronze medal.”
 
“It’s a good way to cap off the season, it’s been long, lots of ups and downs, my third dual podium for the year is unreal, and also another “Dad Podium”, this time at the World Championships is pretty special with Ikuma and Mikael. I hope both Ikuma and Filip are ok from their crashes.”
 
“The course was challenging, it was icy at the start of the day, and consequently the top air landing and first five turns got trashed. On paper the course wasn’t that tricky but there were a few little technical elements to it.”
 
“Heading into the small-final I didn’t know what state Filip was in. He is a crazy duals skier, I was in a lot of pain myself and just wanted to get down the run and be in one piece, so I was just willing to ski my run and whatever happened, happened. I didn’t realise he was inured or sore, it wasn’t until I landed the top jump, and I couldn’t hear him or sense him that I knew I was in the clear, but I didn’t realise he pushed out and slipped his way down the course.”
 
“Our team is really close, they are my second family, also having my mum and dad here was special, it was a little bittersweet given the circumstances, and I was in shock to be honest when I crossed the line, so I broke down a little and got a bit emotional.”
 
Also competing for Australia in the final event of the moguls skiing competition season were Cooper Woods in eighth place, Charlotte Wilson 15th, Emma Bosco 17th, Jackson Harvey 18th and George Murphy 23rd.

Mogul skier Charlotte Wilson has stunned the FIS World Cup circuit, claiming her first career victory in the dual mogul’s event on the site of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, next February.

Wilson sets the record for the fewest amount of starts by an Australian mogul skier to win World Cup gold, in just her tenth start of her rookie season competing at the highest level. Wilson is only the third Australian female mogul skier to win a World Cup event, following in the footsteps of World Champion Britt Cox and Olympic Champion Jakara Anthony.

Just a day after she was named FIS World Cup Mogul Skiing Rookie of the Year and placed eighth in the single moguls competition, the NSWIS skier started the dual moguls strongly, defeating world number four Canadian Maia Schwinghammer 18 to 17 in the round of 32. Next, Wilson defeated world number three Rino Yanagimoto of Japan in the quarter-finals 23 to 12 to set up a semi-final matchup with 2018 Olympic Champion and world number two Perrine Lafont of France.

In the semi-final, Wilson won a close dual against the French champion 18-17, to advance to the gold medal dual with current world number one Jaelin Kauf of the USA.

Wilson continued her incredible form against the American, winning 22-13 for the first podium and victory of her career.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet, this is an incredible day and an incredible feeling. I spoke earlier about wanting that momentum from yesterday to carry on and I really think it did today” said the 20-year-old from the NSW Snowy Mountains.

“I was just trying to do my run today, blinkers on and put down the best run I could, I knew I would have to really push the speed today and I obviously managed to do that.

“It’s a good confidence boost leading into next year, top-10 yesterday and a win today, the next 11 months are going to be tough and hard work, but I really like the venue and next year is going to be awesome.”

In the men’s event Cooper Woods had his best finish of the season finishing in fifth place, pushing Olympic gold medallist and World Cup wins record holder Mikael Kingsbury in his quarter-final, beating the Canadian across the line, but a stumble cost him on the last turn and the judges awarded the win to Kingsbury 22-13.

Olympic medallist Matt Graham was unable to compete in the dual moguls after a crash the day prior in the single moguls super-final. Graham went to hospital for precautionary scans which came back negative for any damage.

Graham was in great form before the crash, qualifying for finals in third place, and in the first round of finals finished fifth to advance to the six man super-final. Graham was unable to complete his super-final run, he finished sixth overall.

Graham recovered well from the crash and plans to compete in his seventh FIS World Championships in St Moritz, Switzerland, the final event of the season.

The moguls event in St Moritz will take place on March 19 and dual moguls on March 21.

Joining Graham, Woods and Wilson in St Moritz will be Jackson Harvey, George Murphy, Jakara Anthony (TBC), Emma Bosco, and Lottie Lodge.

NSWIS skier Matt Graham has claimed the 27th World Cup podium of his career in Almaty, Kazakhstan, after capturing bronze in the dual moguls.
 
The 2018 Olympic silver medallist, Graham, shared a historic moment with fellow skiers Mikael Kingsbury and Ikuma Horishima on the first ever mogul skiing “dad podium,” as all three medallists became first time fathers just prior to the 2024-2025 season.
 
In the match up for the bronze medal, Graham defeated Korean Daeyoon Jung 22 to 13, his second dual mogul podium of the season. Canadian Mikael Kingsbury was victorious 21-14 in the gold medal dual over Ikuma Horishima of Japan.
 
“It’s great to be back on the podium. We have been knocking on the door to have the dad podium all season. Two times we have finished 1-2-4, so to get 1-2-3 is pretty awesome,” said the 30-year-old Graham from the NSW Central Coast.
 
“I was feeling the pressure a little at the top, it was running through my head, but I had to tell myself to land the top air, ski a run and let it happen from there in the final dual.
 
“I am really fit and healthy at the moment, the body is feeling great, so I am looking forward to going to Livigno and checking out the (2026 Olympic) course there and then finishing off at the World Championships (in St Moritz).
 
NSWIS teammate Cooper Woods also performed well finishing in seventh place, after losing to eventual winner Kingsbury in the quarter-finals, while teammates Jackson Harvey was 19th, George Murphy 21st and Oliver Logan 34th.
 
With two World Cup events remaining, Matt Graham is ranked third overall in the combined mogul standings, sixth in single moguls and fourth in dual moguls.
 
Both final World Cup events of the season will take place at the 2026 Olympic venue in Livigno, Italy, with moguls on March 11 and dual moguls on March 12.

NSWIS 2018 Olympic medallist Matt Graham has continued his strong form, just missing the podium in the moguls event with a fourth-place finish at the World Cup in Beidahu, China. Graham also had a second top-10 in the dual moguls on day two of competition, placing sixth.
 
Graham and NSWIS teammate Cooper Woods both qualified for finals in second and eighth place, scoring 78.66 and 76.70 points respectively.
 
In the first round of finals, Graham stepped up his run to score 81.41, placing him through to his first super-final of the season in fifth. Unfortunately Woods was unable to progress finishing 16th.
 
Graham stepped it up again in the super-final, this time scoring 83.65, to fall just short of the podium by 0.14 points.
 
In first place was Ikuma Horishima of Japan, 86.57, Canadian Mikael Kingsbury was second on 85.91 and Filip Gravenfors of Sweden third with 83.79.
 
NSWIS skiers George Murphy was 30th, Jackson Harvey is his return from injury34th and Oliver Logan 36th.
 
Dual Moguls: Quarter-Finals for Graham
Graham advanced through to the quarter-final round in the dual moguls, finishing in sixth.
 
Graham had victories over Korean Yoonseung Lee in the round of 32 and Canadian Sam Cordell in the round of 16 to set up a quarter final match against Nick Page of the USA.
 
In a close quarter final duel, Graham unfortunately lost to the American 20 to 15.
 
Fellow NSWIS skiers Cooper Woods and Jackson Harvey both made it through to the round of 32, finishing in 17th and 32nd place respectively, George Murphy was 39th and Oliver Logan 40th in the round of 64.
 
Finish skier Severi Vierela claimed his first career victory, Horishima was second and Viel of Canada third.
 
With double World Cup events remaining in Almaty, Kazakhstan (February 28 and March 1), and the Olympic test event in Livigno, Italy (March 11 and 12), Graham is currently ranked sixth in single moguls, fourth in dual moguls and fourth overall on the combined Mogul standings.

Matt Graham flying down the China bumps
© Taro Tampo

The iconic Deer Valley mogul skiing World Cup events have taken place, with warm weather throughout the week making the Champion Run course particularly tough, with deep moguls and trying conditions causing many athletes to crash out in both the single and dual events.
 
Leading the way for Australia were NSWIS skiers Matt Graham and Cooper Woods, who secured  top-10 finishes in both events. Teammate Charlotte Wilson also delivered a strong performance, finishing 13th in the single moguls after qualifying for the finals in fifth place.
 
In the single moguls, Graham and Woods were unlucky not to advance to the top six super final, finishing in eighth and tenth place respectively. After a very fast qualifying performance in fifth, Wilson then had trouble with her top air ski out, slipping to 13th in finals.
 
Also competing for Australia was Emma Bosco 18th, Lottie Lodge 21st, Lucy Pernice 24th, Xanthia Coote did not finish and in the men’s event Oliver Logan was 39th, George Murphy and Edward Hill also recorded a did not finish.
 
In the dual moguls, Graham made it through to the quarter-final round, finishing in sixth place, while Woods was unlucky not to join him after a close loss in the round of 16, and a final ranking of 10th.
 
Other dual mogul results included George Murphy 36th, Charlotte Wilson 31st, Lucy Pernice 32nd, Emma Bosco 33rd, Lottie Lodge 35th and Oliver Logan 39th.
 
American Jaelin Kauf and Ikuma Horishima of Japan won both days on competition.
 
Beidahu Resort in China is set to host the next round of World Cup competition in two weeks. The event will feature both single and dual moguls on February 21 and 22.

Single and dual mogul World Cup events took place under lights at Val St Come in Canada, where NSWIS skier Charlotte Wilson achieved consecutive super finals performances in her first World Cup season. Olympic medallist Matt Graham also continued his strong dual mogul form finishing sixth.
 
Day One Single Moguls: Wilson makes second straight super-final
 
Competing in just her fifth World Cup start, Wilson made a good start in qualifying, advancing to finals in tenth place. Joining Wilson in finals were NSWIS male teammates Matt Graham fifth and Cooper Woods in eighth.
 
In the first round of finals, Wilson stepped up with the fifth best score of the round to book herself a place in the top six super-final, Unfortunately Graham and Woods missed out in ninth and 13th.
 
Wilson put down another consistent run in the super-final, matching her personal best from the previous event in Waterville Valley.
 
Also in action for Australia were NSWIS skiers Lottie Lodge in 20th, Lucy Pernice 30th, Xanthia Coote 31st, Oliver Logan 32nd, Emma Bosco 39th, George Murphy 47th and Edward Hill 53rd
 
Victory went to hometown Canadian skiers Mikael Kingsbury and Maia Schwinghammer.
 
Day Two Dual Moguls: Graham just misses semi-final in sixth
 
Matt Graham was unlucky not to advance to the final four semi-final round in the dual moguls, after losing a tight quarter-final matchup to American Nick Page 19 to 16.
 
Dual moguls will make their Olympic debut at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Games, and Graham has finished no worse than sixth in dual events this season, highlighted by a silver medal last week in Waterville Valley, giving the 30-year-old NSWIS skier a current dual mogul ranking of fourth on the standings.
 
Cooper Woods and Charlotte Wilson made it through to the round of 16, finishing in 11th and 15th, with Edward Hill 26th, Xanthia Coote 29th, Lottie Lodge 36th, Emma Bosco 39th, Oliver Logan 40th and George Murphy 43rd.
 
American Jaelin Kauf won the women’s event, and Kingsbury again was first place in the men’s, the 96th World Cup victory of his career.
 
Next weekend the prestigious Deer Valley World Cup takes place in Park City, USA, with single moguls on February 6, aerials on February 7 and dual moguls on February 8.

Olympic medallist Matt Graham has skied to the 26th World Cup podium of his impressive career, following a silver medal performance in the dual moguls in Waterville Valley, USA.
 
Graham showed great form throughout the day, making his way through the earlier rounds with ease before winning difficult match ups against Frenchman Benjamin Cavet in the quarter finals 20 to 15, and a super close semi-final victory over Ikuma Horishima of Japan 18 to 17.
 
In the big final Graham faced legendary Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, and in a close duel right to the finish line Kingsbury prevailed 21 to 14, extending his record for the most ever wins for a freestyle skier to 94. Rounding out the podium in third place was Filip Gravenfors of Sweden who defeated Horishima for the bronze.
 
“It is nice to be on the podium for the first time this season” said the 30-year-old Graham from the NSW Central Coast.
 
“Duals is always a long challenging day, a lot of top-to-bottoms at crazy fast speeds, at the start of the day I was just happy to get through to the finals, and once they came around it was just full send from there.
 
“I have felt like all of the pieces have been there, but it just hasn’t stuck yet, making a few mistakes in the previous events, so it was nice to have some solid skiing today, especially this week after battling the flu and bedridden two days ago with chronic fevers and still feeling under the weather yesterday was pretty rewarding.”
 
Also in action were fellow NSWIS skiers  Oliver Logan in 27th, Cooper Woods 30th, Edward Hill 32nd, George Murphy 35th and women Charlotte Wilson 18th, Lottie Lodge 31st, Lucy Pernice 34th and Emma Bosco 35th.
 
Next weekend the mogul skiers compete at the World Cup event in Val St.Come, Canada, with moguls on February 1 and dual moguls February 2.

19-year-old NSWIS skier Charlotte Wilson has skied to an impressive fifth place in just her third World Cup start in Waterville Valley, USA, the birthplace of freestyle skiing.
 
Wilson qualified for finals in sixth place with a score of 71.51 points, and in the first round of finals improved to score 71.87 and remain in sixth place, which advanced her to the first World Cup super-final of her career.
 
In the top-six super-final, Wilson improved again with a faster run which scored 73.88, to give her a fifth pace personal best result.
 
In the men’s event NSWIS teammates Matt Graham and Cooper Woods both qualified for finals in fifth and tenth place respectively. In finals, Graham was unlucky not to make the super-final finishing in eighth place, with Woods 13th.
 
In the qualification round George Murphy was 32nd, and Oliver Logan 57th. Making their World Cup debut’s Lottie Lodge was 23rd, Emma Bosco 27th, Lucy Pernice 40th, Edward Hill 56th, and Xanthia Coote did not finish.

The final mogul skiing World Cup events of the calendar year took place in Bakuriani, Georgia, where Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham led the way finishing in seventh place in the single moguls and sixth in the dual moguls.
 
Competing on a challenging 280m long course with an average pitch of 28 degrees, the NSWIS skier qualified for finals in second place, with his teammate Cooper Woods also joining him in the 16-man-final in 11th place. Oliver Logan missed finals in 32nd place.
 
In finals, Graham just fell short of advancing to the six-man super final in seventh place with a score of 77.97, missing out by only 0.20 points. Woods finished 15th in the final after scoring 68.33.
 
Victory in the single moguls went to Benjamin Cavet of France, with Mikael Kingsbury of Canada in second and Finish skier Severi Vierela in third.
 
In the dual moguls event in Bakuriani, Graham was again the highest placed Australian, this time finishing in sixth place after making it through to the quarter-final round.
 
Graham had wins against Kosuke Sugimonto of Japan (23 to 12) in the round of 32, Robin Olgaard of Sweden (20 to 15) in the round of 16 setting up a quarter-final round showdown against day one winner Benjamon Cavet of France.
 
Unfortunately Graham lost to the Frenchman 21 to 14, giving hm a final ranking of sixth, with his NSWIS teammates Cooper Woods 34th and Oliver Logan 36th.
 
The winner of the dual moguls event was Walter Wallberg of Sweden, Cavet of France in second, and another Swede Filip Gravenfors in third.
 
No female skiers represented Australia in Bakuriani, with Olympic gold medalist Jakara Anthony out injured, and Charlotte Wilson returning to Australia as planned. Wilson will rejoin the World Cup circuit at the next stop in Waterville Valley, USA, on January 24-25.

Matt Graham (left) vs Benjamin Cavet (right) in a closely contested quarter-final
© FIS Freestyle

NSWIS mogul skier Edward Hill has had a personal best finish in the US Selections event in Winter Park, CO, USA, with his first ever FIS event victory.
 
The 18-year-old from Melbourne qualified for finals in 12th place, and then stepped it up in finals, winning the first round to advance to the super-final medal round.
 
As the last competitor in the super-final, Hill performed well under pressure for his highest score of the day with 83.83 points, to take the win by 1.55 points over American Nash Lucas, with another American Camden Lewis in third 1.9 points behind Hill.
 
Also making finals for Australia were Xanthia Coote (8th), Emma Bosco (13th), Mac Livissianos (14th) and Lottie Lodge (16th).
 
In the dual moguls, Lucy Pernice (9th), Xanthia Coote (11th), Talia Manns (14th) and Ed Hill (16th) all made it through to the quarter-final round.

Moguls

Men
1st Edward Hill
14th Mac Livissianos
24th Tristan Rowley
33rd  Bradley Manns
 
Women
8th Xanthia Coote
13th Emma Bosco
16th Lottie Lidge
19th Talia Manns
23th Lucy Pernice
35th Indi Speirs
39th Eliza Peake
 
Dual Moguls

Men
15th Edward Hill
17th Tristan Rowley
31st Bradley Manns
41st Mac Livissianos
 
Women
9th Lucy Pernice
11th Xanthia Coote
14th Talia Manns
25th Eliza Peake
29th Lottie Lodge
34th Emma Bosco
59th Indi Speirs

Reining mogul skiing Olympic and World Cup champion Jakara Anthony is on her way home following an injury during training in Sweden.
 
After a record breaking 2023-2024 season where Anthony had the most successful season ever by a mogul skier, Anthony continued her form into the new season with back-to-back medals, setting a new Australian record for most career World Cup podiums, and her 23rd victory in the single moguls the day before the injury.
 
QUOTES
 
Julia Brukner – Jakara Anthony’s Manager
 
“Jakara sustained an injury during World Cup training in Idre Fjall that will rule her out of the upcoming event in Georgia. She has had surgery on her collarbone in Oslo and will travel to Australia to commence her rehab.”
 
Geoff Lipshut – OWIA CEO
 
“Jakara had a great start to the winter. This training accident is unfortunate, but Jakara is very positive, looks forward to coming home and then working on her rehabilitation plan in Australia.”
 
Anthony will consult with medical and training staff in the next week, before deciding on next steps and recovery plan.
 
LINK – Jakara Anthony’s Instagram Post

Jakara Anthony has claimed her first victory of the 2024-2025 season in the moguls event in the Swedish resort of Idre Fjäll, the 23rd World Cup victory of her incredible career.

The reigning NSWIS World Cup Champion improved as the event went on, qualifying for finals in second with a score of 77.39, and then won the first round of finals on 80.36, ensuring Anthony would be the final skier for the event in the super-final medal round.

Anthony then found another gear for the super-final, posting her highest score of the season from the judges with 82.94 points, to finish 2.05 points ahead of rival Perrine Laffont of France on 80.89 with Canadian Maya Schwinghammer in third with 80.71.

Joining Anthony in the women’s final was 19-year-old Charlotte Wilson, who had an impressive qualifying run in just her second World Cup start, advancing to the final in sixth place with a score of 72.84 points, giving Wilson the record for the least amount of starts to qualify for a World Cup final by an Australian female mogul skier.

Wilson finished in tenth place in the final with a score of 69.75 points, the first World Cup top-10 of her career.

“It feels good to finish up in first place” said the 26-year-old Anthony from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“I don’t think there was any more pressure than any other competition, I know what I am trying to achieve every time, I am competing against the other girls but kind of just competing against myself in a way.”

After two events, Anthony and Laffont are both ranked number one on the standings sharing the yellow leaders bib with 180 points.

In the men’s event, Matt Graham qualified for finals in fifth place and finished 11th in the final missing out on the top-six super final.

Also in action for Australia were Oliver Logan and Cooper Woods, with the 21-year-old Logan recording a personal best World Cup performance in 26th place, with Woods in 30th.

The men’s event was won by Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, with Ikuma Horishima of Japan in second and local Swedish skier Walter Wallberg finishing third.

A dual mogul event was also scheduled to take place in Idre Fjäll the following day, but was cancelled due to bad visibility.

The World Cup tour was originally scheduled to compete next weekend in Alpe d'Huez, France, but was cancelled due to low snow, so the next competition will take place in Bakuriani, Georgia, on December 20-21.

Australian mogul skier Jakara Anthony has started the 2024-2025 FIS World Cup season with a silver medal performance overnight in Ruka, Finland.
 
The podium result is the 42nd medal of her incredible career, and now holds the record for the most ever World Cup podiums by an Australian winter sports athlete, eclipsing the previous record of 41 held by aerial skier Kirstie Marshall.
 
In the super-final medal round, Anthony put down a strong run scoring 80 points from the judges but was narrowly outscored by French skier Perrine Laffont on 81.13, with American Olivia Giaccio rounding out the podium in third place with 76.95 points.
 
“Pretty happy with what we have been able to achieve walking away with a second place at the start of a super long season, it’s a great way to kick it off” said the 26-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“Breaking the record for the most World Cup medals is an impressive stat, I never find out about these things until I have broken it, that’s a cool one and another accolade, super proud of me and my team and how we have been able to go about completing that, it’s been a big journey, there is still a long way to go and we will be looking to rack up a few more this season.
 
“Over the week that the course has been up here in Ruka we have kind of had every condition that’s possible from pretty big soft bumps to little icy ones, so have had to use all sorts of skills out there, but pretty lucky we have been able to work it out.
 
“It’s great to have so many chicks up that top end of the sport, that’s what makes it exciting, we are all going out there each day fighting for that top spot, which means we are all pushing each other and we have seen the sport progress a lot over the past four years.”
 
In the men’s event, Matt Graham and Cooper Woods qualified for finals in third and ninth place respectively, but in the final missed out on advancing to the top-six super final in 10th and 13th place.
 
Canadian Mikael Kingsbury finished in first place, with Walter Wallberg of Sweden in second, with third place going to Ikuma Horishima of Japan.
 
Also in action for Australia was Charlotte Wilson who finished in 20th place in her World Cup debut and in the men’s event Oliver Logan finished in 44th with George Murphy recording a did not finish.
 
Next weekend the World Cup mogul skiing tour moves to Sweden for a single and dual mogul event on December 6 and 7.

The opening mogul skiing FIS World Cup event of the season kicks off this weekend in Ruka, Finland, with Australia’s triple Crystal Globe champion from last season Jakara Anthony leading the Australian charge alongside Matt Graham and Cooper Woods who were both on the World Cup podium last season.
 
Conditions have been unseasonably warm and dry in Finland earlier this month, but thankfully cold temperatures arrived in the past week for the event to go ahead as planned on Ruka’s Battery Run.

2024 World Cup Champion Jakara Anthony was looking forward to getting back in the start gate and defending her title.

"It’s crazy that we are already kicking off the World Cup season here in Ruka but it’s also super exciting. It was a bit of a slow start with snow over here but the course is up now and ripping!"
 
Competing for Australia in Ruka:
 
Women
Jakara Anthony
Charlotte Wilson (World Cup Debut)
 
Men
Matt Graham
Cooper Woods
George Murphy
Oliver Logan
 
Qualifying and finals in Ruka take place on Saturday November 30.
 
To watch the event live, visit snow.org.au/live, closer to the event the page will be updated to show what times the events will start in the Australian time zone, and be sure to return over the season as the page will provide links to watch all Australian’s in action competing in FIS World Cup and World Championship events.

The 2024 New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) Awards not only showcased the inspiring performances by some of Australian sport’s greatest names, but it provided the 400-strong audience with an insight into the character – the grit ‘n grace – that drove the winners to glory on the world’s major sporting stages.

NSWIS CEO Kevin Thompson’s pre-event admission that the judges had a tough job deciding upon the winners of each of the seven categories due to the quality of the finalists was confirmed when the prestigious Ian Thorpe AM Outstanding Achievement Award was shared by the indomitable Lauren Parker (photographed above) and the unstoppable Jakara Anthony.

The gala dinner at The Star Sydney, which was hosted with a tremendous warmth and energy by Olympian and Channel Seven’s Sunrise host Matt Shirvington, presented dignitaries, including Premier Chris Minns, Australian Olympic Chief Executive Matt Carroll, Paralympics Australia CEO Kate McLoughlin, and NSWIS Chair Gary Flowers, with the opportunity to acknowledge in their speeches the Institute’s contribution to the joy of sport – and an outstanding Olympic and Paralympic year.

The 2024 NSWIS Media Awards was a night with plenty to celebrate, but by its end there was no dispute the stars of the night – who did a mighty job of detailing their stories of grit, grace and glory – were the athletes and other award winners.

2024 NSWIS AWARD WINNERS

VALOUR MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Timothy Hodge (swimming)

NSW OFFICE OF SPORT FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Jessica Fox (canoe slalom)

IAN THORPE AM OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARAD PRESENTED BY POWERADE
Lauren Parker (Para triathlon and Para cycling)

Jakara Anthony (winter sport)

Award presented by Gemma Versteeg, Senior Brand Manager, Coca-Cola South Pacific and accepted on Jakara’s behalf by Geoff Lipshut, CEO Olympic Winter Institute of Australia.

Record breaking world cup season, 14 wins and a bronze medal from 16 starts. Besides rewriting the history books as the most successful Moguls skier in a World Cup season, Anthony brought home three Crystal globes.

Jakara Anthony: “I am beyond honoured to be taking home the Ian Thorpe Outstanding Achievement Award presented by Powerade. It’s been such a spectacular year for sport across Australia, and in particular our NSWIS athletes. It was a really exciting season for myself and my team who were able to take home 14 out of 16 World Cup wins which was the most out of any male or female from out sport [moguls] and take home three Crystal Globes on top of that.

“It’s really special to be recognised for that. A massive thank you to NSWIS for their continued support, I’m looking forward to see what we can do in the future.”

Jakara Anthony’s record breaking season has finished in the best possible way, with a gold medal performance in the dual moguls at the World Cup in Valmalenco, Italy, extending her record for the most ever wins in a season for a mogul skier to 14, in the greatest season ever by an Australian winter sports athlete.

Anthony also collected her third of three World Cup Champion Crystal Globes for the season, after finishing ranked first in single moguls, dual moguls and the overall which combines both mogul disciplines. The NSWIS skier cruised through the early rounds of the event to again reach the big final against world number two Jaelin Kauf of the USA.

In a close final with both skier’s neck-and-neck throughout the run, Anthony prevailed with a score of 20 to 15, with her superior jumps and turns giving the 2022 Olympic champion the 22nd victory of her impressive career and only two wins behind aerial skiing legend Jacqui Cooper who leads all Australian winter sport athletes with 24 career victories. Anthony also ties aerial skiing pioneer and first skiing World Champion, Kirstie Marshall, for the most career total World Cup podiums by an Australian athlete at 41.

“It’s been a rough week, I have been sick since the event last weekend in Kazakhstan, so pretty stoked to come out and put down some high quality runs and get the job done” said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“The season has been absolute wild, it’s hard to put it into words, I am super proud of what I have been able to achieve with my team around me, and the skiing and jumping I have been able to do.”

“World Championship gold is the only major medal I don’t have now, and we have the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Games coming up which will be the first time dual moguls are in the Olympics. Me and my team are just going to keep ticking along, trying to change things every year and get better.”

Matt Graham and Cooper Woods elected not to compete in the final event and returned to Australia after last week's event in Kazakhstan

Jakara Anthony’s unstoppable form continued with her 13th victory of the season in the dual moguls event in Almaty, Kazakhstan, extending the total for the most ever wins in a season by a mogul skier, and so claiming all three World Cup Crystal globes with one event remaining next week in Italy. Anthony recorded back-to-back wins in Kazakhstan after the previous day’s record-breaking single moguls competition.

The NSWIS skier cruised through the early rounds of the event to reach the big final against world number two Jaelin Kauf of the USA. In a close final with both skiers neck-and-neck throughout the run, Anthony prevailed with a score of 18 to 17, giving the 2022 Olympic champion the 21st victory of her impressive career and now only three wins behind aerial skiing legend Jacqui Cooper who leads all Australian winter sport athletes with 24 career World Cup victories.

“That’s a few back-to-back wins for the season now, we are getting to the end of the season now, this was our 15th event, so to be able to keep bring that week after week I am really proud of that”, said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“Being the top seed in duals means you switch lines every dual round, and I have been lucky to be the top seed most of the season, so I am quite confident at it now, but it was a bit rattling at the start of the season, so it’s really good training for me.”

“We have one more start next week in Valmalenco, and then it’s season done.”

In the men’s event, NSWIS teammate Matt Graham reached the quarter-final stage, finishing in ninth place after losing a narrow dual to eventual bronze medallist American Landon Wendler in a score of 17-18. Canadian Mikael Kingsbury claimed the victory, with Pavel Kolmakov of Kazakhstan in second place.

The mogul skiers l now head to Italy for the final World Cup of the season in Valmalenco, Italy, competing in a dual mogul event. In Valmalenco the Crystal Globes for dual moguls and overall moguls will be presented, where Anthony has an unbeatable lead in the rankings.

NSWIS skier Jakara Anthony’s unbelievable form has continued with her 12th World Cup victory of the 2023-2024 season in Almaty, Kazakhstan, breaking the record for the most wins in a single season by a mogul skier. Also joining Anthony on the podium was NSWIS teammate Matt Graham in the men’s event with a bronze medal performance.

The previous record of 11 wins was set by legendary American Olympic Champion mogul skier Hannah Kearney during the 2011-2012 season, and has the opportunity to further extend her total with two dual mogul events remaining.

Anthony also received the Crystal Globe as the World Cup champion in the single moguls discipline for the second straight year, after winning a remarkable seven of eight events in that discipline and now has 20 career World Cup victories.

In a commanding performance, Anthony won every stage of the competition to advance to the super-final medal round, scoring 82.74 points to comfortably take the victory 6.57 points ahead of American Alli Macuga of the USA in second place on 76.17, with her teammate Hannah Soar in third with 73.84.

”Today was pretty phenomenal, I can finally talk about that record 12 wins in one season, the most ever by a mogul skier, and to finally get the Crystal Globe in my hand for the first time in person is a pretty special feeling”, said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“Crystal Globes are so hard to come by as you have to ski so consistently all season, to get another one I never dreamt of this.”

“We have a dual moguls event here tomorrow, and then one next week in Valmalenco, Italy, so have a bit more skiing to do. Duals is a different game but it’s going to be in the next Olympics in Milan in 2026, so I am looking forward to getting some more volume competing in that discipline and learning some new skills I can take there.”

In the men’s event, Matt Graham had his second medal performance of the season and 25th podium of his career after finishing in third place. Graham scored 80.81 points in the super final to finish behind event winner Mikael Kingsbury of Canada on 84.49, with Ikuma Horishima of Japan in second place with 83.48 points.

“This course here suits me a lot, and I was able to put my high degree of difficulty down with a back double full and cork 1080 run together, which I haven’t done too often, and moving forward into the next Olympic campaign that’s the goal for me and compete with the likes of Ikuma and Mikael“, said the 29-year-old from the NSW Central Coast.

At the Nor-Am mogul competition in Val St Come, Canada, Emma Bosco achieved her best ever result at the Nor-Am level, with a fourth place finish in the single moguls. Bosco was also the highest placed Australian female in the dual moguls in tenth place.

In the men's competitions, the highest place finisher was NSWIS skier Edward Hill, who had his third straight top-ten dual mogul performance finishing in ninth place. Oliver Logan was the only male to reach the round of 16 finals in the men's single moguls, finishing 13th.

Women's Single Moguls
4th - Emma Bosco
13th - Kareema Wakim
15th - Lucy Pernice
16th - Charlotte Wilson
34th - Xanthia Coote

Men's Single Moguls
13th - Oliver Logan
20th - Edward Hill
27th - Tristan Rowley
33rd - Mac Livissianos
DNF - George Murphy
Women's Dual Moguls
10th - Emma Bosco
21st - Charlotte Wilson
23rd - Lucy Pernice
29th - Xanthia Coote
42nd - Kareema Wakim
Men's Dual Moguls
9th - Edward Hill
13th - Oliver Logan
17th - George Murphy
40th - Tristan Rowley
42nd - Mac Livissianos

At the Nor-Am mogul competition in Apex, Canada, NSWIS skier George Murphy has made it back-to-back podium performances in the dual moguls event with a silver medal finish, to go with his bronze medal from the week before in Deer Valley, USA.

First up was the single moguls, where Oliver Logan, who has also competed in World Cup events this season had Australia's best result in fourth place. Youth Olympic Games silver medallist Lottie Lodge made the super-final, and finished sixth.

In the dual moguls, youth Olympian Edward Hill nearly joined Murphy on the podium skiing to a personal best Nor-Am finish of fourth place.

Women's Single Moguls
6th - Lottie Lodge
11th - Lucy Pernice
24th - Emma Bosco
26th - Kareema Wakim
27th - Xanthia Coote
33rd - Charlotte Wilson

Men's Single Moguls
4th - Oliver Logan
23rd - George Murphy
25th - Edward Hill
26th - Mac Livissianos
29th - Tristan Rowley

Women's Dual Moguls
12th - Lottie Lodge
20th - Xanthia Coote
21st - Charlotte Wilson
25th - Kareema Wakim
30th - Emma Bosco

Men's Dual Moguls
2nd - George Murphy
4th - Edward Hill
27th - Oliver Logan
28th - Tristan Rowley
32nd - Mac Livissianos

The Nor-Am series moves to Val St Come, Canada, for a single moguls competition on February 24, followed by a dual moguls on February 25.

Jakara Anthony’s incredible record-breaking season has continued with her eleventh World Cup victory of the season in the dual moguls event in Deer Valley, USA. The win also secured the World Cup Mogul Skiing Overall Crystal Globe at the iconic event, regarded as the “Superbowl” of freestyle skiing as and most prestigious competition on the World Cup circuit.

Anthony has broken the record for most career mogul skiing wins by an Australian with the 19th victory of her career, going past legendary two-time Olympic medallist Dale Begg-Smith. The eleventh win of the season also ties American Olympic champion Hannah Kearney for the most World Cup wins in a single season by a mogul skier.

In front of the largest crowd of the season under lights on the Champion run, Anthony cruised through the round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final rounds to reach the big final.

In the gold medal run, Anthony faced her main rival this season, American Jaelen Kauf, where Anthony putting down a fast and flawless run to take the win with a score of 22 points to 13 from the judges. In head-to-head duals against Kauf this season, Anthony has the edge with four to one.

Rounding out the podium in third place was Olivia Giaccio.

”That’s definitely one of my best competition runs I have ever done, and especially my best here on the Champion run, so to do that in the big final against Jaelin was a pretty special moment” said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“There is no event World Cup like this one, the atmosphere is incredible, the whole finish area is packed with people so to get to perform and put on a show for them is a really special feeling.”

“Locking up eleven wins and equalling Hannah Kearney for the record for the most in the season is absolutely mind blowing.”

Cooper Woods was the highest placed Australian in the men’s event, reaching the quarter-final stage in seventh place, with George Murphy 33rd, Oliver Logan 36th and Matt Graham in 51st.

Three World Cup events remain this season, with the next competition set to take place in a months’ time in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on March 8-9, and the final event of the season in Valmalenco, Italy, on March 16.

“It’s a really big season for us this year, we have already had 13 competition starts with three to go. We are going to get a training camp in the next few weeks, and fine tune some of the finer details of my run, and then get back out there in Kazakhstan and wrap the season up in Italy,” said Anthony.

SINGLE MOGUL WORLD CUP
Two days earlier in Deer Valley, a single moguls World Cup took place on the "Champion Run", where unusually warm temperatures impacted the conditions, with the wet snow making the difficult course inconsistent and slow.

NSWIS skier Matt Graham recorded the best result of the Australian athletes, finishing ninth while with teammate Cooper Woods was unable to finish his finals run and  a ranking of 16th. George Murphy had his second best performance of the season in 23rd place, and Oliver Logan was 35th.

After dominating the qualification phase of the competition by almost 10 points, Olympic Champion Jakara Anthony made an uncharacteristic mistake in finals. The course got slower on the top jump, causing a miscalculation on the rotation for her d-spin 720 with grab and came in short on the landing to place 13th.

Early Sunday morning Jakara Anthony continued her incredible record breaking season with her tenth World Cup victory of the season in the dual moguls event in Waterville, USA.

Anthony now joins legendary Olympic champion and two-time medallist Dale Begg-Smith with 18 career World Cup victories, the most ever by an Australian mogul skier.

In overcast conditions the NSWIS skier cruised through the early rounds of the event to reach the semi-final stage against American Tess Johnson, where Anthony recorded a comfortable win 32 points to 3.

Anthony then faced her main rival this season, American Jaelen Kauf in the gold medal run, and in a close battle Anthony narrowly prevailed with a score of 18-17 to give the 2022 Olympic gold medallist her eighth straight victory in a row.

Rounding out the podium in third place was Olivia Giaccio who is also from America.

”It was really cool to come to Waterville, I haven’t been to too many brand new places on tour recently, so get to come to somewhere new and experience it has been really awesome, and I love competing in the United States,” said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

In the men’s event NSWIS athlete Cooper Woods made it through to the quarter final stage to finish in seventh place, with teammates George Murphy in 29th, Oliver Logan 39th and Matt Graham 46th.

The mogul skiing athletes now head to Deer Valley in the USA, for another single and dual mogul event next weekend on the always testing “Champion Run” at the 2002 Olympic venue.

Anthony is one win away from equalling 2010 Olympic champion Hannah Kearney of the USA for the most ever wins in a season by a mogul skier, which the American achieved in the 2011-2012 World Cup season.

“Deer Valley is always the highlight of the season for everyone, so really looking to that,” said Anthony.

“They put on a good show there and it’s one of my favourite courses. It’s where I got my first World Cup start, my first World Championship podium and I had a win there last year, so looking forward to getting back there.”

“It’s been a crazy season, one win off that record set by Hannah Kearney, it’s getting close now, we will have to see what the rest of season brings, but I won’t be focusing on that too much, that’s when I might start making mistakes, so keep focusing on what I need to do out there and get better every competition.”

On Saturday Jakara Anthony’s record setting season has continued, claiming her ninth World Cup victory of the season, and securing the World Cup season Crystal Globe title for single moguls in another amazing day for Australian mogul skiing, on which teammate Cooper Woods broke through for his first career World Cup podium in Waterville, USA, the birthplace of freestyle skiing.

In a dominant performance, the NSWIS skier again won every stage of the competition, and in the super-final medal round scored 81.22 points to finish a huge 9.49 points clear of Olympic silver medallist Jaelen Kauf of the USA in second place on 71.71 points, with another American Hannah Soar rounding out the podium in third on 67.93 points. Anthony now has 17 career World Cup wins and is one victory away from matching the legendary Dale Begg-Smith on 18 career victories.

That's awesome, I kind of knew it in the back of my head, but all the focus was out there on the run, so to get the job done on a pretty tricky course I am over the moon,” said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“It’s crazy to have locked that up (Crystal Globe) so early (two events remaining) and to have taken so many (wins) in a row, you can’t think about it too much, because that’s a pretty fragile stat there, but I am pretty stoked to have achieved that this season.”

In the men’s event Cooper Woods has been showing great potential since finishing sixth at the 2022 Olympic Games. Woods has qualified for finals in every event this season, has been close to the podium and finally his performance claimed the first World Cup medal of his career. Woods ended the day with the silver medal, finishing ahead of Olympic champions Mikael Kingsbury of Canada and Walter Wallberg of Sweden in the men’s super-final.

Woods scored 81.04 points to finish in second place behind Japanese skier Ikuma Horishima of Japan who took the win with a score of 85.84, with Kingsbury in third with 80.07 points.

“Today was all different conditions, it was firm this morning and as the weather changed the course changed, but all you can do is just focus on the one run, and I got the qualifications, finals and then the super-final, I left nothing back and it’s nice to see a score, “said the 23-year-old from Pambula Beach in NSW.

Also in action for Australia was Olympic medallist Matt Graham who reached finals finishing in 13th, with NSWIS teammates George Murphy and Oliver Logan unable to complete their runs.

Jakara Anthony’s incredible season has reached a new milestone, setting the record for the most World Cup wins in a single season by an Australian in any wintersport discipline, with her eighth victory under lights in the dual moguls in Val St Come, Canada.

The victory sees Anthony move past former teammate Britt Cox who had seven World Cup wins in the 2016-2017 season, and Anthony can further add to the tally with a further seven World Cup events remaining this winter.

The NSWIS skier moved though the early rounds with ease, setting up a semi-final against Rino Yanagmoto of Japan. In her most competitive matchup of the day, Anthony took the victory with a score of 21 points to 14.

In the big final to decide the gold medal, Anthony faced American Jaelin Kauf, the only other skier to also win an event this season. Both skiers pushed their limits into the top air, but Kauf was unable to maintain the pace crashing out in the middle section, giving Anthony her 16th career win with a score of 35-0.

“You dream of coming and skiing World Cup when you are a little kid, but to actually be here and be as dominant as I am at the moment is really special,” said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“Today was another good day, I made it through each round as it came, I think I did some really good skiing. Pushed super hard against Jaelin and she went hard as well, we put on a good show for everyone and it’s nice to go out there and be challenged by the other girls.”

In the men’s event, 2018 NSWIS Olympic silver medallist Matthew Graham won his first World Cup medal of the season and 24th of his career, finishing third after a freak accident saw his opponent Ben Cavet of France in the bronze medal duel crossing over into Graham’s side of the course, with Graham landing on the French skier whilst completing the top air jump.

“The course here is amazing, the guys who built it did a great job here in Canada and the organising committee, we are skiing some big proper moguls and I love that," said the 29-year-old Graham from the NSW Central Coast.

“Really happy to walk away from that crash against Ben, probably one of the scariest crashes I have been in, I just saw him at the last minute and pulled my legs though to try and miss landing on his face essentially.”

“I took a bit of time off after the Ruka World Cup (in early December), because I had a couple of shoulder surgeries over the course of 2023 so I missed the offseason. I then went back home and went to the water ramps and cut my knee really bad and had to have surgery just a month ago, so this is the first time I have skied since Ruka and I am just stoked to be back and the body is feeling good.”

Also in action for Australia were NSWIS teammates Cooper Woods who had a personal best dual mogul finish in fifth place, with George Murphy in 38th and Oliver Logan 40th.

The mogul skiers will now go to Waterville Valley in the USA, for another single and dual mogul event next weekend.