Jakara Anthony has rewritten Australian winter sports history, taking out her 26th World Cup victory with a commanding performance in Waterville Valley, USA, surpassing legendary aerial skier Jacqui Cooper on 25 wins to become Australia’s all‑time World Cup wins leader.
 
The NSWIS skier heads into the Milano‑Cortina Olympic Winter Games on a three‑event winning streak, and ranked number one on the World Cup standings as she prepares for February.
 
Anthony was the only female skier to break the 80-point barrier on the day, winning all three rounds of the event in a commanding performance. She opened with a score of 80.04 points in qualification, and in the first round of finals secured her place in the six woman super-final with 81.59 points.
 
In the super-final, Anthony performed another fast and clean run with her jumps including a cork 7 and backflip mute grab to score 81.17 points, 3.05 points ahead of second place finisher Elizabeth Lemley of the USA on 78.12. Another American, Olivia Giaccio, rounded out the podium in third on 76.60 points.
 
NSWIS teammate Charlotte Wilson also impressed, reaching the top‑16 women’s final and finishing 13th, her third finals appearance of the season.
 
In the men’s event, NSWIS pair Matt Graham and Jackson Harvey both qualified strongly for finals, placing third and eighth respectively with scores of 78.34 and 75.32. In the final, Harvey backed up his recent form with another top‑10 result, finishing eighth with 78.00 points. Unfortunately Graham was too big and back on his bottom air landing after skiing an excellent run to that point, leading to a score of 65.94 points to finish 16th.
 
“I guess I have a good track record here now,” said Anthony, who was a double winner in Waterville at her last event at the New Hampshire resort.
 
“It hasn’t been the easiest comp this week, and the season’s been all over the place. I’m just super stoked to put down a few really clean runs.
 
“It’s a nice place to leave the World Cup season on hold until the next one,” added Anthony, as she gets ready for next month’s Olympic Games.
 
Also in action were Aussies Emma Bosco finishing 23rd in the women’s event and in the men’s competition Cooper Woods was 22nd and George Murphy 42nd.
 
After four events, Anthony has extended her lead on the World Cup standings on 340 points, a 78‑point lead over the USA’s Tess Johnson. In the men’s rankings, Graham sits second on 245 points, trailing Japan’s Ikuma Horishima by 51 points, with Harvey rounding in tenth on 93 points.
 
The Australian Mogul Team will now travel to Ruka, Finland, for a training camp before heading to Italy for the Milano‑Cortina Olympic Winter Games.

Jakara Anthony celebrates her record setting victory (top) and in action in Waterville (bottom)
© Chris Hocking

NSWIS mogul skiers have started 2026 impressively, with Jakara Anthony winning gold and Matt Graham claiming silver in Val St. Come, Canada. Their second consecutive dual podium finish propels both athletes into the coveted yellow leader’s bib ranked number one on the standings, the first time Australia has simultaneously held the top ranking in both men’s and women’s moguls.
 
Wet conditions with poor visibility impacted the competition, reducing the women’s event to a single run, while the men’s event was delayed for several hours before proceeding with qualifying and a one-run final.
 
Anthony opened with a commanding run, scoring 79.83 points to ultimately give her the victory with a margin of close to four points ahead of American Tess Johnson in second place with 75.85. Fellow American Olivia Giaccio rounded out the podium in third with 75.78.
 
With this victory, Anthony now boasts 25 career World Cup wins, matching aerial skiing legend Jacqui Cooper for the most by any Australian athlete.
 
In the men’s event, Matt Graham qualified for the finals in fifth place with a score of 81.22, joined by teammate Jackson Harvey in 15th on 74.39.
 
Graham delivered a strong performance in the final, boosting his score to 83.50 to secure the silver medal, marking the 29th podium of his career. Harvey achieved a personal best, finishing seventh with 80.24 points. Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury claimed victory with 85.83, his 100th of his career, while American Nick Page rounded out the podium in third on 80.96.
 
“It was a different victory tonight, pretty weird competition day, but having put it down in qualifications worked out for me with finals cancelled,” said the 27-year-old Anthony-from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“I find it pretty important to put down the best run that I can from round to round, with the goal to build throughout the day, so that’s just what I was out there doing.”
 
“Very exciting to be back in the yellow jersey, I haven’t worn that since the 2024-2025 season. Even more special to have Matt in the yellow jersey at the same time, I think that’s a first for Australia.”
 
Graham commented after his podium performance.
 
“Obviously a good day, really happy with the way I adapted given the conditions,” said the 31-year-old from the NSW Central Coast.
 
“It pretty much rained all day, with big delays before the qualification round. We had to sit around for two hours, and then buckle up to do the qualification round is always challenging, and at that point in time we were not sure if it would be a one run event or finals would happen, so had to lock in and put in a performance that would give me a good result.
 
“It was huge for Mikael Kingsbury to get his 100th World Cup win, I was glad I was able to share that moment with him, we have competed against each other for a long time and shared a lot of podiums together. Happy I have slowed him up from winning on three sperate occasions, but I am super happy for him and his family.
 
Also representing Australia were Charlotte Wilson, who narrowly missed the finals by just one spot in 17th, and Emma Bosco, finishing 27th. In the men’s competition, George Murphy placed 19th and Cooper Woods finished 21st.
 
Dual Mogul World Cup
The first dual moguls World Cup event of the season also took place in Val St Come, with Graham and Anthony both advancing to the quarter-final round. Graham finished fifth overall, while Anthony secured sixth place.
 
In other Australian results, Bosco placed 22nd and Wilson 27th in the women’s event. For the men, Woods finished 27th, Murphy 36th, and Harvey 46th.
 
The final World Cup events before the Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games will take place in Waterville Valley, USA, featuring moguls on January 15 and dual moguls on January 16.

IMAGE
Matt Graham and Jakara Anthony celebrate their podium performances in Canada
© Kate Blamey