NSWIS mogul skier Matt Graham has become the first Australian male since the legendary Dale Begg-Smith to win a World Cup Crystal Globe title in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
 
Heading into the final event Graham had an 18 point lead in the standings, but after a number of delays due to snow and bad visibility, the event organisers were forced to cancel the competition and Graham was crowned the World Cup champion.
 
The 26-year-old from the NSW Central Coast had an outstanding season, winning three World cup medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) and also claimed the silver medal at the Word Championships in Almaty mid last week.
 
Graham finished the season on 289 points, followed by Frenchman Benjamin Cavet on 271 points, with Ludavig Fjallstrom of Sweden in third place with 258 points.
 
“I am very excited and very happy to have earnt this, the Crystal Globe is one of those things I have always wanted competing in mogul skiing” said the 2018 Olympic silver medallist.
 
“We arrived overseas in November not even sure if events would happen, we more or less came over with the intention to train as much as we can and if we got to compete that would be a bonus.”
 
“Winning the globe would be the highlight of my season, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, some events didn’t necessarily go my way and I didn’t ski that great, but I managed to hang in there and get enough results and a few podiums to be on top when it counted.”
 
Graham’s teammate Brodie Summers finished the season in fifth place on the standings, the highest end of season ranking of the 27-year-olds career. Cooper Woods-Topalovic was 17th in his first full World Cup season and James Matheson was ranked 27th.

In the women's standings Jakara Anthony the highest ranked Australian female in tenth, with Britt Cox 15th and Sophie Ash 33rd.

IMAGE: Matt Graham celebrates the first Crystal Globe trophy of his career  © FIS

Australian mogul skier Matt Graham has bounced back from a disappointing result in yesterday’s World Championship single moguls to claim the silver medal in the dual moguls overnight in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
 
The 26-year-old from the NSW Central Coast performed well on the difficult course to advance through each round of the event to reach the final dual for first place against 2018 Olympic Champion Mikael Kingsbury of Canada.
 
In a very close head to head race, Graham pushed Kingsbury all the way, but had trouble landing his bottom jump and stumbled over the finish line to give Kingsbury the victory.
 
For Graham, the podium performance is the second World Championship medal of his career, having taken home silver at Deer Valley, USA, in 2019.
 
Rounding out the podium in third place was Ikuma Horishima of Japan.
 
“It felt great to get some redemption after yesterday's performance. I was very disappointed with my performance in the single mogul event, so I used that as a bit of motivation for duals” said Graham the 2018 Olympic silver medallist.
 
“The course was very challenging today. The moguls were quite firm and big, so it was easy to make mistakes, especially when you are pushing the speed to the limit. I didn't ski as well as I should have or can, but I knew my opponent was likely to be making mistakes as well, so I just had to grit my teeth through each round and make it to the finish line.”
 
The mogul skiers will remain in Almaty for the World Cup final which will take place on March 14.
 
Graham will be aiming to become the first Australian male to win the World Cup Crystal Globe title since the legendary Dale Begg-Smith in 2010.
 
“I will approach the World Cup Finals as I do every event. I am currently leading the standings for the overall title and Crystal Globe, but the point are very tight in the top four and anyone can win.”
 
Graham sits in first place on the standings with 289 points, followed by Frenchman Benjamin Cavet on 271 points, Ludavig Fjallstrom of Sweden with 258 points and Ikuma Horishima of Japan on 246 points.

NSWIS mogul skier Jakara Anthony has narrowly missed out on the second World Championship medal of her career, finishing just off the podium in fourth place in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The 22-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria had a consistent day, qualifying for finals in sixth place with a score of 74.87 points.

In the first round of finals Anthony stepped up her performance with a much faster run to improve her score to 77.59 and advance to the super final medal round in fifth. In the super final, Anthony scored 77.40 points to just miss the podium by 2 points in fourth place, her highest place finish of the season.

Two time World Championship medallist and three time Olympian Britt Cox also had her best result of the season finishing in seventh place, just out of the six-woman super final.

Olympic champion Perrine Laffont of France took the gold in the women’s event with Yuliya Galysheva of Kazakhstan finishing second with Russian Anastasiia Smirnova rounding out the podium in third place.

In the men’s event Brodie Summers and Cooper Woods-Topalovic had career best qualifying runs, placing third and fifth respectively in the first qualification round. In his World Championship debut, Woods-Topalovic was Australia’s highest place finisher in the men’s final in 15th position, with Summers one place behind in 16th, both skied the final well but each made an error landing the second jump.

Unfortunately, current world number one Matt Graham had some mistakes in his two qualification runs and was unable to advance to finals finishing in 20th place. James Matheson was also unable to qualify for finals in 34th place.

The men's gold medal went to Olympic champion Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, with Benjamin Cavet of France in second and Pavel Kolmakov of Kazakhstan in third.

The NSWIS mogul athletes will be back in action tonight in Kazakhstan, with the dual mogul World championship evet to take place.

Snow Australia will be streaming the event live, with finals starting at 8pm AEDT
https://snow.org.au/live/

IMAGE: Jakara Anthony with a back X off the bottom air in Kazakhstan © FIS

Matt Graham has taken bronze in the day one Word Cup event in Deer Valley, USA, his second podium of the season.
 
The NSWIS skier from the Central Coast of NSW stepped up his run in the super final to jump the highest degree of difficulty of his World Cup career, with a back double full (double twisting back somersault) on the top jump and d-spin 1080 (triple twisting off axis somersault) on the bottom air to score 84.44 points.
 
Graham made great progress on his jumping skills in October at the new Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre Water Ramp facility located at Brisbane’s Sleeman Sports Centre.
 
Taking the win was 2018 Olympic gold medallist Mikael Kingsbury of Canada on 88.10 points, with Frenchman Benjamin Cavet in second place with a score of 86.25.
 
“Very happy to come away with a podium today” said the 2018 Olympic silver medallist.
 
“It’s been a long wait between competitions and our team have been isolated in the North of Finland at Ruka for the past two months where it’s dark twenty hours of the day. However, we have had great training in Ruka so I felt very prepared for this World Cup and was hungry to get back in the start gate.
 
“The super final was hotly contested with all the best guys in the mix. “I performed a back-double-full off the top jump. This is something I worked a lot on over the Christmas and New Year break in Finland and it is the first time I have competed this level of DD (degree of difficulty) in a World Cup. I am happy with the way it turned out, but I still have plenty of room for improvement which is nice.

It was another strong event for the male athletes with three skiers in the top-16 finals. Brodie Summers just missed the six man super final finishing in eighth place, with his NSWIS teammate Cooper Woods-Topalovic recording a PB performance in 12th position.
 
In the women’s event, 2019 World Championship medallist Jakara Anthony had her highest placing of the season so far, finishing in sixth place.

Also in action for Australia was Britt Cox in 20th, James Matheson 24th and Sophie Ash in 32nd.

A second event at Deer Valley, a dual mogul competition will take place the next day.

Australian mogul skier Matt Graham has finished the year in the best possible way, winning gold in the dual mogul FIS Word Cup event overnight in Idre Fjäll, Sweden.
 
The 2018 Olympic silver medallist had a number of impressive head to head “dual” races on the Idre course to reach the last pair of the day, before fog rolled in and forced the event to be called off due to low visibility.
 
Graham was set to dual home town Swedish skier Ludvig Fjallstrom for the gold, but with the final phase of the event unable to take place, both were awarded the win.
 
“In duals, you just have to let your hair down and go for it”, said the 26-year-old from the Central Coast in New South Wales.
 
“I had some very challenging duals today, including coming up against my teammate Brodie Summers in the first round. He skied really well this week which gave him a well deserved silver medal yesterday in the single moguls event.”
 
“My tactics today was to push hard out of the gate and go as big as possible on the top jump. This course is quite fast and easy compared to most World Cup courses, so you just had to land the top jump and charge the middle section as fast as possible.”
 
“The final four men were all pretty relaxed and chilled at the top of the course waiting for the fog to hopefully clear. I was just remaining activated and ready to go, because we would not have gotten much warning if the fog cleared.”
 
“It would have been fun to be able to finish the event and see how things would have turned out, but you can't control the weather. I was happy to share the top step of the podium with Ludvig. It is his first World Cup win, and he is a good mate of mine as we have been competing on the World Cup tour together for 10 years now.”
 
For Graham, the result marks the 16th major medal of his career (3 gold, 6 silver, 7 bronze) and his first World Cup win since January 2017.
 
After three events, Graham now sits in third place on the World Cup standings, with teammate Brodie Summers in fifth.
 
The mogul skiing athletes will now return to Ruka, Finland, site of the first World Cup event of the season as their training base before competition resumes in late January.

Australian mogul skier Brodie Summers has continued his strong start to the season, claiming a silver medal overnight in Idre Fjäll, Sweden.
 
The 27-year-old from Brighton in Melbourne qualified for finals in 11th place, and put in an impressive first run in finals scoring 80.77 points to advance to the super final medal round in fourth place.
 
In the super final, Summers increased his score to 81.84 to finish in the silver medal position, 1.87 points behind event winner Benjamin Cavet of France. Rounding out the podium in third place was American Nick Page.
 
“It feels incredible to be back on the podium again”, Summers commented after the race.
 
“There was plenty of great skiing out there today so to do it amongst the world’s best is a phenomenal feeling.”
 
“I changed lines in the course this morning and it really paid off. The new line accentuated my skiing and I felt really comfortable in it, so I was able to consistently put good runs down all day long.
 
“My coaches and I also decided to stick with my baseline air package instead of upping the degree of difficulty. This meant I could channel the focus to quality and execution, which ultimately translated into better skiing and jumping.”
 
“I’m really happy with how I’ve started this season. The main thing is that my skiing and jumping feels like it’s returning to the level that it was at prior to injuring myself pre-Olympics.
 
“I’m really grateful to have such a supportive team around me and together we are all building our capacity to perform well on the global stage.”
 
The performance marks the third World Cup medal of his career (2 silver, 1 bronze), and first podium since February 2017 and injury suffered before the 2018 Olympic Games in Korea.
 
In the men’s World Cup standings, Summers sits in second place with 120 points after two competitions, with Horishima leading the way with 140 points while Cavet follows behind Summers in third place on 118 points.
 
It was a successful day for the Australian program with all athletes reaching the top-16 finals stage. Joining Summers in the final in the men’s event was Matt Graham in 11th, Cooper Woods-Topalovic 15th, James Matheson 16th and in the women’s event Jakara Anthony 8th and Britt Cox 15th.
 
The action in Idre Fjäll continues tomorrow, with the first dual moguls event of the season scheduled.

The OWIA Mogul Program has made a strong start to the 2020-2021 World Cup season, with four athletes finishing in the top eleven in Ruka, Finland.
 
In the men’s event, NSWIS athletes Matt Graham and Brodie Summers had impressive runs in the qualifying run and first round of finals to reach the top six super final.
 
In the super final medal round, both athletes had some mistakes and were not able to replicate their earlier scores, with Graham finishing in fifth place and Summers in sixth.
 
“Unfortunately, we didn’t come away with a medal in Ruka, but it was good to see Matt and Brodie start the season well with good performances in the first two rounds of the event”, commented OWIA Mogul Skiing Head Coach Steve Desovich after the competition.
 
In the women’s event, Jakara Anthony and Britt Cox also had strong qualifying performances, with both skiers advancing to finals in fourth and fifth places respectively. In the first round of finals, Anthony missed out by the small margin of 0.32 on making it through to the top six super final, finishing in ninth place. Cox finished in 11th position in her first event back in nearly 12 months.
 
Others Australian’s in action included NSWIS athletes James Matheson in 18th, Sophie Ash 20th and Cooper Woods-Topalovic in 48th.
 
The World Cup tour now heads to the Swedish ski resort of Idre Fjäll, for a single moguls event on December 12 and dual moguls on December 13.

The Mogul Skiing Program completed a training camp at the Snow Australia water ramp facility in Victoria’s Yarra Ranges throughout May, June and into July, before travelling to Jindabyne, NSW, for on snow training at Perisher.
 
Training initially took place on Mogul Matt’s run and the World Cup specification Toppa’s Dream course through to mid September.
 
The team then headed to the Henke Centre Water Jump in Brisbane, making the most of the great new facility for the month of October.
 
Currently, the team is in Ruka, Finland, preparing for the opening World Cup of the season this weekend, with Jakara Anthony, Sophie Ash, Britt Cox, Matt Graham, James Matheson, Brodie Summers and Cooper Woods-Topalovic all competing for Australia.

The following week, a mogul and dual mogul World Cup is scheduled to take place in Idre Fjäll, Sweden, on December 12-13

The Australian Mogul Skiing Team has completed two days of World Cup competition in Thaiwoo, China, with some great performances, but an unfortunate accident to former World Champion Britt Cox putting a dampener on the weekend.
 
On day one, three Australian athletes qualified for the top six super-final, equal most in the event along with Japan, with Britt Cox almost making it four athletes, just missing out in seventh place.
 
In the super-final, Matt Graham and Jakara Anthony missed out on making the podium by the smallest of margins, finishing in fourth place.
 
Brodie Summers finished in fifth place, his first super-final performance since February 2017, after injury impacted his past two season.
 
Summers was thrilled with his performance after the event.
 
“It’s a great feeling to get back to a higher level of skiing once again, after all of the issues with my knee. It’s been a long road to get back to a place where I’m happier with my skiing.
 
“Today felt like a big step in the right direction and it’s nice to get some redemption after the mishap that I had at the World Cup opener in Ruka last week.
 
“I couldn’t have done it without my support network - my family, my team, my sponsors, the OWIA and NSWIS and everyone else who’s played a part in my recovery.”
 
Ikuma Horishima (Japan) upset world number one Mikael Kingsbury (Canada) to take victory in the men’s event, with Ben Cavet (France) in third. In the women’s event, Perrine Laffont (France) won her second straight event of the season ahead of Yulia Galysheva (Kazakhstan) and Justine Dufour-Lapointe (Canada).
 
Other Australians in the field included James Matheson 27th, Cooper-Woods-Topalovic 30th and Claudia Gueli also in 30th.
 
On day two, the first Dual Mogul event of the year took place, with the highlight being a personal best sixth place finish to 2018 Olympian Claudia Gueli.
 
Matt Graham also made it through to the quarter final stage finishing in eighth, with Jakara Anthony ninth, James Matheson 20th, Brodie Summers 29th and Cooper Woods-Topalovic 35th.
 
In her quarter final round dual, Britt Cox had a big fall after the top air ski out, losing consciousness and sustaining injuries to her ribs and collarbone.
 
Further scans are still being completed, with the treatment plan to be determined once she returns to Australia.
 
“I am a bit shaken after my crash in the duals in Thaiwoo, but my coach Kate Blamey and the OWIA Head Physio Peter Caine have taken excellent care of me and I feel in safe hands.”

The dual mogul events were won by the 2018 Olympic Champions, Mikael Kingsbury (Canada) and Perinne Laffont (fFrance).
 
The mogul athletes will now head home for a break in Australia, before resuming training after Christmas in Winter Park, Colorado, USA.

IMAGE - Britt Cox taking on the Thaiwoo Moguls on day one © FIS

It was a stellar start to the 2019/2020 FIS World Cup season for 25 year old mogul skier, Britt Cox, with a third place podium at the opening FIS World Cup Women’s Moguls event in Ruka, Finland.

The three time Winter Olympian from Mt Beauty, Victoria, qualified fourth for the final where she came third with 77.78 out of a field of 12, securing a spot in the second final of six competitors. Cox then won her third place podium with a final score of 78.29, her sixteenth World Cup medal (9 gold, 1 silver, 6 bronze) to date.

“It feels so amazing, mogul skiing is my absolute passion” said Cox, Australia’s most successful women’s mogul skier, after her bronze win.

“It’s been a pretty tough 18 months to get back to skiing how I wanted to ski, there’s no other secret I think than hard work and showing up at training with the intention to give your best and just remembering why you do it, I do it because I love skiing. Every morning I wake up I’m grateful I get to do this as my job.”

Perrine Laffont (France) took gold and Anri Kawamura (Japan) took silver at the event while Australian Jakara Anthony also qualified for the final and finished in fifth place.

Olympian Claudia Gueli narrowly missed the 16-woman final in 17th place, and Sophie Ash finished 34th.

Australia’s PyeongChang silver medallist, Matt Graham, qualified third for the men’s mogul finals in Ruka and finished the event with a top 10 finish with ninth place. Other Australian results in the men's event were Cooper Woods-Topalovic with a personal best single moguls performance in 24th place, Brodie Summers 31st and James Matheson 43rd.

The Australian team will now travel to China for training before the Thaiwoo World Cup on December 14.  

Mt Buller turned on the sunshine and the bumps for the legendary ABOM Mogul Challenge on Saturday 31 August with the action extending into a thrilling night final under new stadium lights.

An exciting line up of Australian and international talent kept the crowds gripped with fast and stylish runs on show. The growth in Asian skiing talent clearly on show with a solid line up of Japanese and Chinese entrants mixing it with the locals.


A number of exciting dual heats saw runs going down to the wire. The format is a thrilling one for spectators featuring skiers going head to head down 197 metres of bumps with two huge jumps.


The men’s event was hotly contested, with a number of the best skiers in the world in action including Olympic Silver Medallist Matt Graham, World Cup medallist Brodie Summers, and World Cup winner Benjamin Cavet (FRA).


It was impressive to see the jumping degree of difficulty step up in the women’s event, especially the Japanese athletes performing jumps not seen before in the women’s field at the ABOM Mogul Challenge.

Britt Cox was in good form for her 14th event starting the competition back as a Junior in 2005 ultimately taking 2nd place on the podium behind Rino Yanagimoto (JPN) in the women’s. Fellow Aussie Olympian Claudia Gueli also had a good run narrowly missing the podium to take 4th place.

The men put on a dazzling show with the usual contenders at the top of the table and Brodie Summers ultimately taking the top spot from James Matheson and Matt Graham who hold 6 and 1 previous ABOM title respectively.

Current world number three and Mt Buller skier Jakara Anthony unfortunately came unstuck on the top jump in her qualification run, catching her feet in the soft snow.

Mt Buller has hosted the ABOM Moguls since 1989 at the height of ‘hot dogging’ and freestyle skiing. Mt Buller is home to the Olympic freestyle team and the new lighting and improvements to the legendary Chamois run look set to ensure a strong future for the sport.

PyeongChang Olympian Jakara Anthony was unstoppable at the 2019 Australian National Mogul Championships, defeating some of the sport’s biggest names to win the two women’s events and the Australian women’s championship.   

The 21-year-old also paired with Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham to win bronze in the first ever team’s event staged at Perisher’s ‘Toppa’s Dream’.

Anthony was a decisive winner of Tuesday’s qualification, booking her finals berth with a very strong 83.73. She was again the best in the round of 16, scoring 79.02 to give her the advantage leading into the super final of six.

Proving her consistency, Anthony produced a final run score of 82.65 to take the first of two event titles. Her next nearest competitor was Japan’s Anri Kawamura who scored 74.78.

Australia’s Britt Cox finished just outside the podium in fourth position.

Anthony was back at it on Wednesday, defeating the Olympic gold medallist Perrine Laffont (FRA) by less than a point, winning with a thrilling 78.18 to Laffont’s 77.68.

In the men’s event, Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham was the best of the Aussies, finishing second on Wednesday and sixth on Tuesday. His results earning him the Australian’s men’s championship.

Graham qualified for Tuesday’s super final in third place, but an unsteady landing on the second kicker in the super final proved costly and he finished sixth behind fellow Aussie Brodie Summers who was fifth.

Olympic gold medallist Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) was again the one to beat, winning gold on Wednesday and silver on Tuesday.

Results from the two days of competition contributed to overall Australian champion standings*.

Men’s Open
1st Matthew Graham
2nd Brodie Summers
3rd James Matheson

Men’s Junior
1st Cooper Woods-Topalovi
=2nd Ben Matsumoto and George Murphy

Women’s Open
1st Jakara Anthony
2nd Britteny Cox
3rd Claudia Gueli

Women’s Junior
1st Emma Bosco
2nd Charlotte Wilson
3rd Georgia Stewart

One event that had everyone talking was the inaugural Teams’ Competition which was run as a trial for potential inclusion into future World Championships and Olympic Winter Games.

Many of the sport’s top contenders, including Anthony and Graham took part in the event. 

Using the dual moguls format, competitors, in mixed-teams of two, race one after the other and against another competitor from an opposing team.

Scores from each team member are combined to determine the overall winner.

Similarly, to dual moguls, the team that wins the bout advances to the next stage, while the losing team is eliminated.
Team Pacific consisting of Rino Yanagimoto (JPN) and Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) took out the gold medal, with French pair Perrine Laffont and Jules Escobar taking home the silver and Australians  Anthony and Graham claiming the bronze.

The team event was praised by spectators as being amazing to watch, keeping them on the edge of their seat and some of the best skiing that has ever been seen on the course.

In another great step forward for the sport, a full judging panel of seven adjudicated the event for the first time in Australia, many boasting International World Cup experience.

Australian Olympians Matt Graham and Jakara Anthony have won Men’s and Women’s Moguls World Championships silver medals in Deer Valley, Utah.

On the one-year anniversary of the PyeongChang 2018 Opening Ceremony, it marks the first World Championships podiums for both athletes, after the NSWIS pair were the top placed Aussies at last year’s Olympic Winter Games.

Continuing her season-best form, 20-year-old Anthony sailed through the qualifiers and top-18 Final#1 in first place.
The 6 athletes in Final 2, also known as the Super Final, held their breath at the bottom of the hill after Anthony’s final run, knowing the scores would be tight for the top of the dais.

Anthony’s run of 78.99 in Final 2 sealed the silver medal for Australia, only 0.15 off the winner, Yulia Galysheva from Kazakhstan.

France’s Perrine Laffont rounded out the podium in third, with a top score of 78.70.

Anthony, who placed fourth on debut at PyeongChang, said it was really special to win her first World Championships medal in front of her family and friends.

“It’s been an incredible night,” she said.

“Deer Valley is such a special event, skiing under the lights, and I had my whole family and a massive Australian crew here watching. To get up on the podium, I’m really happy with how I went tonight.”

Dual Olympian Graham has 15 World Cup podiums and an Olympic silver medal to his name, but was finally able to add a World Championships medal to his collection today.

The 24-year-old qualified for the Super Final in second place. His run of 81.64 was only bested by PyeongChang gold medallist, Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury, the most successful Mogul skier of all time, who won his third World Championships title with a massive score of 84.89.

Japan’s Daichi Hara finished in third on 81.64.

After unpredictable conditions earlier in the week, Graham was thrilled to finally add World Championships hardware to his impressive collection.

“Wow what a night, this week has been a rollercoaster!” he said.

“The course has been so hard with a lot of snow earlier in the week, so I’m really happy that it all came together tonight.

“I found a groove and I think I was absorbing up to my chin on some of those moguls they were so big. But I’m really happy with the way I skied, and I feel a sense of closure.

“I skied really fast in the Super Final, probably a little faster than I wanted which caused a couple of mistakes which might have cost me the win. But credit to Mik [Kingsbury], he’s skiing really well and having an amazing season like always.”

In other Aussie results, Sochi 2014 Olympian Taylah O’Neill was the second placed Aussie in the women’s event, placing 13th with a score of 64.68, while 22-year-old Sophie Ash finished 15th in her World Championships debut with a run of 59.18.

Narrowly missing the 18-woman finals was Claudia Gueli in 19th and three-time Olympian Britt Cox in 20th, who then jumped into the commentary box to commentate on both the men’s and women’s finals.

PyeongChang Olympian Rohan Chapman-Davies finished 14th with a run of 70.47, with Brodie Summers 27th and James Matheson 30th.

In the Dual Moguls event, which took place the following day, Jakara Anthony finished in 7th and Matt Graham 8th as the leading Australian athletes.

Also in action in the dual moguls was Rohan Chapman-Davies, who backed up his single moguls performance to again finish 14th, with James Matheson 22nd, Brodie Summers 26th, Taylah O'Neill 16th, and Sophie Ash 18th.

IMAGE - Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham on the World Championship podium in Deer Valley © OWIA/ Lachy Keevers
Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

NSWIS mogul skier Jakara Anthony continued her best ever winter season at the Mont Tremblant World Cup in Canada with a silver medal.

20-year-old Anthony scored 75.08 to narrowly miss out on the gold medal which France’s Perrine Laffont won with a 75.51. Canada’s Justine Lapointe-Dufour won the bronze with 73.67, just in front of her sister Chloe in fourth.

Anthony has made the final of every event this season, and her third podium, which is a promising sign ahead of the 2019 World Championships, kicking off in Utah at the end of the week.

“I couldn’t be happier right now, backing up another podium from last week’s gold medal,” Anthony said.

“Now I’m really looking forward to World Championships in Deer Valley next week.”
Britt Cox also qualified for women’s finals, finishing 12th overall. Taylah O’Neill missed out on a spot in the final by one place, finishing 17th, Sophie Ash placed 20th and Claudia Gueli did not finish.
Matt Graham was once again the top placed Aussie in the men’s event, finishing in 4th place just missing the podium. Brodie Summers finished 21st, Rohan Chapman-Davies 26th, James Matheson 33rd and Cooper Woods-Topalovic 43rd.

IMAGE: Jakara Anthony (left) celebrates her second place finish on the Mont Tremlant podium © FIS

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

NSWIS mogul skier Jakara Anthony has claimed her first ever World Cup gold medal at the Lake Placid World Cup tour event, beating out France’s Perrine Laffont and USA’s Tess Johnson.

The 20-year-old set one of the fastest times of the day while also landing both of her jumps to top the leaderboard with 78.76, after qualifying through to the final in fourth position.

Anthony, who finished fourth at her Olympic debut at Pyeonchang in 2018, was ecstatic with her first World Cup victory.

“I’m so stoked! I had a great day on the course, it was epic conditions and I put down some runs I’m super stoked with, got all the bits and pieces together I was working on and managed to come away on top, I couldn’t be happier right now,” Anthony said.

“I’ve just had a great time skiing in Lake Placid and the course here is probably the all-time best on the World Cup tour.”

The win was Anthony’s second podium this season to go with consistent top five finishes, showing encouraging form in the leadup to the 2019 World Championships in Utah in February.

“I’ve stepped up my game this season and it’s paying off with my results.”

“Now we have the next stop coming in Tremblant with the world champs in Deer Valley following up right after that so I’ll be definitely looking to back this up in the following weeks.”

Pyeongchang silver medallist Matt Graham continued the successful day for the Australians, taking bronze behind France’s Benjamin Cavet and Sweden’s Walter Wallberg.

“I’m stoked to finish up with a bronze medal today,” Graham said. “Special congratulations to Jakara for her first World Cup win, I’m sure there’s many more to come.”

Fellow Aussies Britt Cox and Brodie Summers also made it through to the finals, finishing 9th and 13th respectively.

Also in action for Australia but missing out on finals where Taylah O'Neill in 21st, Claudia Gueli 24th, Sophie Ash 25th, Rohan Chapman-Davies 2th and Cooper Woods-Topalovic 34th.

IMAGE: Jakara Anthony & Matt Graham, medallists in Lake Placid © OWIA/Lachy Keevers

olympics.com.au

Australia’s Mogul Skiing Team kicked off the New Year with the Calgary World Cup over the weekend, while unpredictable weather hampered Australia’s Skeleton and Alpine athletes.

NSWIS skiers Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham were the top placed mogul skiers in Calgary, both recording 4th place finishes in their respective events. Britt Cox and James Matheson also put down top-10 performances, both finishing 9th.

PyeongChang silver medallist Graham qualified in second place for the first final, but said he still needs to give more to boost him back up into the medal positions.

“Yesterday went quite well for me and I am happy to come away with a 4th place,” he said. “I didn't ski my best runs in the finals so I still have a lot left in the tank moving forward.

“After qualifying second, putting down two solid finals runs is something that I am looking to build on this week going into Lake Placid [World Cup].

“We have a big few weeks leading up to the World Championships so putting down consistent performances each week is a high priority.”

Claudia Gueli qualified for her fourth individual World Cup final, placing 14th overall in the women’s event. Fellow Aussie Sophie Ash placed 24th and unfortunately Taylah O’Neill had a crash on course and didn’t record a finishing score.

In the men’s event, Sochi Olympian Brodie Summers narrowly missed out on a place in the top-16 final, placing 17th in qualifiers. Rohan Chapman-Davies placed 32nd and Cooper Woods-Topalovic 38th.

IMAGE - The Mogul Course at the Canadian Olympic Park (COP)  © Mateusz Kielpinski (FIS)

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

Jakara Anthony first became a household name when she narrowly missed out on a medal at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, placing fourth in Women’s Mogul Skiing.

Now the 20-year-old is cementing herself as one of the best in the world, having just won her first World Cup medal with silver in Thaiwoo, China over the weekend.

Anthony easily qualified for the first final in second place with a score of 83.74 in Saturday’s qualification round. She backed up her performance a few hours later to top the first final with a score of 82.71, before securing the silver medal in the 6-athlete Super Final with a score of 82.42.

She finished just behind USA’s Jaelin Kauf in gold on 83.08. France’s Perrine Laffont rounded out the podium on 81.23.

"I’m really happy with how I've been able to perform so far this season and especially today with getting my first World Cup podium in China,” Anthony said after the medal presentation.

“All the hard work and effort I've put in during the off season is paying off.

“For me, today was about getting repetition on the runs that I had put down in training in competition. I was able to put down three high quality runs and qualify in second and first for Final 1 and Final 2 respectively," Anthony continued.

“To then finish up in second place was a great way to wrap up the day! It was also a great day for the rest of the Team with James making his first super final and Britt and Matt joining me up top for the final.”

Nine-time World Cup gold medallist Britt Cox qualified for the first final, finishing 9th overall.

In the men’s, fellow Aussie Olympian James Matheson recorded the best result of his career so far, making his first Super Final and placing 6th overall. PyeongChang bronze medallist Matt Graham finished 13th and Rohan Chapman-Davies placed 21st.

While Graham didn't have an ideal performance, he was quick to congratulate his teammates on their success.
"Today didn't go too well for me, unfortunately. In the qualification round I missed the grab on my cork 720 which cost me, so I qualified in16th place for the finals," he said.

"From there it was going to take something amazing to ski up into the Super Final as the first skier to go down is often judged quite hard to set the standard. I ended up in 13th place which is a bit disaappointing as I know I have so much more in me.

"On a more positive note, Jakara skied out of her skin to finish second and got her first podium. She has worked really hard this off-season and everything is really starting to click for her so I am very happy for her," Graham continues.

"Also, Jimmy [James Matheson] skied awesome to make his first Super Final and finish 6th. I think he has a lot of potential and today he got rewarded for his clean turns and well executed jumps."

The Australian team all backed up their performances the next day for the head-to-head Dual Moguls World Cup.
Anthony had another strong day on the slopes, placing 5th in the women’s duals, and Cox placed 14th. Graham was the top placed male on Sunday, finishing 5th. Matheson placed 22nd and Chapman-Davies was 29th.

The team will have a break over Christmas before the World Cup season continues in Calgary, Canada on January 11.

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

The opening Mogul Skiing World Cup of the season took place over the weekend in Ruka, Finland.

All Aussie women qualified for the finals with NSWIS athlete Jakara Anthony continuing her strong Olympic form with a fourth-place finish. Triple Olympian Britt Cox finished 10th and Taylah O'Neill placed 16th.

In the men’s competition, PyeongChang silver medallist Matt Graham was the top placed Aussie in 8th place and said that result was a decent start to the season, given the challenging circumstances.

“I thought today was a reasonable start to the season for me,” he said. “Last year didn't go well for me here so I wanted to get a good result to kick the season off on a positive note.

“We had quite a terrible preparation for this event with a lack of snow in Finland so it made it difficult to be at the level I needed to be at to compete against the best guys.

“With the lack of snow and training due to a sore shin, I am happy to come away with the result I got. I changed up my jump package adding a cork 720 grab on the top jump for the first time which was a nice change and I think will help me throughout the season with the added degree of difficulty.”

Sochi 2014 Olympian Brodie Summers, who was forced to withdraw from competition at PyeongChang at the eleventh hour after he re-injured his knee, made his successful return to competition, qualifying for the finals and placing 14th overall.

PyeongChang Olympians Rohan Chapman-Davies placed 27th and James Matheson finished 33rd.

The Mogul Team now head to China for the second World Cup event in Thaiwoo on December 15 and 16.

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

Triple Olympian Britt Cox has won silver in the women’s dual moguls at the Tazawako World Cup in Japan over the weekend.

After placing fifth at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games last month, there was hardly any rest for the 23-year-old, who also finished fifth in the single moguls event on Saturday.

Cox was tempted to wrap up her massive season after the 2018 Games, but was attracted to one last hit out in Japan.

“It feels so great to be back on the podium,” she said after Sunday’s dual event.

“I almost finished the season after the Games, but I had some fire in me and I love this event so I decided to come here and compete.

“The atmosphere in Tazawako is crazy for the World Cup. The event attracts a lot of people from the Akita region and the crowd really get behind the sport. So it’s an amazing place to be on the podium.”

“Being the first competition post Olympics, there were more skiers here who didn’t make the Games but were fired up and ready to go. Dual moguls is always really exciting for us as athletes and everyone was having a great time pushing the speed.”

The duals format sees two skiers go head-to-head in elimination rounds where each winner advances to the next round until there are only two athletes left.

Cox lined up against USA’s Tess Johnson in the fourth round for a shot at the top spot on the podium. Johnson’s put down a blinder final run and the 17-year-old claimed the gold medal in what was her very first World Cup podium.

Cox’s Tazawako results see her move into second place on the overall women’s moguls World Cup standings for the 2017/18 season.

“Stoked to creep back up to second on the overall standings even with skipping the last World Cup before the Games,” she said.

France’s Olympic champion Perrine Laffont still stands as world number one on 527 points after winning the single Tazawako event and placing fifth in the duals. Cox sits behind her on 467 points, just six points ahead of USA’s Jaelin Kauf.

Laffont won gold in the single event, ahead of 2018 Olympic silver medallist Justine Dufour-Lapointe, from Canada, and USA’s Keaton McCargo in bronze.

In the men’s event, Australia’s PyeongChang Olympic bronze medallist Matt Graham was unable to return to his medal-winning form, placing 15th in the single moguls and 17th in the dual moguls.

Japan’s Ikuma Horiashima won double gold in both the single and dual events in front of an energetic home crowd. Olympic Champion Mikael Kingsbury had to settle for second in both events, ahead of Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Reikherd who won double bronze.

The event in Japan marked the end of the season for Cox and Graham, who will join the rest of the Australian Mogul Skiing Team on a well-deserved break.

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

FREESTYLE SKI: Milestones and more were par for the course for Australia’s freestyle skiing athletes at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

Sixteen Australians were in action across aerials, moguls, ski cross and ski slopestyle, and the Aussies were setting records before stepping on the snow.

Aerials Olympic gold medallist Lydia Lassila became the first woman to compete at five Winter Olympic Games, the achievement followed two Winter Olympic Games where she claimed medals, becoming Olympic Champion in 2010 before she won bronze at Sochi 2014.

In Moguls, the 2018 Games marked the first time Australia had four men and four women at an Olympics. In doing so, Australia and Canada were the only nations to have full representation at the Moguls competition.

Moguls athletes got Australia’s 2018 Olympic Winter Games campaign underway and the women were up first. On Olympic debut, 19-year-old Jakara Anthony was exceptional as she claimed fourth in the super final. Three-time Olympian Britt Cox was fifth.

“The whole thing’s been a massive learning experience for me and I’ll definitely be taking all the experience that I had here going into Beijing 2022," Anthony said.

Madii Himbury progressed from the second qualification round and finished 20th, while fellow debutant Claudia Gueli finished 23rd.

A day later and in the men’s moguls, Matt Graham put Australia on the medal tally with a stunning silver medal winning performance. Graham was consistently consistent through qualifying and finals, and put down one of the best runs of his life to finish second behind Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury.

"It was amazing putting down that final run which was my best run of the night. I knew when I saw the score I was going to be on the podium,” Graham said.

Olympic rookie James Matheson finished 14th while teammate Rohan Chapman-Davies finished 22nd. Having flared up his ACL injury during training, Summers chose not to risk further injury and did not line up for the event.

"Wasn’t an easy decision that’s for sure,” Summers said.

“Definitely emotional. As soon as I made the call everybody in my team told me ‘you’ve made a smart decision and you’ve reduced your risk for getting yourself right for world championships next year.’”

At the Aerials, all eyes were on five-time Olympian Lydia Lassila and her final Olympics performance.

The 36-year-old narrowly missed the final and finished 14th.

"This is an outside sport and you can't control a lot of things and tonight I just couldn't control the speed," Lassila said.

With an Olympic career spanning nearly two decades, Lassila said she was disappointed with her final Winter Games performance.

"It's a feeling of loss in a way ... you've lost an opportunity but that's sport and you've got to reflect on the good and happy moments that I've had with my kids, my family, my friends -- life is good," she said.

Results were mixed in the women’s event, with Laura Peel and Danielle Scott advancing to the finals and Samantha Wells exiting at the qualifying round, finishing in 17th place.

In the Super Final, Peel attempted a Back Double Full-Full where she over-rotated and then back-slapped on her landing. She finished fifth.

“My goal was to make the top six, the Super Final, and I did that,” Peel said.

“We did our best out there. I had a huge group of supporters in the crowd so I was definitely feeling the love.”

Needing to be in the top nine to progress from Final 1 to Final 2, Scott backslapped while attempting a Back Full-Full to finish the competition in 12th.

In the men’s event, David Morris secured a start in the final after finishing the second qualification round in second place.

He performed a Back Full – Double Full – Full, to claim 10th overall.

Morris was pleased with the jump he put down but the field produced high scoring jumps. The leader, Guangpu Qi of China was awarded 127.44 for his execution of the same trick.

“We tried our best, it is what it is. Tenth is a pretty sweet result and I’m happy with that,” Morris said.

“We’re in an Olympic final so that’s awesome and this competition is top class so even to be here is quite the privilege.”

In the days leading into the men’s ski slopestyle, dual Olympian Russ Henshaw struggled to walk up stairs, but that didn’t stop the 27-year old from putting down two solid runs.

Having injured his knee less than a month ago, Henshaw said he was happy just to make it to the start gate.
He finished 19th in qualifying, putting him out of contention for a place in the final.

“Just being in that start gate about to drop, to get there after all I’ve been through over the last two weeks was a surreal feeling in itself,” Henshaw said.

There were mixed results at the Ski Cross after Anton Grimus fractured his collarbone and Sami Kennedy-Sim advanced to the small final and finished eighth overall.

27-year-old Grimus suffered a crash during his seeding run and went into the finals with a sore shoulder. He went on to finish fourth in his round of eight heat.

Dual Olympian Sami Kennedy-Sim recorded her best result of the 2017/18 season.

"That was a solid battle and it's a step up for me and the best result that I've had all season," Kennedy-Sim said.

"To be one of the top girls in the world, that's sick and I hope that I can get other kids to come and have a crack, it's super fun!"

Michelle Cook
olympics.com.au

Jakara Anthony and Britt Cox have finished just off the podium in the women's moguls finals at Bokwang Snow Park.

On Olympic debut, 19-year-old Jakara Anthony was exceptional as she claimed fourth after scoring 75.38 in the Super Final.

Cox headed into the Super Final with the second highest score in Final 2 before scoring 75.08 to claim fifth place. 

Perrine Laffont of France won the gold medal with a score of 78.65, with defending Olympic Champion Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Canada claiming silver and Kazakhstan's Yulia Galysheva taking the bronze medal. 

“I had a lot of runs today and they progressively got better," said Anthony. 

"I think my first two final runs were my best and then full on day so by the time you get to the Super Final it starts to drop off a bit. It wasn’t my best run of the day but I’m still really happy with how I performed.

“The whole thing’s been a massive learning experience for me and I’ll definitely be taking all the experience that I had here going into Beijing 2022."

After having to come through qualification 2 to make the top 20, Anthony produced one of her best runs of the competition with a score of 76.81 to move through to the final 12 in fourth place. She then finished the second final in 4th with a score of 76.85.

Cox closely followed Anthony with a score of 75.79 to make the top 12 in 5th before then scoring 78.28 to move into the Super Final in 2nd.

“My goal for this week and for tonight in particular was to absolutely go for it, give it everything I’ve got and I really truly believe that I did that tonight so for that I’m really happy and I’m really proud," Cox said.

"It didn’t really pay off for me in the Super Final, I went too big and too fast and was scrappy in the middle but I achieved my goal of going for it so that’s a positive and I’m proud of that”

Over the past eight years Cox has seen the sport develop sport so much in Australia and she is not only proud of her perforance but also that of her teammates.

“This is my third Games so it’s not my first rodeo but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this experience.

"I've especially enjoyed being part of a full team, it’s been so exciting with this being the first time we’ve ever had four women from Australia competing in the moguls so I’m really proud to have three other teammates there skiing alongside me.

"That’s super exciting but I’m definitely looking forward to the next four years and to Beijing in the future.”

Madii Himbury, who had earlier progressed from qualification 2 scored 68.19 to finish 20th overall.

Himbury said it was “pretty exciting” to make it into the finals.

“I squeezed into the top 20, just, and I was hoping to go a bit faster and a bit bigger and I did," she said.

"I just had a little mistake on the bottom there, drifted a little and so didn’t get the score that I’m hoping for but I did what I wanted to do and I went for it so I’m happy.

“It’s been pretty good, the noise carries as well so we can hear all the cheers up in the start gate. We’ve got lots of friends and family here so it was all very exciting.

Claudia Gueli unfortunately had a fall between her two jumps in qualification 2 and finished 23rd overall.
"That was really fun, I was happy with my skiing up until the little hiccup, but regardless it’s been such a journey so I can’t complain," said Gueli.

"It’s pretty good conditions, the course is a bit firmer because it’s colder today but we’re used to it from other courses around the globe.

"I got an edge, I was a bit too over the wrong foot on one of the turns and once that happens it’s really hard to come back from so I pulled out, tried to save myself but it doesn’t always pan out the way you want it to.

"I'm going to go home and rest up and start training in about a month to prepare for the next year."

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au

Australia’s female mogul skiers have opened Australia’s PyeongChang 2018 campaign at Phoenix Park this morning.

Two-time Olympian and 2017 World Champion Britt Cox was the first of the Aussies on the course in Friday’s qualification run, progressing through to Final 1 after finishing 6th place with a score of 76.78.

“It was so fun to get out there, I always say that comp day is my favourite day,” she said.

“Competing at the Olympics and the first event of the Games is really exciting. The course was ripping this morning, so I had a lot of fun.”

For the 23-year-old, who also has a World Championships gold medal and a Crystal Globe as the top ranked freestyle skier of 2017, Friday’s run was “business as usual”.

“I came out in training this morning, got to know the course, was working on my technique and fine-tuning things,” she said.

“Whenever I click into my skis I’m happy, so I had a really good time out here this morning.”

Cox was the only one of the Australian contingent directly through to Final 1 after placing in the top ten.

Australia’s three other female moguls skiers will now need to place in the top ten of qualification 2, which will feature the 20 skiers that have not already progressed, on Sunday to join Cox in Final 1.

Olympic debutant Jakara Anthony finished in 14th place with a score of 69.49 and said that it felt “pretty awesome” to have put down her first Winter Games run.

“There’s room to improve, I can only go up from now,” she said.

“There’s lots of girls that are great that are in front of me a lot of the time or sometimes they’re behind me, it switches up a bit so you don’t really know who’s going to ski well on the course or not.”

The 19-year-old’s fellow teammate and Olympic debutant Madii Himbury finished in 15th place after her first run which featured her signature backflip.

“Today was my first Olympic run so it was a bit nerve racking. Hopefully next time I can go a little bit faster for the whole run,” she said.

“It’s all very exciting, last night it kind of sunk in a bit more with the Welcome Ceremony. The nerves are now out of the way so now we can go and rip it on Finals day.”

Also making her first Olympic appearance in PyeongChang, Claudia Gueli finished in the top 20 with a score of 68.68.
The 20-year-old said that she will be aiming to pick up more speed in the second qualification round.

“I think with the right attitude and the right preparation I should be able to do it,” she said.

“It’s absolutely incredible, I’ve dreamt about this my whole life … I came out today with the best training I’ve had throughout the three days of training. I got to put all the pieces together in comp so it turned out really well.”

The Women's finals will be held on Day 2 and Men's finals on Day 3 (February 10-11). See more of the freestyle skiing Team HERE. 

David Barden
olympics.com.au

Australia’s full contingent moguls team have enjoyed their first training run on the PyeongChang 2018 course – and they believe the conditions are primed for Australian success.

Four Australian men and four Australian women will compete in the freestyle skiing event, beginning with qualifications on Day 0 (Friday 9 February).
The team competed on the Phoenix Snow Park course in February 2017 but recent adjustments to the moguls has put the competition into Australia’s advantage.

“The moguls are actually quite big and firm which adds a bit more technicality to the course,” Sochi Olympian Matt Graham said.

“Last year from my perspective the course may have been slightly easy so they’ve done a really good job to build the top section up and put a bit more pitch and firmer and icier moguls in which I think will work into [Australia’s] favour as we’re generally really technical skiers so that gives us a lot of confidence going forward into the week.”

Graham, who is competing in his second Winter Olympic Games, said the course design would "separate the men from the boys".

“For us [the course is] quite normal; it’s 250m, it’s about 28 degrees in pitch but what can change is just the snow conditions, the shape of the moguls, the transitions to the jumps.

“That’s the stuff they can really manipulate to make the course more technical, and for us we thrive on technical courses and challenging courses.”

Fellow men’s mogul skier Brodie Summers – who is also lining up for his second Olympic berth – agreed that the course was tough but was a welcome personal challenge.

Returning from major surgery on his ACL in September 2017, Summers relished his the opportunity to try out the Winter Olympic venue just days before competition.

“Last night I looked at it and I thought this will be a really good test for [for my knee] because as we’ve discussed the conditions are quite challenging and it’s a technical course,” he said.

“But after the first two runs I warmed up, I relaxed into it and I had a really good time.

“I looked at the video after training and I thought ‘you know what, the skiing’s not looking too bad’ so I’m feeling good about where I’m at.”

Olympic debutant Jakara Anthony said for the moment, the experience felt similar to her World Cup appearances – which is good news for Australia given the 19-year-old finished fifth at the first Deer Valley World Cup in January this year.

“I’m just trying to approach it the same as a World Cup so that I can put together the run that I’m trying to do, similar to what I’ve been doing all season,” Anthony said.

Still, it will be an incredibly tough battle for a spot on the podium and some of Anthony’s greatest threats are her teammates, including world number 4 Britt Cox  who will make her third Olympic start at just 23 years of age.

Cox, who took out the World Championship title in Sierra Nevada, Spain, in March 2017, said the women’s moguls’ event would be one to watch in PyeongChang.

“It’s a really exciting time in women’s mogul skiing at the moment and I feel really honoured to be a part of that,” Cox said.

“At the moment, anyone within the top 10 is capable of putting down the best run on the night and that’s really exciting and that’s really motivating for me for when I’m up there and training in the next couple of days to push myself and let that competitive vibe come out of me in my training in through to the competition.”

Moguls qualification will be held on Day 0 (February 9), with Women's finals on Day 2 and Men's finals on Day 3 (February 10-11). See more of the freestyle skiing Team HERE.

Candice Keller
olympics.com.au

MOGUL SKIING: Three Olympians and three debutants will make a six-strong Australian mogul skiing contingent at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.

Dual Olympian and 2017 World Champion Britt Cox will headline the Team in the women’s event, looking to improve upon her fifth-place finish from Sochi 2014.

The Victorian skier was the youngest member of the Australian Team when she finished 23rd on debut at Vancouver 2010 at the age of 15.

Now, with two Olympic Games, a World Championships gold medal and a Crystal Globe as the top ranked freestyle skier of 2017 under her belt, the 23-year-old is “looking forward to new experiences in Korea this time around.”

“Representing your country at the Olympic Games is a very special feeling, so I’m really excited to be named on the Aussie team for PyeongChang 2018,” Cox said.

“Australia has such a rich Olympic history both in summer and winter sports, so to be part of that legacy is a huge honour. I’m really inspired by the culture that exists within this Aussie team, we all push, encourage and inspire one another and that fuels me within my own personal sporting goals.”

Sochi Olympians Brodie Summers and Matt Graham will return for their second Games at the Korean ski resort.
After rupturing his ACL in September 2017 and undergoing a relentless rehabilitation program, PyeongChang will be Summer’s return to competition.

“I am aware that my situation leading in to the Games hasn't been ideal but I am also extremely fortunate to have a body that bounces back well from injury,” Summers said.

Given the setbacks and challenges he has overcome, Summers is feeling “immensely proud” about today’s announcement and is motivated to improve on his 13th place Sochi finish.

“Being selected to any Olympic Team is always a huge deal but given what I have been through over the past four and a half months I think it has just made me appreciate it so much more.

“There were days during the rehab process where I felt like the world was against me and maybe I was reaching too far when trying to come back in time for the Games, but my team and I have found a way to overcome every obstacle we have encountered along the way.

A more confident and experienced Graham will head into his second Games as the third ranked male mogul skier, fresh off four World Cup medals from seven events this season.

“I was only 19 years old in Sochi, so I was young and naive and wasn't quite sure on what to expect,” 23-year-old Graham said.

“With the experience gained in Sochi I will definitely feel more comfortable in the start gate at PyeongChang and I will better be able to handle the pressures and hype of the Games.

Graham, who finished 7th on debut at Sochi 2014, believes this year’s Team is “our strongest to date”.

“Australia's success in mogul skiing really goes back to the grass roots. I believe we have the best pathway in the world from the club programs at our local ski resorts all the way through the sporting institutes and to the national team. We have the best coaches and the best network of support so everything combined really creates a recipe for success.

“I get to travel the world and compete with and against my best friends, where we all enjoy the friendly competitive rivalry. My teammates push me to my limits and I try to return the favour as best as I can.”

Joining the more experienced athletes as part of this close-knit team include debutants Jakara Anthony (19), Madii Himbury (24) and Claudia Gueli (20).

Young-gun Anthony had her break out season last year, where she qualified for two World Cup finals, placed 12th at her World Championships debut at Sierra Nevada, Spain and was selected to wear the green and gold at the Sapporo 2017 Asian Winter Games, where she placed sixth.

The skier from Barwon Heads, Victoria made her first 6-skier Super Final this season at the Deer Valley World Cup, where she placed fifth, and will head into her debut Olympic Games with a world ranking of 14.

“It’s really, really exciting, it’s a dream come true,” Anthony said of her selection in the 2018 Team.

“I decided I wanted to be an Olympian back when I was a little kid, when I started mogul skiing as a 10-year-old. I’ve been working towards this for quite a while now so it’s a really big goal to have achieved.”

The men’s and women’s mogul skiing qualification events will be held at Bokwang Snow Park on Day 0 (February 9) with the women’s finals on Day 2 and the men’s on Day 3 (February 11-12).

Dale Begg-Smith claimed Australia’s first mogul skiing Olympic medal when he won gold at Torino 2006. He returned four years later to win silver at Vancouver 2010. Find out more about Australia’s freestyle skiing Olympians HERE.

Find out more about Freestyle Skiing at the PyeongChang Games HERE and see the full selected Team HERE.
​
Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

With only three weeks until the Opening Ceremony of PyeongChang 2018, the final Olympic qualification Moguls World Cup kicks off in Tremblant, Canada this weekend.

Matt Graham will lead the charge for Australia, fresh off a bronze medal from last week’s Deer Valley World Cup.
With four podium finishes (three bronze and one silver) from five starts this season, Graham’s coach Steve Desovich, is pleased with the progress he is making this Olympic season.

“Matt has done a superb job in most of the events this season getting a handle on his speed and managing his run accordingly,” Desovich said.

"The aims for Matt are to achieve a number of top to bottom simulations in the two days of training beforehand, thereby placing him in a position to perform well in the event itself."

The current world number three will be joined by his Aussie teammates James Matheson, Rohan Chapman-Davies and Cooper Woods-Tapolovic.

Currently ranked 14th in the world, young-gun Jakara Anthony will headline the women’s team in Canada while current world number three Britt Cox attends a pre-Games training camp.

"Britt will not partake in the Tremblant event but will instead engage in a strength and conditioning camp to increase her physical capacities and recovery before Korea,” Desovich said.

19-year-old Anthony made her first Super Final last week at the first Deer Valley World Cup, finishing fifth overall. She has also recorded three top-20 performances this season and will look to carry that strong form in the final world cup before the Winter Olympics.

Joining Anthony on the course will be Sophie Ash, Claudia Gueli, Madii Himbury, Taylah O’Neill and Krystle Yin.

21-year-old Ash has already qualified for two small finals this year, in what is her debut World Cup season.

Teammate Gueli has also recorded a career-best result this year, finishing 10th at the Calgary World Cup in early January. 

The Tremblant Moguls World Cup kicks off at 1.30pm local time (5.30am AEDT Sunday 21st). Watch the finals live in Eurosport from 7.30am AEDT Sunday morning and follow the results online HERE.

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au