The first event for the FIS Freestyle World Cup season takes place this weekend in Ruka, Finland, with the Australian Aerial and Mogul skiing teams based at the Finish resort for a number of weeks, training on the World Cup courses in the lead in to the first event.

First up will be the Mogul World Cup on Saturday December 2, with Olympic gold medallist and 2023 World Cup single moguls champion Jakara Anthony looking to replicate her win at Ruka 12-months-ago. 2023 dual World Championship medallist Matt Graham will be competing for the first time since end of season shoulder surgery which impacted his Australian winter, and has worked extremely hard to make it to the start line for the opening event.

Also in action will be Olympic finalist Cooper Woods, Jackson Harvey, George Murphy and making his debut will be 19-year-old Oliver Logan.

"Ruka has been good so far. I am still getting my legs back a bit after my disrupted off-season due to multiple shoulder surgeries," said Graham the 2018 Olympic silver medallist.

"I am pretty confident with how I am skiing and jumping, and I believe I am in a good position to have a good performance this weekend."

"I am excited to get the season underway and see what I am capable of considering how little I have been able to train this year."

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Mogul skier Matt Graham has claimed his second medal at the 2023 FIS World Championships, capturing the bronze medal in the dual moguls overnight in Bakuriani, Georgia, becoming just the second Australian to ever win two medals at a FIS World Championships after Dale Begg-Smith's gold and silver in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, back in 2007.
 
Graham has now collected an impressive four World Championship medals across his career and has won at least one medal at each of the past three World titles, which are held every two years.
 
After taking the silver medal in the single moguls in Georgia, Graham was full of confidence heading into the dual moguls, which will feature in the Olympic Winter Games for the first time in 2026 at Milano-Cortina, Italy.
 
Graham had victories in the round of 32 against British skier Thomas Gerken-Schofield and Kosuke Sugimoto in the round of 16 to reach the quarter final stage.
 
After defeating Nick Page of the USA in the quarter-final, Graham then faced 2022 Olympic gold medallist Walter Wallberg of Sweden in the semi-final, going down 14-21 points. .
 
In the duel for the bronze medal, Graham then defeated Pavel Kolmakov of Kazakhstan with a score of 20-15 for his second medal at the World Championships.
 
“To go back-to-back in any World Cup or World Championships is awesome, and now we have the opportunity to do it at the Olympics, in three years’ time assuming I am there – that’s what I will be chasing,” said the 28-year-old from the NSW Central Coast.
 
“It felt pretty exhausting to be honest. There are a lot of runs in duals and the intensity was so high, and it’s been a long week with three training days and two competition days. At the top I was just trying to psych myself up and get the legs firing each run and just happy to make it down and get through all the rounds and come away with a bronze medal.”
 
“Strength and conditioning off snow is so important, and now having duals at the Olympics it’s even more important to have to put runs down back-to-back on such a quick timeline, so I guess I need to get home and back in the gym.”
 
Cooper Woods had a number of impressive duels in the early rounds and was unlucky not to advance through to the quarter finals, with the judges awarding his round of 16 dual to Kolmakov 18-17, giving him a final ranking of ninth.
 
Also in action for Australia in just a second start in the World Championship were George Murphy in 14th place and Jackson Harvey in 19th.

Mogul skier Matt Graham has claimed the second medal for Australia at the 2023 FIS World Championships, with a silver medal performance overnight in Bakuriani, Georgia. Graham has now won medals at the last three World Championships, which are held every two years.
 
The 2018 Olympic silver medallist placed fifth in the first round of finals with a score of 85.60 points, and then stepped it up in the super-final with a huge score of 88.90 points together with the fastest speed in 22.49 seconds.
 
Edging out Graham to take the win by just 0.92 points in the last run of the day was the defending World Champion Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, with Walter Walberg of Sweden rounding out the podium in third with a score of 88.52 points. 
 
“It’s pretty surreal to be honest” said the 28-year-old from the NSW Central Coast.
 
“Everyone was skiing so well today and so fast. In my last run I felt like I had to find three points on top of the other guys, so I just rally planted that top air well, charged though the middle section and then was just hanging on to get off the bottom air and managed to put it to my feet.”
 
“When the score came up and it was over 88, that was awesome, I knew I had put the pressure on the top guys and managed to hold onto second place, so I am over the moon.”
 
“My expectations were to come here and enjoy the experience, and really focus on putting down clean runs that I am happy with, and the results would take care of themselves. If I put that run down and came fifth place then so be it, but fortunately enough it was good for a silver, so I am really happy.”
 
Cooper Woods was the best of the other Aussie skiers in 11th place and World Championship debutants George Murphy and Jackson Harvey were 26th and 28th.
 
Earlier in the women’s competition Olympic Champion Jakara Anthony was sixth in the qualification round but slipped to 17th after having trouble with her top jump landing.
 
The mogul skiers will be back in action tonight competing in the World Championships dual mogul event.

The Australian mogul team has taken part in the final World Cup event before the World Championships, with a dual mogul event in Chiesa in Valmalenco, Italy.

2022 Olympic champion Jakara Anthony was Australia's leading performer at the event, with the NSWIS skier reaching the quarter-final stage, narrowly losing her dual in a score of 17-18 to American Olivia Giaccio, giving her a final ranking of fifth.

Anthony's NSWIS teammates Matt Graham (17th), Cooper Woods (21st) and Jackson Harvey (24th) all exited the competition in the round of 32, with George Murphy (33rd) out in the round of 64.

With two World Cup events remaining in the season, Anthony has an unbeatable lead in the single moguls standings, is fifth in the dual moguls and second on the overall moguls rankings, just 49 points behind Perrine Laffont of France.

Matt Graham is ranked third in single moguls, fifth in duals and fourth on the overall standings.

The single mogul event at the World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia, will take place on February 25, with dual moguls the next day on February 26.

NSWIS skier Matt Graham has carried his great form over from his win in the single moguls, with a second place finish in the dual event in Deer Valley, his third medal of the season.

Graham advanced through the rounds with ease to reach the big final against his great rival, Mikael Kingsbury of Canada. With both skiers putting it all on the line for the win, Graham unfortunately crashed out in the middle of the course, giving the win to Kingsbury with Graham having to settle for the silver.

Olympic champion Jakara Anthony reached the quarter-final stage, before narrowly being edged out by Japanese skier Rino Yanagimoto with a score of 16-19, finishing in fifth place.

Other NSWIS skiers results include Jackson Harvey in 24th, Cooper Woods 32nd and George Murphy in 45th.

The mogul skiing tour now heads to Valmalenco, Italy, for the last event before the World Championships, a dual mogul World Cup on February 11.

Australian mogul skiers Matt Graham and Jakara Anthony have recorded an incredible double gold medal performance at the World Cup event in Deer Valley, USA, becoming the second Australian pair to achieve victory on the same day.
 
For Graham, the result is even more special, as it’s his first victory in the single moguls discipline since Calgary in 2017, fittingly the last time Australia claimed victory in both events, when he did so with World Champion four-time Olympian Britt Cox.
 
Deer Valley is blue ribband World Cup event for mogul and aerial skiing. The Utah event is in its 25th edition and is held annually at the 2002 Olympic venue, “the Champion Run”.
 
Graham qualified for finals in third place, and then stepped it up in finals scoring 81.27 in the first round of finals to advance to the super-final medal round in first place.
 
In the super-final, Graham put down an incredible run to score a huge 85.35 on the steep and difficult course, to finish ahead of Mikael Kingsbury of Canada with 83.65 points with Frenchman Benjamin Cavet of France rounding out the podium with 81.82 in third.
 
“It’s a surreal feeling, I went back-to-back with Britt Cox in 2017 in Calgary, and now to get the back-to-back wins with Jakara is super special,” said the 28-year-old Olympic silver medallist from the NSW Central Coast.
 
“It was a tough long day today, the course was eating people all day, I was just happy to find my line and rip it each run.”
 
“I was having so much fun here at Deer Valley, I love this event, had my first ever win here in 2016 so it’s good to be back up here and stand on top of the podium.”
 
The victory is the fourth of Graham’s career and his 20th World Cup podium.
 
2022 Olympic Champion Anthony headed into the event with the yellow leaders bib and continued her strong form throughout the event, recording the eighth World Cup victory of her career with a score in the super-final of 80.15 points.
 
In second place was American Jaelin Kauf with a score of 77.17 with Perrine Laffont of France in third with 77.17.
 
Anthony was thrilled to share the victory with her teammate.
 
“It’s incredible, the last time was Matt and Britt Cox, so to take that top step with Matt, who I have taken a second place with before and to now take the top step is absolutely incredible and he ripped out there, his run was phenomenal.”
 
After five events the 24-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria is in first place on the World Cup standings with 480 points, 150 points ahead of Laffont of France. Anthony now has an unassailable lead in the season rankings with only one event left in early March.
 
The victory sees Graham move into third on the standings with 276 points, with Canadian Kingsbury in the lead with 440.
 
Also in action for Australia was Jackson Harvey in 14th, George Murphy in a personal best finish of 20th with Cooper Woods unfortunately not finishing his qualifying run.
 
Tomorrow it’s the aerial skiers turn to compete in Deer Valley, with the mogul skiers back in action the following day taking part in the dual moguls.

Competing in the second day of competition in Val St Come, Canada, 2018 Olympic medallist Matt Graham has just fallen short of obtaining his second podium of the season, finishing in fourth place.

The NSWIS skier had victories in the round of 32 and 16 against Japanese skiers Kosuke Sugimoto and Ikuma Horishima to advance to the semi-final stage.

In a tight semi-final against 2022 Olympic Champion Walter Wallberg of Sweden, Graham was unlucky to go down in a score of 19-16 points to the Swede.

In the dual for third place, Graham faced another Swede, Filip Gravenfors, losing another close dual 20-15.

Other Australian's in action in the dual moguls were Jakara Anthony in ninth, Jackson Harvey 15th, Cooper Woods 31st and George Murphy 38th.

The World Cup mogul tour now heads to Deer Valley, USA, with the Utah resort hosting a single moguls event on February 2 and dual moguls on February 4.

Jakara Anthony has remained the number one ranked mogul skier in the world, following a silver medal performance in Val St Come, Canada, her fifth medal of the season.

After advancing through to finals in first place, the NSWIS skier scored 81.88 points in the super final to be just edged out of first place by 0.37 points to Anri Kawamura of Japan. American Jaelin Kauf rounded out the podium in third place with a score of 78.34.

After four events, Anthony is ranked first on the mogul standings with 380 points, with French skier Parrine Laffont in second with 270 and Kawamura in third on 248.

“Definitely a solid performance, obviously wanted that top sport, but so does every girl out there, so you have to be laying it down every run,” said the 2022 Olympic Champion.

Also in action for Australia in the men’s event was Matt Graham who finished sixth in the super final, Cooper Woods 13th, Jackson Harvey 17th and George Murphy 38th.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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