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.

The Australian winter sports community gathered in Melbourne to celebrate a special moment in Australian Sport, Jakara Anthony's golden performance at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China.

Anthony became Australia's sixth Olympic Winter Champion after her barnstorming performance in Beijing, and the winter sport community joined Anthony's friends and family to celebrate the incredible achievement at a function at the Rialto in Melbourne. 

Some of Anthony’s amazing performances over the season included:

• Gold medal at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games
• 12 medals from 13 event starts, the most medals ever won by an Australian in a single season
• World Cup Overall Mogul Champion
• World Cup Dual Mogul Champion

 
On the night Anthony paid trouble to everyone involved in her journey, from her formative years to the champion winter athlete she is today, with speeches from Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) Chairman Geoff Henke and CEO Geoff Lipshut, with Snow Australia CEO Michael Kennedy interviewing Anthony and her coach Peter McNiel.

The OWIA is very appreciative of the support from Buller Ski Lifts and the Grollo family for hosting the function at the Rialto.

IMAGES BELOW © Chris Hocking/OWIA

Olympic champion Jakara Anthony has finished the season in the best possible way, with a double podium weekend at the final event of the season in Megève, France, securing her first overall World Cup Crystal Globe as the world number one ranked mogul skier at the end the season. Anthony also secured the dual mogul Crystal Globe as the number one dual mogul skier.
 
The double podium performance makes it a remarkable 12 medals from 13 starts for Anthony, the most ever won by an Australia in a single season, and the second Australian female to win the overall mogul skiing World Cup Crystal Globe, joining Britt Cox who led the world in 2016-2017.
 
Competing in the French Alps resort of Megève, Anthony took home a pair of silver medals in single (Olympic format)  and dual mogul events and was so close on both occasions not to take home the win, with the victory on both days narrowly awarded to local skier Perrine Laffont of France.
 
“It’s an incredible way to finish off the season” said the 23-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“The crowd here were incredible, and to get to ski against Perrine one of the great female athletes in our sport was really special.”
 
“This is my first time taking the big globe and this is the first time we have had a dual mogul globe, so to be able to take that out just really shows how consistent I have been able to be this season at a really high level.”
 
“It wasn’t easy, the women’s field is so high this year and everyone is just really stepping up their game, so these feel extra special.
 
Anthony finished the season in first place on the overall mogul standings with 925 points, 19 points clear of Laffont, with Japanese skier Anri Kawamura in third with 704 points. Anthony also secured the first ever Dual Mogul Crystal Globe as the number one ranked dual mogul skier at season end. 

Olympic champion Jakara Anthony has continued her great form at the first competition since the Beijing Olympic Games, recording victory in the dual mogul World Cup event overnight in Valmalenco, Italy.
 
Anthony has now won an incredible ten medals, equalling Alisa Camplin and Britt Cox as the most successful Australian wintersport athletes in a single season, with two events remaining.  
 
Competing at the Italian resort, Anthony advanced through the dual mogul rounds comfortably, to reach the gold medal dual against 2018 Olympic Champion Perrine Laffont of France.
 
With her trademark corked 720 mute grab on the top air and high level turns, Anthony forced Laffont to ski to her limit in the final, with the French skier making a number of mistakes to give Anthony the fourth World Cup gold medal of her career, with the judges giving Anthony the win with a score of 20 points to 15.
 
Rounding out the podium in third place was Olympic silver medallist Jaelin Kauf of the USA.
 
“I am so proud of how I skied” said the 23-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“It’s really tough in there, so to be able to put down consistent runs at the level I know I was capable of was my goal for this weekend and I achieved that, so I couldn’t be happier.
 
Anthony will be aiming to win the first Crystal Globe World Cup title of her career at the World Cup final next weekend in Megeve, France, with a mogul event on March 18 and dual moguls on March 19.
 
Anthony could possibly win all three mogul skiing Chrystal Globes. Anthony  is ranked first in the overall mogul and dual mogul World Cup standings , and is in third place in the single mogul  discipline.
 
“I am so excited to go to Megeve, we have just skied in the Alps in Italy, and now we are heading back to the French Alps, it’s a really spectacular part of the world that I haven’t seen much before, so I am just so excited to go experience the mountains and ski some moguls.”

For the first time since 2010, Australia has returned to the top of the medal dais at the Winter Olympics with Jakara Anthony taking gold in the women's moguls.

The 23-year-old, who finished 4th in her Olympic debut four years ago, totally dominated the whole event, and claimed the gold medal with a score of 83.09, a staggering 2.81 points ahead of the second placed Jaelin Kauf of the USA.

In claiming the gold medal, it becomes the first time in Winter Olympic history that Australia has claimed multiple medals on the same day, following Tess Coady's bronze medal in the snowboard slopestyle earlier in the day.

It was an incredibly calm performance from the Australian, who controlled the contest from start to finish, leading after every qualification round, with every score in the 80's.

Anthony is the first Australian to claim a gold medal at the Winter Olympics since Lydia Lassila in the aerials in 2010. Lassila was on hand in Beijing working for Channel 7 to witness Anthony's golden performance and welcomed her to the elite club of six Australians who have won Winter Olympic gold.

"It's just incredible, the hard work does pay off!" a jubilant Jakara said after her golden run.

"It's been a dream of mine my whole life to be an Olympic champion, actually I don't think I've ever stopped dreaming about it."

And while Australian fans were on the edge of their seats as the Super Final got underway, underneath that Australian unfirm was a picture of calmness and control.

"I pay zero attention to what the other scores are, in fact, I don't even know what my score was, all I saw was the number one after my name!"

Jakara was quick to pay tribute to her fellow teammates and her support crew for keeping her calm and focused in the lead up to the Games, and then throughout competition.

"It's a testament to myself and the work of the team around me. Not only does it make me a better athlete, but a better person as well."

Earlier, Britt Cox and Sophie Ash were unable to advance to the final 12, finishing 14th and 16th respectively with scores of 73.04 and 70.47.

For Cox, it ended her 4th Olympic campaign, having made her debut as a 15-year-old in Vancouver in 2010.

The self-confessed ‘mother hen‘ of the Australian team was philosophical after her run in the final 20.

"To be honest, I didn't feel it was my best run of the night. I feel like my final training run just before that one was my best run that I did all night, and for that I'm actually really proud," Britt said.

And Cox was circumspect as to whether she'll stay in the sport after an already glittering career.

"I don't know. I said to myself, 'I'm not going to make any decisions until after the event here', and I guess that time has come, so I have a little bit of thinking to do.

"At the moment, my passion for the sport couldn't be stronger and I just have so much fire in the belly still and love the sport. It's just a matter of how much more my body can keep going," Britt said.

While Sophie Ash enjoyed every moment of her first Olympic Games.

"Everyone is just putting down quality at every run," Sophie said.

"I'm really happy to have made the last 20, it was an awesome experience and I wanted to see how far I could go.

"There's always stuff to improve on and that's my job now.

olympics.com.au
Damian Kelly

 Jakara Anthony has finished the first women's moguls qualifying round on top, with a strong 2.64 points buffer on the rest of the field, marking the first time in Olympics history an Aussie woman has led a moguls qualifying round.

The 23-year-old put down a faultless run to post an intimidating score of 83.75, more than 2.5 points clear of the defending Olympic champion Perrine Laffont of France.

Jakara, competing at her second Olympics, sent an ominous warning to her rivals declaring there was room for improvement ahead of Sunday's final.

"I was pretty excited for that run, stoked actually," she declared.

"Some improvement ahead for sure, got some training to do and then get ready for Sunday.

A familiar name joins Jakara on a one-way ticket to the final. Britt Cox, a four-time Olympian and self-confessed ‘mother hen' of the Australian moguls team, qualified ninth which advances two Aussie women from the one Olympic qualifying session for the first time.

Britt was satisfied that everything went to plan.

"[That was] a stock standard run that I executed well and I am happy to go through with lots to improve on in training," Britt said.

With Jakara agonisingly finishing fourth in this event at PyeongChang 2018 and Britt positing fifth placings at the last two Olympics, both know a medal is well within their grasp come Sunday.

In moguls qualifying, the top 10 competitors advance directly to the finals. The remaining competitors who started are given another chance on Sunday to make the final 20, before the competition is culled to 12, and then six competitors will fight for the medals.

Sophie Ash finished in 13th place on her Olympic debut and the 25-year-old will compete again in Sunday's qualifying.

It was heartbreak for Taylah O'Neill, who did start but was unable to complete the run due to an ACL injury.

Damian Kelly
https://www.olympics.com.au

Jakara Anthony has wrapped up her Olympic qualification with a silver medal at the World Cup event in Deer Valley, USA, her eighth medal of the season.
 
Anthony made a great start to the day on the Champion ski run, winning the qualification round and then advancing to the super final in fourth place. In the super final, Anthony put down another great run to score 80.38 points to land on the podium in second place.
 
Taking the win was Japanese skier Anri Kawamura with a score of 80.89, with 2018 Olympic Champion Perrine Laffont of France rounding out the podium in third with 80.02 points.
 
Anthony is currently ranked third in the women’s moguls World Cup standings, and first in the overall mogul World Cup standings, which also includes results from the dual mogul discipline.
 
“I am really happy with how this event has gone, I really progressed in certain aspects of my skiing and jumping in my four days here and I couldn’t have asked for much more” said the 23-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“It’s been a big month so far with four competition starts in two weeks, which is quite a lot for us, but you have to just keep focusing on what’s next and take it one day at a time.”
 
“The women’s mogul field is so exciting to watch this season, there are so many strong skiers and the women’s jumping has gone through the roof. I just love watching and I think it’s so exiting for the sport, and I can’t wait to see what everyone brings for the rest of the season.”
 
“We are now off to Ruka, Finland, for our pre-Olympic camp, so I will be looking to fine tune bits and pieces of my run there and getting everything dialled in.”
 
In the men’s event, Brodie Summers made it through to his first super-final of the season, finishing in sixth place.  
 
Also competing in the top-16 finals were Cooper Woods in 11th and Britt Cox in 12th.

Australia has recorded two top-5 performances at the mogul skiing World Cup in Deer Valley, USA, with Jakara Anthony claiming her seventh podium of the season after taking home a bronze medal and Cooper Woods recording a personal best fifth place finish.
 
Anthony was in great form on the Champion ski run, winning the qualification round and then qualifying for the super final in first place. In the super final, Anthony lost some points with her top air ski out but recovered well to post a score of 79.84 points to win bronze.
 
Taking the win was 2018 Olympic Champion Perrine Laffont of France with 80.30, with Japanese skier Anri Kawamura in second with 80.03. Despite Anthony’s deductions on her ski out, her jumping points were the highest in the final.
 
“It’s always great to be back in Deer Valley and it’s so exciting that we have a double event here so we can come back and do it all again tomorrow” said the 23-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“I am really happy with the changes I have made to my run here, and I was stoked to get some good runs down.”
 
In the men’s event, Woods improved on his personal best ninth place finish in Canada last weekend to advance to the first top-six super final of the 21-year-old’s career.
 
Woods scored 76.10 points in the super final to finish in a personal best fifth place. 2018 Olympic Champion Mikael Kingsbury of Canada won with a score of 83.28 points, with Ikuma Horishima of Japan in second with 81.98 and another Japanese skier Kosuke Sugimoto scoring 79.02 to finish third.
 
“It was my first super final, I was pretty excited if you want to know the truth”, said Woods, who resides in Pambula Beach, NSW. 
 
“I had to take some deep breaths, go over my goals with my coach, and just had to get down the run and put a nice one down”
 
Also in action for Australia was Brodie Summers in 19th, Sophie Ash 23rd, James Matheson 24th, Britt Cox 29th and Madii Himbury in 33rd.
 
A second World Cup event will take place in Deer Valley tomorrow, which be the final mogul skiing competition before the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.

Jakara Anthony has claimed her sixth podium of the season, with a silver medal performance at the World Cup mogul skiing event in Tremblant, Canada.

The Canadian resort hosted two days of World Cup competition, with all OWIA and NSWIS athletes achieving a finals performance.

On day one, Anthony was the highest placed Australian finishing in fifth, with Sophie Ash in 13th and Britt Cox 17th.

In the men's day one event, Cooper-Woods had a personal best World Cup finish in ninth place, with Brodie Summers (21st),  James Matheson (27th) missing out on finals.
 
Anthony came out strongly on day two, performing well in the qualification and first round of finals, to advance to the super final in fourth place.
 
In the super final Anthony had another great run scoring 79.02 points from the judges to finish 3.53 points behind 2018 Olympic Champion Perrine Laffont of France. Rounding out the podium in third place was Anri Kawamura of Japan with a score of 78.78.
 
“The course here in Tremblant was really fun today, it’s really developed over the four days we have been skiing on it, and very different to the previous course in Alpe d’Huez in France” said the 23-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“It’s a busy few weeks for us with back-to-back double single mogul events in two different locations here in Tremblant and next week in Deer Valley, which everyone is excited for. It’s always a favourite event for the Australian team and the whole World Cup tour, so I look forward to getting back on the Champion run at Deer Valley.”

The podium performance sees Anthony ranked second on the World Cup standings with 365 points, just four behind Kawamura with 369 points, and 15 ahead of Laffont on 350 points. Brodie Summers is the highest ranked Australian male in tenth.
 
Joining Anthony in the women’s final on day two was Britt Cox in 13th with Brodie Summers and James Matheson reaching the men’s final, finishing in 13th and 16th place respectively. Cooper Woods finished in 26th place.
 
The mogul skiing athletes will now head to Deer Valley, USA, for the final World Cup events before the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.

Jakara Anthony has continued her amazing start to the season winning double World Cup gold in Alpe d'Huez, France.
 
Fresh from Friday’s victory in the single moguls, Anthony was dominant throughout the duals to claim her first dual moguls World Cup gold medal. The win also extends her lead in the World Rankings, with Anthony to remain in the yellow leaders bib going into the next World Cup event in Canada in January.
 
In the gold medal dual Anthony faced off against Russian Anastasiia Smirnova. With 35 points from the judges up for grabs, Anthony took the win by just one point with a score of 18 to 17 with Anthony’s superior jumps and turns getting her the victory.
 
“There were a lot of tight duals today, and I am just out there skiing my run and hoping that puts me through every round” said the 23-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“It’s very exciting to have the yellow bib, this is the first season I have managed to get hold of it, so I am excited to be heading into the next World Cup’s with it.”
 
Teammate Britt Cox registered another solid performance in ninth place.
 
The mogul skiing and snowboard cross athletes will now have a break before their World Cup tours resume in January.

Jakara Anthony has continued her amazing start to the season, winning the second World Cup mogul skiing gold medal of her career overnight in Alpe d'Huez, France.
 
Anthony has now podiumed in all four events to start the season, extending her lead as number one on the World Cup rankings.
 
In a dominant display, Anthony placed first in all three stages of the event, scoring a massive 85.07 points in the super final to finish over eight points ahead of second place finisher Anri Kawamura of Japan with a score of 77.21 points, with American Tess Johnson taking home the bronze medal with 76.63 points.
 
Australian teammate, 2017 World Champion Britt Cox also reached the super final, finishing in a season’s best fourth place, with a score of 76.20, just missing the podium by .44 points.
 
“It was so incredible, my first win of the season, my second win ever, and the first time I have every placed first in every round of the event,” said the 23-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“I am so keen to get back on the course tomorrow, it’s so much fun, the moguls require such technical skiing and it’s just so great to get out there and ski it every day.”
 
Brodie Summers also had an impressive performance, narrowly missing the men’s super-final in seventh place.
 
The mogul skiing athletes will be back in action tomorrow night competing in the dual mogul event in Alpe d'Huez.

Jakara Anthony has made it three straight podiums to start the World Cup season, with a bronze medal overnight in the dual moguls in Idre Fjäll, Sweden.
 
The podium result is the sixth by Australia over the weekend, with a gold and silver medal to Danielle Scott and Laura Peel in the aerials, Belle Brockhoff silver in snowboard cross, silver to Bree Walker in monobob and two bronze medals for Anthony. A personal best was also achieved by Australia in the two-woman bobsleigh, with pilot Bree Walker and brakewoman Kiara Reddingius equalling our best ever result in the sport with a seventh place performance in their first event as a team.
 
Anthony’s first dual came in the quarter-final round against Kai Owens of the USA. With judges scoring the event out of 35 points, Anthony advanced to the next round with a 20-15 advantage.
 
In the semi-final round, Anthony had a difficult match up against 2018 Olympic Gold Medallist Perrine Laffont of France, with Laffont taking the win with a score of 21-14.
 
In the dual for the bronze medal, Anthony comfortably took the win against American Olivia Giaccio with a score of 26-9 to record the 12th World Cup medal of her career.
 
“It’s incredible to go back to back at the same event, it’s been a while since I have had the opportunity to do that” said the 23-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“It was really tight duals all day long in the whole women’s field, you just had to get in there and go for it in that middle section, it was pretty tricky in there, so you just had to run it.
 
Also in action for Australia was Britt Cox in 14th, Sophie Ash 19th, James Matheson 23rd, Taylah O’Neill 29th, Cooper Woods, 28th, Madii Himbury 34th and Brodie Summers 41st.
 
The dual moguls format sees competitors face off side by side on parallel mogul runs, with the winner progressing to the next round.
 
The mogul skiing athletes will now head to France for a double event in Alpe d'Huez next weekend.
 
Anthony currently sits in first place in World Cup standings for the single moguls Olympic format and will wear the yellow leaders’ bib for the first time Alpe d'Huez.

Jakara Anthony has made a great start to her Olympic campaign, taking home the silver medal at the opening FIS mogul skiing World Cup event overnight in Ruka, Finland.
 
Anthony qualified for finals in third place with a score of 74.71, and stepped it up in finals, performing her new d-spin 720 jump on the top air for the first time in competition to advance to the super final medal round with an improved score of 78.45 in second place.
 
In the top-six medal round, Anthony put down another great run to score 78.17, just 0.34 points behind event winner Olivia Giaccio of the USA, with her teammate Kai Owens rounding out the podium in third place.
 
“This is my first podium in Ruka, so I am very excited about that” said the 23-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“I have come very close before a couple of times, but this is the first time I have sealed the deal which is great.”
 
“There has been a lot of hard work that has gone into this last year especially, and all the years before that, and I am just spoked to see it paying off.”
 
The performance marks the tenth World Cup podium of her career (1 gold, 7 silver, 2 bronze).
 
In the men’s event, Brodie Summers and Matt Graham had a strong start to the season finishing in the top-10. In finals, Summers came just short of advancing to the medal round in seventh place, with Graham in tenth.
 
Just missing  finals for Australia were Britt Cox in 18th place, James Matheson 22nd, Cooper Woods 23rd, Taylah O’Neill 25th and Sophie Ash 27th.
 
The mogul skiing athletes will now head to Sweden for a double event at the Idre Fjäll ski resort next weekend.

IMAGES © Chris Hocking/OWIA

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

NSWIS mogul skier Matt Graham has made it three consecutive podiums with back to back medals at the World Cup event in Deer Valley, USA, claiming the silver medal in the dual moguls on day two, after bronze in the single moguls 24 hours earlier.

The result moves Graham into first place on the World Cup standings, the first time an Australian male mogul skier has had the yellow leader bib since the legendary Dale Begg-Smith in 2010.
 
The 26-year-old from the NSW Central Coast moved through the earlier rounds of the event with ease to advance to the dual for first place against 2018 Olympic Champion Mikael Kingsbury of Canada.
 
In a very close head to head race in snowy conditions, Graham just fell short with Kingsbury taking the win with a score of 20 to 15 points. Rounding out the podium in third place was Benjamin Cavet of France.
 
“Feels great to get the silver here in Deer Valley after yesterday’s bronze”, Graham said after collecting his third medal of the season.
 
“It was a tough day today, I think all the boys where a bit sore after yesterday’s event, so we really had to dig deep.
 
“It’s a great feeling to go into the last World Cup event of the season wearing the yellow leaders bib.”
 
With one World Cup competition left in the schedule, a dual mogul event in Kazakstan on March 14, Graham sits in first place on the standings with 289 points. Behind Graham in the standings is Frenchman Benjamin Cavet on 271 points, Ludavig Fjallstrom of Sweden with 258 points and Ikuma Horishima of Japan on 246 points.
 
Graham’s teammate Brodie Summers is in fifth on the standings after finishing eighth for the second time in Deer Valley, his fifth top-10 of the season.

In the women's standings, Jakara Anthony sits in eighth place, after finishing in 11th place in the dual moguls.

Other Australian results included Britt Cox in 16th, Cooper Woods-Topalovic 19th place, Sophie Ash 30th and James Matheson in 31st

The mogul team will now train in Ruka, Finland, preparing for the World Championships which will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with single moguls on March 8 and dual moguls on March 9. The World Cup final will take place at the same location on March 14.

IMAGE: World number one's Matt Graham and Perrine Laffont of France.