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.

Australia's leading mogul skiers Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham have again performed strongly at the World Cup event in Tazawako, Japan, with the pair competing in single and dual mogul events.

The NSWIS athletes appeared across the two days of competition with Anthony achieving podiums in both her events and Graham finishing inside the top eight on each day.

On Saturday, Jakara Anthony secured her third straight spot on the World Cup podium with a silver medal performance in the single moguls, while Graham finished seventh.

Following the single moguls event, on Sunday the season’s second dual moguls competition saw Anthony claim bronze with Graham just missing out on the podium, finishing in fourth place.

Anthony was ecstatic with her podium appearances.

“I’m really happy to take back to back podiums here in Japan. I was really happy with my skiing today. I was backing it up from yesterday and putting down some really clean runs," Anthony said.

“Unfortunately in the semi-final I had a little slip up which put me into the small final which meant I didn’t get a chance to ski again but I still came away with a bronze medal and couldn’t be happier."

With Anthony currently ranked second in the overall World Cup standings, and Graham ranked fifth, Tazawako marked the end of the World Cup season for the pair, with the Australian program electing not to compete in next weekend's final World Cup events in Kazakhstan.

IMAGE - Jakara Anthony on the podium in Tazawako © FIS

Ski and Snowboard Australia / olympics.com.au

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

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

Matt Graham and Jakara Anthony have finished the pre-Olympic season with a finals run at the Tremblant Moguls World Cup this morning.

Both missed out on advancing to the 6-man Super Final, with current world number three Graham finishing in 11th place and Anthony finishing in 13th.


22-year-old Graham qualified 11th with a score of 83.36, and held his position with a score of 83.92 in the first final.
Although he was pleased with the way he skied, the Sochi Olympian prefers a more technical course and said the Canadian mountain didn’t play to his strengths.


“I thought I skied quite well today, I thought I jumped well and executed the plan, but the judges didn’t really agree with that, so not much I can do about that,” Graham said.


“The course here is quite interesting, it’s not much of a standard course like the one we’ll see in Korea.


“The course is really flat and quite short, which makes it easy and when it’s easy everyone skis well, so it condenses the field quite a lot and everyone was scoring really high so you couldn’t really make any mistakes.


“Today was a different story to most events but none the less it was still a fun day skiing and now on to the next day.”


In the 6-man Super Final, Japanese skier Ikuma Horishima, brought an end to Canadian Mikael Kingsbury’s streak of 13 World Cup wins.


Horishima, currently ranked sixth, pipped Kingsbury for the gold medal by 0.51 points, taking the top spot on the podium with a score of 93.88, above the world number one’s silver-medal score of 93.27.


“[Horishima’s] put down runs which were really hard to beat,” Graham said. “I don’t think anyone would have beaten him today, his final run was quite amazing.”


Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Reikherd rounded out the podium with bronze, keeping his spot as second in the world, while Graham remains comfortably in third.


Things didn’t go to plan for Graham’s fellow Aussie teammates, Cooper Woods-Tapolovic, James Matheson and Rohan- Chapman-Davies, who finished 47th, 49th and 50th respectively.


In the women’s event 19-year-old Anthony qualified 15th for the small final, and boosted her final position up two places with score of 75.54 in the 16-women first final.


At the end of the Olympic qualification period she sits in 14th place on the world rankings.


Sochi 2014 gold medallist, Canadian Justine Dufour-Lapointe, won gold with 87.43, followed by her teammate Andi Laude in second on 85.35 and Kazakhstan’s Yulie Galysheva won bronze with 84.61.


Krystle Yin was the next best placed Australian female (29th) followed in quick succession be Madii Himbury (30th), Sophie Ash (31st), Claudia Gueli (34th) and Taylah O’Neill (35th).


The Aussie Mogul Team now head to Colorado for a final training camp before the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, which kick off in three weeks’ time.


“From here we go down to Steamboat for five or six days of training before we head to Korea at the end of the month.
“So now it’s about putting the final touches together and trying to get the most out of the final days of preparation as possible,” Graham said.


Full results from the Tremblant World Cup are available HERE. The Australian Winter Olympian Team will be selected at the end of the week.


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

A nasty stomach virus, which required a hospital admission on Tuesday night, did not keep mogul skier Matt Graham from reaching his fourth podium in the second World Cup events in Deer Valley, Utah today.
 
Graham picked up the bronze medal behind Canada’s Mikhail Kingsbury and Kazakhstan’s Dmitry Reikherd, repeating a photo that has seen the three same men on the podium together in Calgary and Thaiwoo this season.  
 
Yesterday’s first World Cup saw a brave Graham put mind over matter to make the final 16 before bowing out of the first round of Finals in 13th. Another 24 hours was all it took for the world number three to sufficiently recover and deliver another consistent run.
 
“Coming from Calgary I picked up a pretty bad stomach virus on travel day and for the last few days I’ve been in the wars,” Graham said after being hospitalised for three hours on Tuesday night for intravenous treatment. 
 
“A lot of people of people telling me to take it easy and take the day off,” he said of the first World Cup. “I listened to my body and knew what I could do.”
 
“Yesterday in the start gate in the final, I had a big pain in my tummy and it took very ounce of resilience. I did make a mistake on the last jump.” 
 
“(Today) I was in a lot of pain, but it was better this afternoon. I wasn’t sure if I was going to compete until thirty minutes before the event. I mustered the energy.”
 
“The top guys had a great run too and to be up against those guys was special given the circumstance.  It was the icing on the cake.”
 
“For sure it’s worth it now,” he said.
 
“We have a week off now and I can recover then come out firing in the final event in Tremblant (Canada) before PyeonChang.”
 
World Champion Britt Cox has faced stiff competition this season and did so again today, coming away with a fourth place in the second Deer Valley World Cup after missing the Super Final yesterday.
 
Undeterred, Cox says she on track and feeling good.
 
“Really close to the podium tonight so I’m happy with my skiing but there’s definitely more in the tank and more that I need to do but happy to be in the mix in the super final tonight,” she said.
 
“I’m happy that I progressed through the rounds today - skied better in each round and my skiing is moving in a positive direction. I’m determined that I’m focussed on doing the work that needs to be done.”
 
Jakara Anthony, who reached her first Super Final yesterday placing 5th overall was again in good form today, qualifying into the top 16 and then coming 12th.
 
Other Australian results today included Taylah O’Neill placing 17th in the qualifying in an unlucky tie break situation to not make the final 16, Claudia Gueli 26th, Madii Himbury 36th, Krystle Yin 38th and Sophie Ash 48th. In the Men, James Matheson placed 44th, Cooper Woods-Topalovic 48th and Rohan Chapman-Davies DNF.
 
The final World Cup before the PyeongChang Games will be held in Tremblant, Canada on January 20th.
 
Belinda Noonan
OWIA

Mogul skier Jakara Anthony lived up to the promise she showed late last season in making her first World Cup Super Final in Deer Valley, Utah today.

Finishing 5th in a 51-strong field, Anthony laid down her best in all three runs, starting with sixth in the qualifying, again sixth in the small final before climbing one more to her final fifth career-best result.

The 19-year-old Victorian, whose previous best was ninth in Japan last year is “beyond excited”.

“It’s my first super final and I’m beyond excited,” she said at the finish of her event.

“I had a solid qualifying with sixth, backed it up with sixth in the final and then one more in the super final. It’s one of my best runs in comp that I’ve had.”

Anthony scored 73.90 points in the qualifying, increased to 78.04 in the small final and laid down 76.19 for her final run.

“It was awesome looking down at the crowd (for the super final) and I was a bit nervous but I got the job done with a fifth.”

Deer Valley in Utah is regarded as the super bowl of Freestyle Skiing, attracting big crowds to the sport’s premier date on the competitive calendar.

“The conditions today were ever changing. A bit of rain and a bit of snow but the weather cleared and the course was awesome by the super final,” Anthony said. “Today I did nothing different to what I’ve been training, just got it together better which I haven’t done previously this season.”

“Now it’s recovery, get ready to go again tomorrow and back it up,” Anthony said of the second World Cup tomorrow.  
Anthony edged out team mate Britt Cox, the current Number 1 going into Deer Valley, relegating her to seventh place in the small final and therefore, not able to advance to the medal round.  

Cox had put down a quality run in the small final without too many mistakes but perhaps lacking a bit of flair on this occasion. The emerging US women, Kauf, Schild and McCargo, threw down the gauntlet with fast, technically strong runs finishing second, third and fourth behind winner Perrine Laffont from France.  

20-year-old Queenslander Sophie Ash, who is in her debut World Cup season, stepped up again making her second small final this week, having qualified in Calgary last weekend and now in Deer Valley. Ash came in 13th in qualifying, scoring 72.04 and again 13th in the small final with an imporved 74.16 points.

Matt Graham made a herculean effort to qualify fifth (in a field of 62 men) and make the top 16 after suffering from a bout of gastroenteritis last night, which saw him admitted to hospital for three hours for an intravenous drip.

Despite being unwell, Graham made it to 13th in the small final after having trouble with the landing on his bottom jump – a D-Spin 1080 - and will hopefully regain some strength before tomorrow’s second World Cup.

Other Australian results for the women were Taylah O’Neill in 18th with a very strong performance, Madii Himbury 32nd, Krystle Yin 37th and Claudia Gueli 42nd.

Men’s results include Rohan Chapman-Davies 32nd, James Matheson 37th and Cooper Woords-Topalovic 54th.
The action starts again tomorrow in Deer Valley for the second World Cup starting with Women’s qualifying at 8.10am (AEDT). Finals can watched LIVE on Eurosport Australia  

Follow OWIA on twitter HERE and check out the OWIA  website and pyeongchang2018.olympics.com.au for all the updates.
 
Belinda Noonan
OWIA

Australia’s top mogul skiers have touched down in Calgary, Canada ahead of their third World Cup of the season.
 
Following a well-deserved break after competing in China just before Christmas, the Aussies
jumped straight back into their preparations as the PyeongChang Winter Games edge closer.
 
“The team spent the break period in Winter Park, Colorado in camp recovering, strength and conditioning on snow for four days,” coach Steve Desovich said.
 
Matt Graham heads into the third World Cup of the season after back-to-back podium finishes at China’s Thaiwoo Ski resort, claiming silver on Day 1 and taking bronze just 24 hours later.
 
After a bumpy start to the season for Australia’s male mogul skiers in Ruka, Finland, the 23-year-old previously said that he was “really happy” with the way he had bounced back.
 
NSWIS athletes Rohan Chapman-Davies and James Matheson also made impressive comebacks in Thaiwoo after failing to make it past qualifications at the season opener.
 
Matheson finished in the top 10 taking 7th place in a big personal best on Day 1, while Chapman-Davies was also a PB in 13th and rookie Cooper Woods-Topalovic finished inside the top 30 for the first time.
 
The second day of competition also saw 2017 World Champion and Crystal Globe winner Britt Cox deliver a solid performance placing fourth after an uncharacteristic mistake on Day 1 prevented her from progressing to the finals.
 
“While the initial recovery period was quite strenuous Britt and Matt have managed to get up to par mid-way through,” Desovich said.
 
“As we arrive now into Calgary we will have two days of training on a very challenging course with women’s qualifications taking place on January 5th and the finals for both men and women on January 6th.”
 
The third FIS Moguls World Cup will be held in Calgary, Canada on 6 January. You can keep up-to-date with the results HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE for live reporting from the event.
 
David Barden
OWIA

Australia’s top mogul skiers are set to start their official training in Thaiwoo, China on Tuesday ahead of back-to-back events at their second World Cup of the season this week.
 
While the weather in Thaiwoo – like nearby Secret -- has been far from ideal, coach Steve Desovich said that the Australians had nonetheless had a productive “pre-training camp hosted by the resort on the actual competition mogul course”.
 
“Conditions have been challenging but productive enabling Britt Cox and Matt Graham the opportunity to focus on ongoing skills as well as line selection,” he said.
 
Cox is set to compete in Thaiwoo after winning gold in a six-woman Super Final at the 2017/18 World Cup season opener in Ruka, Finland last week.
 
The 23-year-old World Champion described the result at the time as “awesome” particularly as it was on the very same mountain that she had won her first World Cup a year ago.
 
“We are thrilled with Britt’s performance in Ruka but engaged in the present of an ongoing skill acquisition and course adaptation,” Desovich said.
 
“The course here, like any new course, presents a variety of challenges and issues to work on.”
 
For Sochi Olympian Matt Graham, Ruka wasn’t an ideal start to the season with the 23-year-old crashing his second jump after “getting a little out of control in the middle section of the course”.
 
“The qualifications were pretty wild in the men’s field as the course deteriorated during the training session which made a lot of competitors make mistakes,” he said at the time.
 
Nevertheless, Desovich said that things are looking up for Graham ahead of this week’s event.
 
“Matt has done some really nice things in the pre-event training in Thaiwoo,” he said.
 
“We look forward now to the official training on December 19 and 20 before back-to-back events on December 21 and 22.”
 
The second FIS Moguls World Cup will run from the 21 – 22 December. You can keep up-to-date with results HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE for live reporting from the event.
 
David Barden
OWIA

Australia’s top mogul skiers are strapping in their skis for the final push towards PyeongChang with the World Cup season kicking off in Ruka, Finland on Saturday.

2017 World Champion Britt Cox will lead the charge for Australia in hope of defending her first ever World Cup victory, which she won on the very same mountain 363 days ago (read more about Cox’s preparations here >>>).

Fellow Sochi Olympian and current World number three, Matt Graham won silver in Ruka last year and will be determined for another podium finish this time around.

Cox, Graham and the rest of the Australian Moguls Team have been in Ruka for over a week now, making the most of time time on snow in the pre-comp period before the official World Cup training kicked off on Thursday.

“We achieved 10-11 days on snow with Britt and Matt working separate components of their turns and jumps while also merging them into whole runs,” Australian Moguls Head Coach Steve Desovich said.

“Both Britt and Matt have had some nice moments in training while also understanding that the whole package with all the skills is very much an on going process.

“Both skiers have engaged in their efforts in their physical preparation as well with John Marsden and Will Morgan (Physio) piloting those efforts on behalf of the program.

“We are also fortunate to have our performance psych Dr. Tom Hammond on hand to continue with his integration into our program operation with his curriculum,” Desovich said.

Joining Cox on the start line include fellow PyeongChang hopefuls Jakara Anthony (OWIA) and NSWIS athletes Sophie Ash, Claudia Gueli, Madii Himbury, Krystle Yin and Sochi Olympian Taylah O’Neill.

Alongside Graham in the men’s event will be his Aussie teammates Rohan Chapman-Davies, James Matheson and Cooper Woods-Topalovic.

Sochi Olympian Brodie Summers is missing from the start list as he continues to recover from a knee reconstruction earlier in the year. The world number six is still aiming to qualify for the PyeongChang Games, but will leave his run for a few more weeks to maximize his knee recovery.

"The course here in Ruka is always very challenging and therefore each skier needs to know their parameters and be able to produce on demand with little mystery,” Desovich said.

The event in Ruka marks the start of the five World Cup circuit where athletes will accumulate points to secure a quota for their country at next year’s Winter Olympics.

Qualification kicks off on Saturday night (AEDT) with both the men’s and women’s finals to take place early Sunday morning.

Geogia Thompson
olympics.com.au

Did mogul skier Jakara Anthony think she was in with a shot at making the 2018 Australian Olympic Winter Team this time last year?

“Olympics in 2018? No way,” the Barwon Heads 18-year-old said. “2022 was originally the goal.”

But as her 19th birthday comes around this weekend, PyeongChang is a distinct possibility after a breakthrough season, which saw Anthony qualify into the Mogul World Cup final in Deer Valley, Utah – finishing 14th, then a ninth in Tazawako, Japan capped off by her first World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain with a 12th place behind champion and team-mate Britt Cox.

The World Cup circuit was a steep learning curve for the teenager, but her Asian Winter Games experience, where she finished fifth and carried the flag in the closing ceremony, was the real eye-opener.

“The World Cup circuit is a lot bigger deal than I thought it would be and a lot more tiring than I expected.”
“I learned to stay focused and being able to do it on the day matters,” Anthony said of making four finals in the 2016/17 season.

“The Asian Winter Games in Sapporo in February propelled me. It was a big eye-opener and like a mini Olympics.”

“It was massive compared to any other event I’d ever been to. I didn’t realise how big it would be or how official with all the other sports and athletes there.”

Anthony experienced the media mixed zone for the first time and is glad of all the experiences in Sapporo as preparation for next February.

“Hopefully, you will be seeing me in PyeongChang.”

For now, it’s all preparation, training and work having spent two months in Whistler on snow and water ramping with coaches Pete McNeil and Peter ‘Toppa’ Topalovic before heading to Mt Buller these the school holidays as a ski instructor.
 
In July and August she will be heading to Perisher to join the OWIA and NSWIS mogul skiers for training and to compete at the National Championships, after which it’s back to water ramping in Victoria.

“There’s definitely stuff to improve. Speed is a big one for me – to be consistently fast on different courses.”

The moguls World Cup kick off in Ruka, Finland with Australia now fielding an exciting and strong team led by World Champion Britt Cox, Matt Graham and Brodie Summers.

“It’s cool to be a team mate with Britt. Even though I’ve been with her for a while now, I’ve looked up to Britt for a long time. She’s been leading the way since I was young.”

“Matt and Brodie are good to be with too. They’ve been kicking it on tour.”  

“It’s exciting (for moguls) in Australia now and being in OWIA is the top end. It’s great to be a part of it.”

Australian Olympic Team Chef de Mission (and AOC Vice President) Ian Chesterman caught up with the younger mogul skiers in early April, explaining the evolution of freestyle skiing from ski ballet.

“It’s a much easier start in winter sports now, with the support that is on offer,” Mr Chesterman said. “Mogul skiing has come a long way since the first Olympic event in 1992.”
 
By Belinda Noonan OWIA
 

Sophie Ash and Jakara Anthony have delivered Australia another two strong Asian Winter Games results, finishing fifth and sixth respectively in the women’s Moguls.
 
The pair set themselves up for a shot at the podium after producing consistent runs through qualifying and the first final.
 
Ash’s qualifying run received a score of 74.70, ranking her second for the round of 10 where she scored 75.86.  
 
“Really exciting to qualify second, I was hoping for a top three result (in qualifying) so I was really happy,” Ash said. 
 
Ash’s final run scored 69.20 for overall fifth place. 
 
“The bottom air was a weak part of the run, I feel I didn’t hit it very well today,” Ash said.
 
“I had a few runs where I hit it well so I knew I could do it so it was a bit frustrating for the final run,” she said.
 
Anthony’s path to the final included a 74.70 in qualifying and 77.52 in the round of 10.
 
In the final the 18-year-old scored 68.29.
 
“Pretty happy with all my runs,” Anthony said.
 
“They were consistent and got progressively better throughout the day.
 
“I picked up the speed but unfortunately it wasn’t enough in the end.”
 
Anthony has found the Asian Winter Games an invaluable learning experience.  
 
“For me these Games were about getting the experience at a big profile event so that I will have experienced something similar to the Olympics if I get to go.”
 
In the men’s event, Aussies Cooper Woods-Topalovic and Ben Matsumoto narrowly missed qualifying for the round of 10, finishing in 11th and 12th respectively.
 
The pair were among the youngest in the 19 strong field, which was largely comprised of World Cup skiers.
 
Woods-Topalovic’s score of 76.61 missed qualification by the smallest of margins, with the 10th placed skier, Korea’s Myung-Joon Seo qualifying through in 76.81.
 
“I had quite a good run but I didn’t land my bottom air, I got deducted a couple of points on that but still happy with my overall performance and so were my coaches,” Woods-Topalovic said.
 
“There are still a couple of mistakes that need to be worked on.”
 
Matsumoto was also happy with his qualification run for which he received a score of 66.50.
 
“It felt better than Friday in the Dual Moguls,” Matsumoto said.
 
“I’ve never been to a competition nearly as big as this. It’s been an amazing experience and I’ve learned a lot,” he said.   
 
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Moguls athlete Jakara Anthony is chasing an Olympic dream and with less than a year to go to the Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games the 18-year-old is stepping up at the right time.
 
At last weekend’s Tazawako Freestyle Ski World Cup in Japan, Anthony broke through for her first top-ten World Cup result.
 
“I finished up ninth which was amazing,” Anthony said. “I wasn’t expecting to do that well so I was really happy with how it went.”
 
“This season I’ve also made two other finals on the tour finishing 11th and 14th so it’s really good to get my name out there and to be getting these good scores.
 
“Nice to know I can compete with some of the best in the world,” she said.
 
Anthony says familiarisation is the reason for her recent run of good results.  
 
“I think a lot of it has to do with feeling comfortable on tour, it’s a very different atmosphere to any other competitions I’ve done and just having the experience of a few comps before was what I needed to put my run down to get confident.”
 
The Barwon Heads 2016 high school graduate has been selected to represent Australia at the Asian Winter Games in both the Moguls and Dual Moguls events.
 
She has deferred tertiary studies in Bio Medicine to pursue her skiing goals and has spent the season training at Winter Park in Colorado.
 
“I want to consistently make top ten at World Cup and I want to get to the Olympics,” she said. “Potentially 2018 if I qualify, but if not I’m looking at 2022 in Beijing.”
 
Anthony arrived in Sapporo earlier in the week and has good first impressions.
 
“I didn’t realise how big the event was and its very high profile, everything is very official and there’s a lot of athletes from different countries that I didn’t even know participated in winter sports and it’s really awesome to be a part of it.”
 
The 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games Moguls will begin on Friday.