NSWIS skier Matt Graham has claimed the 27th World Cup podium of his career in Almaty, Kazakhstan, after capturing bronze in the dual moguls.
 
The 2018 Olympic silver medallist, Graham, shared a historic moment with fellow skiers Mikael Kingsbury and Ikuma Horishima on the first ever mogul skiing “dad podium,” as all three medallists became first time fathers just prior to the 2024-2025 season.
 
In the match up for the bronze medal, Graham defeated Korean Daeyoon Jung 22 to 13, his second dual mogul podium of the season. Canadian Mikael Kingsbury was victorious 21-14 in the gold medal dual over Ikuma Horishima of Japan.
 
“It’s great to be back on the podium. We have been knocking on the door to have the dad podium all season. Two times we have finished 1-2-4, so to get 1-2-3 is pretty awesome,” said the 30-year-old Graham from the NSW Central Coast.
 
“I was feeling the pressure a little at the top, it was running through my head, but I had to tell myself to land the top air, ski a run and let it happen from there in the final dual.
 
“I am really fit and healthy at the moment, the body is feeling great, so I am looking forward to going to Livigno and checking out the (2026 Olympic) course there and then finishing off at the World Championships (in St Moritz).
 
NSWIS teammate Cooper Woods also performed well finishing in seventh place, after losing to eventual winner Kingsbury in the quarter-finals, while teammates Jackson Harvey was 19th, George Murphy 21st and Oliver Logan 34th.
 
With two World Cup events remaining, Matt Graham is ranked third overall in the combined mogul standings, sixth in single moguls and fourth in dual moguls.
 
Both final World Cup events of the season will take place at the 2026 Olympic venue in Livigno, Italy, with moguls on March 11 and dual moguls on March 12.

NSWIS 2018 Olympic medallist Matt Graham has continued his strong form, just missing the podium in the moguls event with a fourth-place finish at the World Cup in Beidahu, China. Graham also had a second top-10 in the dual moguls on day two of competition, placing sixth.
 
Graham and NSWIS teammate Cooper Woods both qualified for finals in second and eighth place, scoring 78.66 and 76.70 points respectively.
 
In the first round of finals, Graham stepped up his run to score 81.41, placing him through to his first super-final of the season in fifth. Unfortunately Woods was unable to progress finishing 16th.
 
Graham stepped it up again in the super-final, this time scoring 83.65, to fall just short of the podium by 0.14 points.
 
In first place was Ikuma Horishima of Japan, 86.57, Canadian Mikael Kingsbury was second on 85.91 and Filip Gravenfors of Sweden third with 83.79.
 
NSWIS skiers George Murphy was 30th, Jackson Harvey is his return from injury34th and Oliver Logan 36th.
 
Dual Moguls: Quarter-Finals for Graham
Graham advanced through to the quarter-final round in the dual moguls, finishing in sixth.
 
Graham had victories over Korean Yoonseung Lee in the round of 32 and Canadian Sam Cordell in the round of 16 to set up a quarter final match against Nick Page of the USA.
 
In a close quarter final duel, Graham unfortunately lost to the American 20 to 15.
 
Fellow NSWIS skiers Cooper Woods and Jackson Harvey both made it through to the round of 32, finishing in 17th and 32nd place respectively, George Murphy was 39th and Oliver Logan 40th in the round of 64.
 
Finish skier Severi Vierela claimed his first career victory, Horishima was second and Viel of Canada third.
 
With double World Cup events remaining in Almaty, Kazakhstan (February 28 and March 1), and the Olympic test event in Livigno, Italy (March 11 and 12), Graham is currently ranked sixth in single moguls, fourth in dual moguls and fourth overall on the combined Mogul standings.

Matt Graham flying down the China bumps
© Taro Tampo

Olympic medallist Matt Graham has skied to the 26th World Cup podium of his impressive career, following a silver medal performance in the dual moguls in Waterville Valley, USA.
 
Graham showed great form throughout the day, making his way through the earlier rounds with ease before winning difficult match ups against Frenchman Benjamin Cavet in the quarter finals 20 to 15, and a super close semi-final victory over Ikuma Horishima of Japan 18 to 17.
 
In the big final Graham faced legendary Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, and in a close duel right to the finish line Kingsbury prevailed 21 to 14, extending his record for the most ever wins for a freestyle skier to 94. Rounding out the podium in third place was Filip Gravenfors of Sweden who defeated Horishima for the bronze.
 
“It is nice to be on the podium for the first time this season” said the 30-year-old Graham from the NSW Central Coast.
 
“Duals is always a long challenging day, a lot of top-to-bottoms at crazy fast speeds, at the start of the day I was just happy to get through to the finals, and once they came around it was just full send from there.
 
“I have felt like all of the pieces have been there, but it just hasn’t stuck yet, making a few mistakes in the previous events, so it was nice to have some solid skiing today, especially this week after battling the flu and bedridden two days ago with chronic fevers and still feeling under the weather yesterday was pretty rewarding.”
 
Also in action were fellow NSWIS skiers  Oliver Logan in 27th, Cooper Woods 30th, Edward Hill 32nd, George Murphy 35th and women Charlotte Wilson 18th, Lottie Lodge 31st, Lucy Pernice 34th and Emma Bosco 35th.
 
Next weekend the mogul skiers compete at the World Cup event in Val St.Come, Canada, with moguls on February 1 and dual moguls February 2.

19-year-old NSWIS skier Charlotte Wilson has skied to an impressive fifth place in just her third World Cup start in Waterville Valley, USA, the birthplace of freestyle skiing.
 
Wilson qualified for finals in sixth place with a score of 71.51 points, and in the first round of finals improved to score 71.87 and remain in sixth place, which advanced her to the first World Cup super-final of her career.
 
In the top-six super-final, Wilson improved again with a faster run which scored 73.88, to give her a fifth pace personal best result.
 
In the men’s event NSWIS teammates Matt Graham and Cooper Woods both qualified for finals in fifth and tenth place respectively. In finals, Graham was unlucky not to make the super-final finishing in eighth place, with Woods 13th.
 
In the qualification round George Murphy was 32nd, and Oliver Logan 57th. Making their World Cup debut’s Lottie Lodge was 23rd, Emma Bosco 27th, Lucy Pernice 40th, Edward Hill 56th, and Xanthia Coote did not finish.

The final mogul skiing World Cup events of the calendar year took place in Bakuriani, Georgia, where Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham led the way finishing in seventh place in the single moguls and sixth in the dual moguls.
 
Competing on a challenging 280m long course with an average pitch of 28 degrees, the NSWIS skier qualified for finals in second place, with his teammate Cooper Woods also joining him in the 16-man-final in 11th place. Oliver Logan missed finals in 32nd place.
 
In finals, Graham just fell short of advancing to the six-man super final in seventh place with a score of 77.97, missing out by only 0.20 points. Woods finished 15th in the final after scoring 68.33.
 
Victory in the single moguls went to Benjamin Cavet of France, with Mikael Kingsbury of Canada in second and Finish skier Severi Vierela in third.
 
In the dual moguls event in Bakuriani, Graham was again the highest placed Australian, this time finishing in sixth place after making it through to the quarter-final round.
 
Graham had wins against Kosuke Sugimonto of Japan (23 to 12) in the round of 32, Robin Olgaard of Sweden (20 to 15) in the round of 16 setting up a quarter-final round showdown against day one winner Benjamon Cavet of France.
 
Unfortunately Graham lost to the Frenchman 21 to 14, giving hm a final ranking of sixth, with his NSWIS teammates Cooper Woods 34th and Oliver Logan 36th.
 
The winner of the dual moguls event was Walter Wallberg of Sweden, Cavet of France in second, and another Swede Filip Gravenfors in third.
 
No female skiers represented Australia in Bakuriani, with Olympic gold medalist Jakara Anthony out injured, and Charlotte Wilson returning to Australia as planned. Wilson will rejoin the World Cup circuit at the next stop in Waterville Valley, USA, on January 24-25.

Matt Graham (left) vs Benjamin Cavet (right) in a closely contested quarter-final
© FIS Freestyle

Jakara Anthony has claimed her first victory of the 2024-2025 season in the moguls event in the Swedish resort of Idre Fjäll, the 23rd World Cup victory of her incredible career.

The reigning NSWIS World Cup Champion improved as the event went on, qualifying for finals in second with a score of 77.39, and then won the first round of finals on 80.36, ensuring Anthony would be the final skier for the event in the super-final medal round.

Anthony then found another gear for the super-final, posting her highest score of the season from the judges with 82.94 points, to finish 2.05 points ahead of rival Perrine Laffont of France on 80.89 with Canadian Maya Schwinghammer in third with 80.71.

Joining Anthony in the women’s final was 19-year-old Charlotte Wilson, who had an impressive qualifying run in just her second World Cup start, advancing to the final in sixth place with a score of 72.84 points, giving Wilson the record for the least amount of starts to qualify for a World Cup final by an Australian female mogul skier.

Wilson finished in tenth place in the final with a score of 69.75 points, the first World Cup top-10 of her career.

“It feels good to finish up in first place” said the 26-year-old Anthony from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“I don’t think there was any more pressure than any other competition, I know what I am trying to achieve every time, I am competing against the other girls but kind of just competing against myself in a way.”

After two events, Anthony and Laffont are both ranked number one on the standings sharing the yellow leaders bib with 180 points.

In the men’s event, Matt Graham qualified for finals in fifth place and finished 11th in the final missing out on the top-six super final.

Also in action for Australia were Oliver Logan and Cooper Woods, with the 21-year-old Logan recording a personal best World Cup performance in 26th place, with Woods in 30th.

The men’s event was won by Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, with Ikuma Horishima of Japan in second and local Swedish skier Walter Wallberg finishing third.

A dual mogul event was also scheduled to take place in Idre Fjäll the following day, but was cancelled due to bad visibility.

The World Cup tour was originally scheduled to compete next weekend in Alpe d'Huez, France, but was cancelled due to low snow, so the next competition will take place in Bakuriani, Georgia, on December 20-21.

Australian mogul skier Jakara Anthony has started the 2024-2025 FIS World Cup season with a silver medal performance overnight in Ruka, Finland.
 
The podium result is the 42nd medal of her incredible career, and now holds the record for the most ever World Cup podiums by an Australian winter sports athlete, eclipsing the previous record of 41 held by aerial skier Kirstie Marshall.
 
In the super-final medal round, Anthony put down a strong run scoring 80 points from the judges but was narrowly outscored by French skier Perrine Laffont on 81.13, with American Olivia Giaccio rounding out the podium in third place with 76.95 points.
 
“Pretty happy with what we have been able to achieve walking away with a second place at the start of a super long season, it’s a great way to kick it off” said the 26-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“Breaking the record for the most World Cup medals is an impressive stat, I never find out about these things until I have broken it, that’s a cool one and another accolade, super proud of me and my team and how we have been able to go about completing that, it’s been a big journey, there is still a long way to go and we will be looking to rack up a few more this season.
 
“Over the week that the course has been up here in Ruka we have kind of had every condition that’s possible from pretty big soft bumps to little icy ones, so have had to use all sorts of skills out there, but pretty lucky we have been able to work it out.
 
“It’s great to have so many chicks up that top end of the sport, that’s what makes it exciting, we are all going out there each day fighting for that top spot, which means we are all pushing each other and we have seen the sport progress a lot over the past four years.”
 
In the men’s event, Matt Graham and Cooper Woods qualified for finals in third and ninth place respectively, but in the final missed out on advancing to the top-six super final in 10th and 13th place.
 
Canadian Mikael Kingsbury finished in first place, with Walter Wallberg of Sweden in second, with third place going to Ikuma Horishima of Japan.
 
Also in action for Australia was Charlotte Wilson who finished in 20th place in her World Cup debut and in the men’s event Oliver Logan finished in 44th with George Murphy recording a did not finish.
 
Next weekend the World Cup mogul skiing tour moves to Sweden for a single and dual mogul event on December 6 and 7.

Jakara Anthony’s incredible record-breaking season has continued with her eleventh World Cup victory of the season in the dual moguls event in Deer Valley, USA. The win also secured the World Cup Mogul Skiing Overall Crystal Globe at the iconic event, regarded as the “Superbowl” of freestyle skiing as and most prestigious competition on the World Cup circuit.

Anthony has broken the record for most career mogul skiing wins by an Australian with the 19th victory of her career, going past legendary two-time Olympic medallist Dale Begg-Smith. The eleventh win of the season also ties American Olympic champion Hannah Kearney for the most World Cup wins in a single season by a mogul skier.

In front of the largest crowd of the season under lights on the Champion run, Anthony cruised through the round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final rounds to reach the big final.

In the gold medal run, Anthony faced her main rival this season, American Jaelen Kauf, where Anthony putting down a fast and flawless run to take the win with a score of 22 points to 13 from the judges. In head-to-head duals against Kauf this season, Anthony has the edge with four to one.

Rounding out the podium in third place was Olivia Giaccio.

”That’s definitely one of my best competition runs I have ever done, and especially my best here on the Champion run, so to do that in the big final against Jaelin was a pretty special moment” said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“There is no event World Cup like this one, the atmosphere is incredible, the whole finish area is packed with people so to get to perform and put on a show for them is a really special feeling.”

“Locking up eleven wins and equalling Hannah Kearney for the record for the most in the season is absolutely mind blowing.”

Cooper Woods was the highest placed Australian in the men’s event, reaching the quarter-final stage in seventh place, with George Murphy 33rd, Oliver Logan 36th and Matt Graham in 51st.

Three World Cup events remain this season, with the next competition set to take place in a months’ time in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on March 8-9, and the final event of the season in Valmalenco, Italy, on March 16.

“It’s a really big season for us this year, we have already had 13 competition starts with three to go. We are going to get a training camp in the next few weeks, and fine tune some of the finer details of my run, and then get back out there in Kazakhstan and wrap the season up in Italy,” said Anthony.

SINGLE MOGUL WORLD CUP
Two days earlier in Deer Valley, a single moguls World Cup took place on the "Champion Run", where unusually warm temperatures impacted the conditions, with the wet snow making the difficult course inconsistent and slow.

NSWIS skier Matt Graham recorded the best result of the Australian athletes, finishing ninth while with teammate Cooper Woods was unable to finish his finals run and  a ranking of 16th. George Murphy had his second best performance of the season in 23rd place, and Oliver Logan was 35th.

After dominating the qualification phase of the competition by almost 10 points, Olympic Champion Jakara Anthony made an uncharacteristic mistake in finals. The course got slower on the top jump, causing a miscalculation on the rotation for her d-spin 720 with grab and came in short on the landing to place 13th.

Early Sunday morning Jakara Anthony continued her incredible record breaking season with her tenth World Cup victory of the season in the dual moguls event in Waterville, USA.

Anthony now joins legendary Olympic champion and two-time medallist Dale Begg-Smith with 18 career World Cup victories, the most ever by an Australian mogul skier.

In overcast conditions the NSWIS skier cruised through the early rounds of the event to reach the semi-final stage against American Tess Johnson, where Anthony recorded a comfortable win 32 points to 3.

Anthony then faced her main rival this season, American Jaelen Kauf in the gold medal run, and in a close battle Anthony narrowly prevailed with a score of 18-17 to give the 2022 Olympic gold medallist her eighth straight victory in a row.

Rounding out the podium in third place was Olivia Giaccio who is also from America.

”It was really cool to come to Waterville, I haven’t been to too many brand new places on tour recently, so get to come to somewhere new and experience it has been really awesome, and I love competing in the United States,” said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

In the men’s event NSWIS athlete Cooper Woods made it through to the quarter final stage to finish in seventh place, with teammates George Murphy in 29th, Oliver Logan 39th and Matt Graham 46th.

The mogul skiing athletes now head to Deer Valley in the USA, for another single and dual mogul event next weekend on the always testing “Champion Run” at the 2002 Olympic venue.

Anthony is one win away from equalling 2010 Olympic champion Hannah Kearney of the USA for the most ever wins in a season by a mogul skier, which the American achieved in the 2011-2012 World Cup season.

“Deer Valley is always the highlight of the season for everyone, so really looking to that,” said Anthony.

“They put on a good show there and it’s one of my favourite courses. It’s where I got my first World Cup start, my first World Championship podium and I had a win there last year, so looking forward to getting back there.”

“It’s been a crazy season, one win off that record set by Hannah Kearney, it’s getting close now, we will have to see what the rest of season brings, but I won’t be focusing on that too much, that’s when I might start making mistakes, so keep focusing on what I need to do out there and get better every competition.”

On Saturday Jakara Anthony’s record setting season has continued, claiming her ninth World Cup victory of the season, and securing the World Cup season Crystal Globe title for single moguls in another amazing day for Australian mogul skiing, on which teammate Cooper Woods broke through for his first career World Cup podium in Waterville, USA, the birthplace of freestyle skiing.

In a dominant performance, the NSWIS skier again won every stage of the competition, and in the super-final medal round scored 81.22 points to finish a huge 9.49 points clear of Olympic silver medallist Jaelen Kauf of the USA in second place on 71.71 points, with another American Hannah Soar rounding out the podium in third on 67.93 points. Anthony now has 17 career World Cup wins and is one victory away from matching the legendary Dale Begg-Smith on 18 career victories.

That's awesome, I kind of knew it in the back of my head, but all the focus was out there on the run, so to get the job done on a pretty tricky course I am over the moon,” said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“It’s crazy to have locked that up (Crystal Globe) so early (two events remaining) and to have taken so many (wins) in a row, you can’t think about it too much, because that’s a pretty fragile stat there, but I am pretty stoked to have achieved that this season.”

In the men’s event Cooper Woods has been showing great potential since finishing sixth at the 2022 Olympic Games. Woods has qualified for finals in every event this season, has been close to the podium and finally his performance claimed the first World Cup medal of his career. Woods ended the day with the silver medal, finishing ahead of Olympic champions Mikael Kingsbury of Canada and Walter Wallberg of Sweden in the men’s super-final.

Woods scored 81.04 points to finish in second place behind Japanese skier Ikuma Horishima of Japan who took the win with a score of 85.84, with Kingsbury in third with 80.07 points.

“Today was all different conditions, it was firm this morning and as the weather changed the course changed, but all you can do is just focus on the one run, and I got the qualifications, finals and then the super-final, I left nothing back and it’s nice to see a score, “said the 23-year-old from Pambula Beach in NSW.

Also in action for Australia was Olympic medallist Matt Graham who reached finals finishing in 13th, with NSWIS teammates George Murphy and Oliver Logan unable to complete their runs.

Jakara Anthony’s incredible season has reached a new milestone, setting the record for the most World Cup wins in a single season by an Australian in any wintersport discipline, with her eighth victory under lights in the dual moguls in Val St Come, Canada.

The victory sees Anthony move past former teammate Britt Cox who had seven World Cup wins in the 2016-2017 season, and Anthony can further add to the tally with a further seven World Cup events remaining this winter.

The NSWIS skier moved though the early rounds with ease, setting up a semi-final against Rino Yanagmoto of Japan. In her most competitive matchup of the day, Anthony took the victory with a score of 21 points to 14.

In the big final to decide the gold medal, Anthony faced American Jaelin Kauf, the only other skier to also win an event this season. Both skiers pushed their limits into the top air, but Kauf was unable to maintain the pace crashing out in the middle section, giving Anthony her 16th career win with a score of 35-0.

“You dream of coming and skiing World Cup when you are a little kid, but to actually be here and be as dominant as I am at the moment is really special,” said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“Today was another good day, I made it through each round as it came, I think I did some really good skiing. Pushed super hard against Jaelin and she went hard as well, we put on a good show for everyone and it’s nice to go out there and be challenged by the other girls.”

In the men’s event, 2018 NSWIS Olympic silver medallist Matthew Graham won his first World Cup medal of the season and 24th of his career, finishing third after a freak accident saw his opponent Ben Cavet of France in the bronze medal duel crossing over into Graham’s side of the course, with Graham landing on the French skier whilst completing the top air jump.

“The course here is amazing, the guys who built it did a great job here in Canada and the organising committee, we are skiing some big proper moguls and I love that," said the 29-year-old Graham from the NSW Central Coast.

“Really happy to walk away from that crash against Ben, probably one of the scariest crashes I have been in, I just saw him at the last minute and pulled my legs though to try and miss landing on his face essentially.”

“I took a bit of time off after the Ruka World Cup (in early December), because I had a couple of shoulder surgeries over the course of 2023 so I missed the offseason. I then went back home and went to the water ramps and cut my knee really bad and had to have surgery just a month ago, so this is the first time I have skied since Ruka and I am just stoked to be back and the body is feeling good.”

Also in action for Australia were NSWIS teammates Cooper Woods who had a personal best dual mogul finish in fifth place, with George Murphy in 38th and Oliver Logan 40th.

The mogul skiers will now go to Waterville Valley in the USA, for another single and dual mogul event next weekend.

Australian mogul skier Jakara Anthony continued her unstoppable form into the new year with her seventh World Cup victory of the season under lights in Val St Come, Canada.

The performance sees Anthony equal former teammate Britt Cox for the most mogul skiing World Cup wins in a season by an Australian mogul athlete, and now has 15 career World Cup gold medals, moving closer to legendary Australian mogul skier Dale Begg-Smith’s 18 career victories and within sight of Jacqui Cooper’s all Australian winter sport record of 24.

The NSWIS skier was again dominant winning all three phases of the competition, scoring 82.01 points in the super-final to record a large victory margin of 7.14 points over American Jaelin Kauf in second place, with Hinako Tomitaka of Japan rounding out the podium in third.

“It’s getting a little tricky in there now, I definitely think I came out and did some of my best skiing in qualifications, which isn’t normally how it goes, but loving getting to ski out here on the course, it’s pretty fun,” said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“It’s my third World Cup here and first win, one place better than last year.”

In the men’s event, the 2018 Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham was the best placed Australian in ninth, with NSWIS teammate Cooper Woods also advancing through to finals in 15th place. Graham’s performance was a very positive return to competition after a month’s break in Australia.

Also in action for Australia was George Murphy in 32nd and Oliver Logan in 38th.

Jakara Anthony made it a double gold medal celebration in Alpe d’Huez, winning her first dual mogul event of the season, the 12th World Cup victory of her impressive career.

Anthony cruised through the early rounds of the event to set up a semi-final matchup against Tess Johnson of the USA. Anthony won convincingly with a score of 31-4 to advance to the big-final.

In the big final, Anthony faced another American, Olivia Giaccio, and in a much closer dual Anthony prevailed with a score of 20-15.

“It’s super exciting to go back-to-back at this event again, I did it a couple of years ago, but missed the first place in the duals last year, so to get a little redemption is nice” said the NSWIS skier.

In the men’s event Cooper Woods finished in 15th, Oliver Logan 44th and George Murphy 46th.

Anthony and Woods will now compete in the final World Cup of the year at Bakuriani, Georgia, in single and dual mogul competitions on December 22 and 23.

NSWIS mogul skier Jakara Anthony has continued her incredible start to the 2023-2024 FIS World Cup season, with a third consecutive victory in the single mogul event, recording the 11th win of her career in Alpe d’Huez, France.

The 2022 Olympic champion was very impressive, leading from start to finish and moving through all three rounds of the competition in first place, matching the feat from the previous two World Cup events this season.

In the events three year history at Alpe d’Huez, Anthony has never lost in the single moguls event at the iconic French Alps resort, which is also world famous for its gruelling mountain climb stage in the Tour de France.

Anthony scored 79.98 points In the super-final medal round to finish 4.34 points of second place finished Jaelen Kauf of the USA on 75.64 points with her American teammate Olivia Giaccio in third with a score of 74.82.

“Can’t ask for much more than that, leading from round-to-round again, so always nice to be rewarded for that,“ said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“I was pretty nervous out there today, so I am pretty happy just to put down three solid runs, get through each round, and have another crack at doing what I am out here today.”

In the men’s event Cooper Woods made hist first top-six super final of the season, laying it all on the line but unfortunately skiing out of the course and around a control gate to record a did not finish, giving him a final ranking of sixth place. George Murphy was 22nd in qualifying with Oliver Logan recording a did not finish.

The first World Cup dual mogul event of the season took place in Idre Fjall, with Jakara Anthony taking home yet another medal, this time a bronze in the duals.

The NSWIS skier moved through the rounds of 32, 16 and 8 with ease to advance through to the semi-final round against Jaelin Kauf of the USA.

In a hotly contested matchup, Anthony was narrowly defeated with a score of 15-20 in the American's favour, leaving Anthony to duel in the final round for third place.

In the small final, Anthony easily recorded her third medal of the season, out duelling Hinako Tomitaka of Japan 29-6.
Kauf went on to take the win, defeating Japanese skier Rino Yanagimoto with a score of 26 points to 9.

Cooper Woods was again the highest place NSWIS male skier finishing in 17th, with teammates George Murphy 40th and Oliver Logan 44th.

The mogul team now heads to Alpe d'Huez France, for the next round of World Cup competition on December 15-16.

It has been an incredible start to the 2023-2024 northern hemisphere winter for Australia with a gold medal overnight to mogul skier Jakara Anthony in Ruka, Finland, and a silver medal in the big air in Beijing, China, for snowboarder Tess Coady.

It was the opening event of the season for the 2022 Olympic medallists, with Anthony winning for the second consecutive time to start the season in Ruka and for Coady the second place finish was the best big air result of her World Cup career.

Anthony put in a commanding performance, winning every stage of the mogul competition to record the ninth World Cup victory of her career.

In the super-final medal round, Anthony put down a flawless run to score 84.18 points, with a large victory margin of 4.5 points over second place finisher Elizabeth Lemley of the USA who scored 79.68 and fellow American Olivia Giaccio with 76.35 points.

“It’s been really awesome to go back-to-back last year and this year here in Ruka and really proud of the way I was able to ski out there and have a lot fun whilst I was doing it,“ said the 25-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“It’s been a little different this year, we are missing Perrine Laffont and Anri, those girls I am usually mixing it up with, but still such a strong field in the women’s and it’s exciting to see everyone out there and pushing it.”

“We are definitely looking forward to hanging onto this (the yellow lead bib),but we will see what comes, I just want to
go out there and have a crack and give it my best.”

In the men’s event dual 2023 World Championship medallist Matt Graham was unlucky not to make the super-final, missing out by one place in seventh. Also in the final was Cooper Woods in 16th, with Oliver Logan in 31st in his World Cup debut and George Murphy 38th.

The mogul skiing athletes will now head to the Swedish resort of Idre Fjäll for a double event next weekend on December 8-9.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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