Australian Flag Bearer Jakara Anthony has won gold in the newest Olympic event, Women’s Dual Moguls.
This adds to her moguls victory from Beijing 2022, making her the only Australian Winter Olympian to win two gold medals.
Article courtesy olympics.com.au / Images Copyright Chris Hocking
Anthony’s win takes Australia’s Milano Cortina medal tally to three gold medals and a silver medal – the most successful in history.
“My first Olympic gold medal in Beijing was mind-blowing; this is mind-blowing as well,” Anthony said.
“To have my friends and family here for it, to be the first ever dual moguls gold medal at the Olympics, to be the first Australian to have two gold medals, and to have been able to overcome the adversity of the other day and bounce back and put down that performance, this one is special for a whole lot of other reasons.”
Anthony powered through the five rounds of head-to-head judged racing, keeping it clean and consistent throughout.
From her opening run against Malica Malherbe (RSA) it was clear the 27-year-old had fire in the belly and she was ready to chase that gold medal – a redemption run after the moguls did not go to plan just three days ago.
Straight from the start Anthony was clean and tidy in her skiing with great tricks executed well in snowy conditions.
She maintained her composure throughout every round including a semi-final win over American Elizabeth Lemley, the Women's Moguls gold medallist from three days ago.
Lining up against American Jaelin Kauf (USA) in the final, Anthony triumphed over one of the best mogul skiers in the world. She beat her across the line and after a long wait for the judges, outscored the Women’s Moguls silver medallist 20-15.
Anthony said she shed a few tears and had a lot of conversations with her coaching team following her eighth-place result in the moguls, but then turned her focus to the duals event and how to give herself the best chance for success.
“You know, to be honest, I was doubting myself a bit this morning after what happened the other day and this was only my second duals event in about two-and-a-half years,” she explained.
“There were just a lot of unknowns – also first duals event at the Olympics – we didn't really know how certain things were going to go, but I feel like I built really well throughout the day, and I have so many people believing in me, helping me get that belief in myself.
“I think by the end I was just pretty sure I was going to give it my best shot and put down some runs that we were proud of.”
Anthony said it was “wild” to contribute to Australia’s best-ever Winter Olympic Games.
“It’s so wild and to have taken home two gold medals in moguls, with Cooper Woods, and the boys still have another chance tomorrow in the Dual Moguls. We've got Josie Baff over in border cross, we had Scotty James last night in the halfpipe.
“Like we were saying in the lead up, this is probably our best team yet and we were expecting big thing these Games, and I think the whole team has delivered across the board.”
This adds to her moguls victory from Beijing 2022, making her the only Australian Winter Olympian to win two gold medals.
Article courtesy olympics.com.au / Images Copyright Chris Hocking
Anthony’s win takes Australia’s Milano Cortina medal tally to three gold medals and a silver medal – the most successful in history.
“My first Olympic gold medal in Beijing was mind-blowing; this is mind-blowing as well,” Anthony said.
“To have my friends and family here for it, to be the first ever dual moguls gold medal at the Olympics, to be the first Australian to have two gold medals, and to have been able to overcome the adversity of the other day and bounce back and put down that performance, this one is special for a whole lot of other reasons.”
Anthony powered through the five rounds of head-to-head judged racing, keeping it clean and consistent throughout.
From her opening run against Malica Malherbe (RSA) it was clear the 27-year-old had fire in the belly and she was ready to chase that gold medal – a redemption run after the moguls did not go to plan just three days ago.
Straight from the start Anthony was clean and tidy in her skiing with great tricks executed well in snowy conditions.
She maintained her composure throughout every round including a semi-final win over American Elizabeth Lemley, the Women's Moguls gold medallist from three days ago.
Lining up against American Jaelin Kauf (USA) in the final, Anthony triumphed over one of the best mogul skiers in the world. She beat her across the line and after a long wait for the judges, outscored the Women’s Moguls silver medallist 20-15.
Anthony said she shed a few tears and had a lot of conversations with her coaching team following her eighth-place result in the moguls, but then turned her focus to the duals event and how to give herself the best chance for success.
“You know, to be honest, I was doubting myself a bit this morning after what happened the other day and this was only my second duals event in about two-and-a-half years,” she explained.
“There were just a lot of unknowns – also first duals event at the Olympics – we didn't really know how certain things were going to go, but I feel like I built really well throughout the day, and I have so many people believing in me, helping me get that belief in myself.
“I think by the end I was just pretty sure I was going to give it my best shot and put down some runs that we were proud of.”
Anthony said it was “wild” to contribute to Australia’s best-ever Winter Olympic Games.
“It’s so wild and to have taken home two gold medals in moguls, with Cooper Woods, and the boys still have another chance tomorrow in the Dual Moguls. We've got Josie Baff over in border cross, we had Scotty James last night in the halfpipe.
“Like we were saying in the lead up, this is probably our best team yet and we were expecting big thing these Games, and I think the whole team has delivered across the board.”
Fellow Australians Emma Bosco and Charlotte Wilson went head-to-head in the opening 1/16 final, with Bosco progressing to the 1/8 final, where she was knocked out by Kauf, the eventual silver medallist.
Wilson said it was a shame to face off against her friend and teammate in the first round, but the Aussie pair made history.
“You never really want friendly fire, especially not that early on, but to get to ski the first ever Dual Olympic Moguls, and to do it with my best friend, is also pretty epic,” Wilson said.
“Nobody can ever take that away from us, we were the first to ever do it, so that’s pretty exciting."
While she was disappointed to not push deeper into the rounds, Wilson said she is taking a lot of positives from her debut Games experience.
“Obviously today is a bit of a bummer, but I think being my first Games, I have a lot of positives to take out of it.
“I am grateful to experience the ups and downs of an Olympic Games and hopefully four years from now, all of that is a little less surprising and I can hopefully go for a medal.”
Olympic debutant Bosco also said she was incredibly proud of her debut Games and her teams’ success.
“It’s been a massive 10 days here but super stoked with how I skied and excited for what my team has done as well.
“Jakara leads out team fearlessly, so it’s awesome to have her around.”
The Australian Men's Moguls Team will contest the Dual Moguls event on Sunday 15 February.
Wilson said it was a shame to face off against her friend and teammate in the first round, but the Aussie pair made history.
“You never really want friendly fire, especially not that early on, but to get to ski the first ever Dual Olympic Moguls, and to do it with my best friend, is also pretty epic,” Wilson said.
“Nobody can ever take that away from us, we were the first to ever do it, so that’s pretty exciting."
While she was disappointed to not push deeper into the rounds, Wilson said she is taking a lot of positives from her debut Games experience.
“Obviously today is a bit of a bummer, but I think being my first Games, I have a lot of positives to take out of it.
“I am grateful to experience the ups and downs of an Olympic Games and hopefully four years from now, all of that is a little less surprising and I can hopefully go for a medal.”
Olympic debutant Bosco also said she was incredibly proud of her debut Games and her teams’ success.
“It’s been a massive 10 days here but super stoked with how I skied and excited for what my team has done as well.
“Jakara leads out team fearlessly, so it’s awesome to have her around.”
The Australian Men's Moguls Team will contest the Dual Moguls event on Sunday 15 February.
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