The Team Australia freestyle skier finished top of the 30-skier moguls qualifier in Zhangjiakou, but believes she can do better in Sunday’s final.
Remember the name: Jakara Anthony.
The 23-year-old freestyle skier from Australia is now a clear medal favourite in the women’s moguls at the Beijing 2022 Games, after topping the first qualification run.
Anthony’s coach Steve Desovich predicted that she would be coming home from these Olympics with either the gold or silver medals, and he’s looking smart after Anthony put up an impressive score of 83.75 on Thursday to lead the pack… and then claim that she had “room to improve.”
Anthony bettered reigning champion Perrine Laffont‘s 81.11, in a field that also included Australia’s 2017 World Champion Britt Cox and Japan’s exciting teenage prodigy Kawamura Anri.
“I always hold myself to high standards and compare myself to what I know I’m capable of,” said Anthony, who narrowly missed out on the podium in women’s moguls at PyeongChang 2018, finishing in fourth place, which was the best performance by an Australian female mogul skier in history.
“And I know I’m capable of a bit more than what I did there, so that is a really nice position going forward into finals.”
The top 10 skiers from first qualifying move directly to the final, with the remaining 20 competitors going into a second qualifying run for the remaining 10 spots in the final.
Both those runs take place at Genting Snow Park in the Zhangjiakou mountain cluster on Sunday 6th February.
The top 10 skiers from first qualifying move directly to the final, with the remaining 20 competitors going into a second qualifying run for the remaining 10 spots in the final.
Both those runs take place at Genting Snow Park in the Zhangjiakou mountain cluster on Sunday 6th February.
Jakara Anthony of Team Australia skis during the women’s freestyle skiing moguls training session at the Genting Snow Park
What’s next for ‘Jak’?
Mark your calendars for Sunday 6 February to enjoy what will be a thrilling conclusion to the women’s moguls programme.
The women’s moguls qualification 2 starts at 18:00 Beijing time.
That will be followed by the women’s moguls final 1 at 19:30, women’s moguls final 2 at 20:05, and women’s moguls final 3, with medals on the line, at 20:40.
Keep up with all the action in our Live Blog updates throughout Beijing 2022, here