It’s looking good for Jakara Anthony in Beijing tonight as she qualifies first in mogul skiing for this Sunday’s finals.
The 23 year old from Barwon Heads, Victoria, laid down a gold medal marker in this evening’s qualifications finishing on top of the 30-skier field.
Fellow team member and four-time Olympian Britt Cox was in ninth place and has also made it through to Sunday’s finals.
Anthony posted a score of 83.75 to sit clear of defending Olympic champion Perrine Laffont of France, who scored 81.11.
All 30 skiers completed the first run of qualifying with the top 10 skipping the second round to move through to the first women’s final, which will be held on Sunday.
Fellow Australian Sophie Ash finished in 13th while Taylah O’Neill, who has been battling a serious knee injury after tearing her ACL four weeks ago, did not finish.
Anthony finished a surprise fourth at the last Olympics in PyeongChang but arrived in Beijing as a medal favourite after jostling with Laffont and Japanese teen sensation Anri Kawamura in the World Cup standings all season.
The Victorian skier was delighted to transform that World Cup form into Olympic competition.
“I’m really proud and happy with what I was able to achieve just then,” Anthony said.
“I transferred really well from training to competition but there’s definitely still bits I want to work on cleaning up and improving which is a really great position to be in, I think.
“You don’t want to be going into finals maxed out so I’m really happy with where I’m at.”
Out early on the course, former world champion Cox was also thrilled with her performance under the lights, with temperatures dipping to minus 10.
“I was so happy that I was able to put down the run that I was doing in training,” said the 27-year-old.
“I executed the points that my coaches and I talked about and I still feel like I’ve got a little bit left in the tank, so we will see what happens and build on that in training.”
The moguls team are among the first of the 43-strong Australian contingent in China to start their Games competition.
