Jakara Anthony made history at Beijing 2022 on Sunday (6 February) when she won the moguls gold becoming the first Australian woman to earn a medal in the event at the Olympic Winter Games.
The Australian freestyle skier was in fine fettle throughout her second Winter Olympics, going into the final in pole position and after dominating all her rounds.
Anthony was in a class of her own in the final landing difficult tricks to achieve a winning score of 83.09. She finished ahead of United States athlete Jaelin Kauf (80.28) and the ROC's Anastasiia Smirnova (77.72).
"Gold medal was the plan, so I'd say it went according to plan. It was pretty tough to try not to get too far ahead of yourself,” Anthony said.
“You have to constantly bring yourself back to the moment and just try to take things one step at a time, which is easier said than done."
Impressive aerials
Anthony, a former world silver medallist, was impressive throughout the competition but kept the best for last, landing a 720 grab on the top jump before doing a backflip on the bottom aerial to finish her run in a time of 27.63 seconds.
Kauf lay down the gauntlet on the second-last run of the final, reaching the bottom in the fastest time and moving into first place with a score of 80.28.
But it proved no match for Anthony, who received top scores of 80 points and upwards on all her rounds.
"It was really incredible. I really feel like it was my best run on the course, and I'm so proud that I was able to let myself ski like that," Anthony said.
"It's a real mental game to let yourself do what you are capable of, and I really feel I was able to achieve that, which is something really special and something I've been working really hard to be able to do."
Pre-Beijing favourites defending champion Perrine Laffont (77.36) of France and Japanese teenage prodigy Anri Kawamura (77.12) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Laffont has been the dominant force in the women's moguls since she was crowned Olympic champion in PyeongChang 2018. She has won three world titles – one in moguls, two in dual moguls – and four consecutive Crystal Globes.
Results – freestyle skiing women's moguls
1 Jakara Anthony (AUS) - 83.09
2 Jaelin Kauf (USA) - 80.28
3 Anastasiia Smirnova (ROC) - 77.72