Jakara Anthony’s Winter Olympics moguls gold another step in Australia‘s rise in skiing, but it was years in the making

Australia may be known for its unending beaches and scorching outback but there’s a growing case for the nation to be considered a powerhouse of competitive skiing.

Jakara Anthony’s moguls Winter Olympic gold medal in Beijing has come off the back of years of success at the international level in freestyle skiing.

Watch Aussie Winter Olympics greats’ emotional reaction to Jakara’s gold above

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Of Australia’s six Winter Olympic gold medals, four have come in the sport - besides Anthony there have been Alisa Camplin in 2002 and Lydia Lassila in 2010 in aerials, as well as Anthony’s fellow moguls skier Dale Begg-Smith in 2006. Begg-Smith also won silver in 2010 in Vancouver.

Short track speed skater Steven Bradbury (2002) and snowboarder Torah Bright (2010) took the other golds.

Anthony’s teammate Britt Cox has done everything in the sport except winning an Olympic medal.

The former world champion and Crystal Globe winner has placed fifth at two Olympics, in 2014 and 2018, while Matt Graham won silver in PyeongChang and Cooper Woods finished sixth in the men’s moguls at these games.

So what’s behind Australia’s success in the sport?

It may come as a surprise to many that despite its relative geographical disadvantage, the country has world-leading training facilities, according to Anthony.

“I think Australia has already proved it is a Winter Olympic player. We’ve had spectacular results for years and years in freestyle skiing, not just at Olympics (but) at world cups, world championships,” she said on Monday.

“What I think a lot of people don’t realise is, especially for moguls skiing, the facilities we have in Australia are world class.

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