Ash Bolt
Barwon Heads’ Jakara Anthony is Australia’s newest Olympic gold medallist.
The 23-year-old claimed Australia’s first Winter Olympic gold medal since 2010, after dominating the field in the finals of the women’s moguls on Sunday night.
After qualifying in top position on Thursday, Anthony was the standout in Sunday night’s final, with her runs top-scoring in each of the three rounds of the final.
She progressed through the first round with a score of 81.91, before making it through the second round and into the final six with a score of 81.29.
But she saved her best for her third and final run, scoring 83.09 to claim the gold medal by almost three points of American Jaelin Kauf.
With moguls runs scored on the speed, jumps and the skiers’ turns down the slopes, Anthony’s technique and air on her jumps stood out.
After her final run, Anthony told Channel 7 it had been a childhood dream to be an Olympic champion.
“It’s been a dream of mine my whole life and to actually achieve it is incredible,” she said.
“It’s really incredible to know that all the hard work I have been putting into my whole skiing career is really paying off.”
Anthony had finished fourth at the last Winter Olympics in PyeongChang and said it had been a tough four years of training to get to Beijing.
“That’s a real testament to the work myself and the team I’ve got around have put in for the last four years building some really solid processes to follow and it hasn’t been easy but I think I’m a much better athlete and a much better person because of it,” she said.
“I think that’s the best thing that’s come out of this.”
Anthony said it was a nervous wait after her final run while the scores were tallied, but she felt like she had given it her all.
“It was just elation,” she said.
“From how I thought I’d skied I thought I’d done enough to take that top spot.
“If anyone had taken it from me I wouldn’t have been disappointed – they would have skied a phenomenal run and I would have been so stoked for them.
“I thought I’d done enough but to see that number [one] come up was just relief.”
