Australian mogul skier Jakara Anthony made a huge statement during women’s qualifying with an outstanding run to progress direct to the finals as the skier to beat.
With the top score of the night, an impressive 83.75, Anthony looks set to continue her great form which has seen her accumulate a succession of podium results this northern winter season.
Talking after the run Anthony said she was “pretty stoked with the run”.
“There were definitely bits that I trained a lot better, ideally I will clean up that ski out a little bit and work my size up on the top air. I am so happy with that as a starting position and it’s a great position to be going into finals in a couple of days with room to improve,” said Anthony.
She was also excited with the support the team were receiving.
“Yes, it’s really great to have so many people behind us and supporting me and the whole mogul team, we really do feel that, and we appreciate it so much. It’s not possible unless everyone gets behind us.
Britt Cox also progressed to the final with a 9th top score of 72.76 in qualifying and Sophie Ash making her Winter Olympic debut was impressive with a score of 69.36 leaving her in 13th place. She will have to contend round two of qualifying to cement her spot in the top 20 for the final.
Taylah O’Neill who entered the games with a recent injury started but skied the side of the course to post a did not finish. It is unsure if she will ski again at the games.
Only the top ten skiers automatically progress straight into finals. The women’s final is on Sunday night and men’s final on Saturday night.
In the men’s qualifying it did not go according to plan for defending silver medallist Matt Graham. From the top air he could not regain complete control and carrying too much speed elected to ski off and post a did not finish result. He will now need to qualify in the second round to make Saturday’s night final.
On a brighter note in the men, Brodie Summers only just missed out on the top ten with a score 75.66 placing 11th.
After his run Summers said he was a few millimetres off on the top air and had to fight hard in the middle section. “I managed to hang onto it and still got a reasonable score for what I consider a subpar run,” said Summers,
“If I execute the run as we scripted with the coaches then I think it could shape up pretty nicely.”
On debut Cooper Woods-Topalovic showed great composure and skied well to finish 14th with a score of 74.65. James Matheson finished in 20th with 71.86
“I was little bit nervous but I was probably more excited. I tend to get a little excited these days,” said Woods-Topalovic after his run.
The opening ceremony will be the main attraction for viewers on Friday night in Australia.
In the curling the aussie team will miss the semi-finals after having three straight defeats. They showed how close the competition is by just missing out on their first two games by the closest of margins.
