Double mogul gold for Anthony in France and snowboard cross bronze for Brockhoff in Italy
Published Mon 20 Dec 2021
Courtesy of https://www.owia.org/
It has been another successful weekend for Australian winter athletes, with mogul skier Jakara Anthony winning double World Cup gold in Alpe d'Huez, France, and Belle Brockhoff claiming a bronze medal at the snowboard cross World Cup in Cervinia, Italy.
Fresh from Friday’s victory in the single moguls, Anthony was dominant throughout the duals to claim her first dual moguls World Cup gold medal. The win also extends her lead in the World Rankings, with Anthony to remain in the yellow leaders bib going into the next World Cup event in Canada in January.
In the gold medal dual, Anthony faced off against Russian Anastasiia Smirnova. With 35 points from the judges up for grabs, Anthony took the win by just one point with a score of 18 to 17 with Anthony’s superior jumps and turns getting her the victory.
“There were a lot of tight duals today, and I am just out there skiing my run and hoping that puts me through every round” the 23-year-old said.
“It’s very exciting to have the yellow bib, this is the first season I have managed to get hold of it, so I am excited to be heading into the next World Cup’s with it.”
This was a really tight one, but in the end it was Jakara Anthony who managed to get on top of the podium for her second victory in Alpe d'Huez this weekend 👏 Congratulations also to Anastasiia Smirnova for her first top-3 finish in 2021/22! 💪
Posted by FIS Freestyle Skiing on Saturday, December 18, 2021
Teammate Britt Cox registered another solid performance in ninth place.
Over in Italy, Brockhoff made it back-to-back podiums in the snowboard cross World Cup in Cervinia, finishing in the bronze medal position.
In a close race, Brokhoff finished just behind Italian Michela Moioli with Faye Gulini of the USA in second. The podium performance moves Brockhoff into third place on the world rankings.
“I was actually not going to race, I had a small injury in the training where I bruised the bones in my knee, so I have been riding with a lot of pain today," Brockhoff said.
"So I just wanted to take each heat as it came and made sure I made the landings.
“I am happy I made my way through it and didn’t think too much of it, so definitely happy to be racing.”
Photo finish big final is all we are going to say to this one 🥵 Rewatch the big final of women now to see how Michela Moioli took her first season win on home soil in Cervinia Valtournenche - Ski Paradise 🇮🇹💯 #fissnowboard #sbx #sbxlife #photofinish #bigfinalofwomen
Posted by FIS Snowboarding on Saturday, December 18, 2021
In an encouraging return to form after missing all of last season, Cam Bolton narrowly missed the podium in the men’s event finishing in fourth place, his first big final performance since the 2019-2020 World Cup season.
The mogul skiing and snowboard cross athletes will now have a break before their World Cup tours resume in January.