Winter Olympic & Paralympic Hopefuls Win Seven World Cup Medals

Australia has recorded one of its most successful weekends in winter sports World Cup competition, with seven medals won over across four different sports.
 
The medals started in Austria with dual Olympian Belle Brockhoff winning silver at the Montafon Snowboard Cross World Cup.
 
Flying Kangaroos Danielle Scott and Laura Peel added to the medal haul in Finland, winning gold and silver respectively at the second Ruka Aerials World Cup on December 11.

 
Dual Olympian Scott said it was “pretty amazing” to secure the win in Ruka.
 
“It’s been a bit of a slow, but good build to the season,” the 31-year-old said after her golden performance on Friday evening.

“I have cracked the 100 point mark before on a triple twisting double, so I thought that would be my goal for today and ended up walking away with the win, which I am so incredible happy with.

“To have a teammate on the podium is pretty special, we have a pretty awesome team dynamic right now, and it’s even sweeter I guess.

“I spent lots of hours training at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre water jump at Brisbane’s Sleeman Sports Centre, which I am super grateful for, so it’s nice when hard work pays off. “
 
Backing up  from a silver medal at last weekend’s Ruka World Cup, PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympian Jakara Anthony won two bronze medals at Idre Fjäll, Sweden in the Moguls and Dual Moguls events. Anthony is now at the top of the World Cup standings and will wear the yellow leaders bib into the next event in France.
 
Anthony has now won three medals from as many World Cup starts this season.
 
“It’s incredible to go back to back podiums to start the season off in Ruka and now here in Idre Fjäll, it’s very exciting” said the 23-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria.
 
“We have a lots of events going on this year before we even get to the Olympics, and to start the season off so strong and to feel like I am in a really good place has given me a lot of confidence moving forward.”

Over in Pyhä, Finland, dual Winter Paralympian and reigning World Cup Champion Ben Tudhope continued his winning run, claiming gold and silver in the two Para Snowboard World Cups, taking Australia’s total World Cup medal tally in ski and snowboard events to seven for the weekend.
 
In other results…
 
Snowboard Cross World Cup – Montafon, Austria

After Brockhoff’s individual silver medal, she teamed up with Jarryd Hughes in the Team event, with the duo just missing out on a medal in fourth place.
 
In other individual results, after qualifying second fastest, 2022 Youth Olympian Josie Baff finished 9th and Mia Clift placed 26th in the Women’s World Cup.
 
Jarryd Hughes was the best placed Aussie in the men’s event, placing 22nd. Cam Bolton placed 26th, Declan Dent 29th, Adam Dickson 33rd, Kobi Dent 47th and Adam Lambert 57th.

 
Aerials World Cup – Ruka, Finland
There were three Aerials World Cup events in Ruka over the weekend - two individual events and a Team event. In the first World Cup on Dec 10, Gabi Ash was the best placed Australian, qualifying for her first World Cup Super Final and placing 6th. Laura Peel also had a top-10 finish in 9th place.
 
Australia placed 8th in the Aerials Team event on the 13th. See all results < HERE >
 
 

Moguls World Cup – Idre Fjall, Sweden

Jakara Anthony podiumed twice in Idre Fjall and was joined by her teammate Britt Cox in both in the individual 16-skier Final 1 and the Dual Moguls round of 16, with Cox placing 12th and 14th respectively.
 
Brodie Summers advanced to the first final in the men’s individual event, placing 11th. 2018 Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham was unable to compete in finals, after suffering a shoulder injury in training. Graham has since been assessed and is likely to require surgery in the coming days.
 
See all results < HERE >
 
Snowboard Alpine World Cup - Bannoye, Russia

It was challenging conditions for Australia’s Snowboard Alpine Team of Millie Bongiorno and Harvey Edmanson in Russia.
 
Bongiorno placed 50th in the Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom and 51st in the Parallel Slalom, while Edmanson placed 78th in the Men’s Parallel GS and 77th in the Slalom.
 
This weekend marked Edmanson’s World Cup debut and while it was “a tough day with hard competition,” the 22-year-old said he was “stoked to get my first World Cup start.”
 
Para Alpine Skiing World Cup - Steinach Am Brenner, Austria 

After kicking off their World Cup season with the Super-G races earlier in the week, the Para Alpine Team wrapped up their time in Steinach Am Brenner with the GS race over the weekend.
 
Sam Tait placed 10th in the Men’s Sitting GS and Josh Hanlon 21st. See all results < HERE >.
 
Ski Cross World Cup – Val Thorens, France

In challenging conditions with lots of snow, Doug Crawford narrowly missed out on a spot in the quarterfinals in the first World Cup event in Val Thorens, placing 22nd, and 61st in the second World Cup.
 
Dual Winter Olympian Sami Kennedy Sim placed 23rd in both World Cup events.
 
The duo now have a quick turn around before lining up for the Arosa Word Cup in Switzerland on Monday.
 

 
Cross Country Skiing World Cup – Davos, Switzerland
 
Eight athletes lined up for the Davos Cross Country World Cup over the weekend, with four athletes making their World Cup debuts in Bentley Walker-Broose, Zana Evans, Tuva Bygrave and John Walker.
 
Casey Wright was the best placed Aussie female in the Sprint qualification, placing 61st, followed by Jess Yeaton (67) and Zana Evans (77). Phillip Bellingham topped the placing for men in 82nd, less than a second in front of Lars Young Vik in 83rd, followed by Seve de Campo (93) and Walker-Broose (98).
 
Bellingham was also the best placed Aussie in the men’s 15km Freestyle Interval Start in 94th, closely followed by Young Vik (98), Walker in (99) and Walker-Broose in (101).
 
Yeaton placed 51st in the Women’s 10km Freestyle Interval Start, with Wright placing 77th and World Cup debutant Bygrave in 81st.
 
See all results < HERE >