Anthony and Graham sweep top spots for Australia in Deer Valley moguls
Feb 03, 2023·Freestyle
The first day of competition at the Intermountain Healthcare FIS Freestyle Ski moguls World Cup at Deer Valley Resort (USA) went down in typically big way with Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham sweeping the top spots for Australia.
For the first time since covid-19 the Deer Valley’s event was back to its night-time schedule with a huge crowd at the bottom of the iconic Champion Run ready for some fireworks as one of the most challenging courses in the world was about to push the best moguls skiers to their limit on Thursday.
In the women’s competition it was Jakara Anthony, who stormed to her fourth victory of the season after putting down the only 80+ points run in the super final, while showcasing her signature brand of clean turns and an outstanding form in the air.
With the win on Thursday Anthony also secured the moguls World Cup title, as the Deer Valley’s event acted as the fifth and penultimate stop of the single moguls campaign. With four wins and one second place finish so far in the season, Anthony gathered 480 points and with just one stop to go and 150 points advantage over second in the standing Perrine Laffont (FRA), there’s nothing that can stop the Aussie super-star from claiming the crystal globe at the season’s final event in Almaty later in March.
Second place on the day went to Jaelin Kauf (USA), who inspired by probably the biggest fan club at the bottom of Champion Run, showed her trademark speed and snagged her second top-3 finish of the season. It was also her sixth World Cup podium at the venue in Deer Valley.
Perrine Laffont rounded out the women’s podium in third place for her seventh top-3 spot in 2022/23.
Moving over to the men’s event it was Matt Graham who capped off a highly successful night for the Australian team, leading the way from start to finish in the finals and finishing the day with his first win in over two years.
Mikael Kingsbury closed out the day in the second place, showing a tremendous determination to fight for the win following his nasty-looking crash in the last training before the finals. And while he couldn’t quite match Graham’s performance on the night, with his second place finish Kingsbury secured the single moguls crystal globe.
And for those one counting, that’s now 22 crystal globes in his career for the King, putting him tied in first place with the great Conny Kissling for the most titles in FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup history.
Ben Cavet completed the men’s podium with a third place finish on Thursday, his second podium in 2022/23 World Cup campaign.
The Deer Valley’s extravaganza continues on Friday with the aerials competition, just to come back to Champion Run once again on Saturday for the dual moguls event.
QUICK LINKS
Deer Valley World Cup FIS data page (start lists, results, etc.)
Full results: MOGULS WOMEN / MOGULS MEN
