Anthony goes back-to-back and Page claims maiden win on day 1 in Idre

Dec 10, 2022·Freestyle

Straight from a thrilling start to the 2022/23 season in Ruka (FIN) last week, the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup got right back to business on Saturday in Sweden’s Idre Fjall, where Jakara Anthony (AUS) took her second consecutive victory of the season in the women’s competition, while Nick Page (USA) topped the field over on the men’s side, claiming his maiden World Cup win in the process.

True winter conditions and an exciting and challenging course made for a perfect backdrop for what turned out to be a thrilling showcase of the world’s best mogul skiing. And with some big names struggling throughout the day and some up-and-comers stepping things up on the other hand, the Saturday’s competition in Idre didn’t disappoint and kicked off another interesting World Cup weekend on a high note.

In the women’s event yet once again it was the 2022 Olympic Champion Jakara Anthony who came in hot, leading the way from start to finish and impressing the judges with both her turns as well as jumps and finishing the competition with a final score of 81.75 points.

Anri Kawamura (JPN) stepped things up a notch on Saturday and snagged her second top-3 finish of the season in second place, while the runner-up from Ruka - Perrine Laffont (FRA), rounded out the women’s podium in third place.

Things were pretty exciting over on the men’s side of the event, with both rounds of Saturday’s finals proving that the youngest generation of men’s mogul skiers is on a rise and that Mikael Kingsbury’s position as a frontrunner for the crystal globe can’t be taken for granted.

And that’s exactly what we saw on Saturday in Idre with the biggest pressure on Kingsbury coming from 2021 and 2022 Rookies of the Year - Nick Page and Cole McDonald.

McDonald kicked off the day with a tremendous run to lead the way in Final 1, and while he couldn’t quite put it down as clean once we were down to top-6 in Final 2, it was his fellow teammate Page who stepped things up for the US Moguls Team and took the win.

Dropping right after Kingsbury in the super final, Page showed a true freestyle flavour on both of his air tricks, finishing the competition with the only 80+ score in the men’s competition and thus claiming his career’s first World Cup victory. It was also the first win for the US male mogul athlete since Bradley Wilson’s win in Tazawako back in 2016.

With Page in top spot, Kingsbury (CAN) had to settle for second place, while Walter Wallberg (SWE), who competed in his first World Cup event following his wrist injury, completed the men’s podium in third.

With two competitions in the books so far in 2022/23, Anthony and Kingsbury lead the way in the respective women’s and men’s World Cup standing.

The action in Idre continues on Sunday with the first dual moguls World Cup after the event has been added into 2026 Olympic Winter Games programme. The preliminary rounds are set for 9:00 CET with the finals coming up at 11:30.

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