Anthony wins gold and Graham takes silver, both claiming yellow leader’s bib in Canada

Australian mogul skiers have started 2026 in the best possible way, with Jakara Anthony winning gold and Matt Graham claiming silver in Val St. Come, Canada. Their second consecutive dual podium finish propels both athletes into the coveted yellow leader’s bib ranked number one on the standings, the first time Australia has simultaneously held the top ranking in both men’s and women’s moguls.

Wet conditions with poor visibility impacted the competition, reducing the women’s event to a single run, while the men’s event was delayed for several hours before proceeding with qualifying and a one-run final.

Anthony, a New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder, opened with a commanding run, scoring 79.83 points to finish nearly four points ahead of American Tess Johnson in second place with 75.85. Fellow American Olivia Giaccio rounded out the podium in third with 75.78.

With this victory, Anthony now boasts 25 career World Cup wins, matching aerial skiing legend Jacqui Cooper for the most by any Australian athlete.

In the men’s event, Matt Graham qualified for the finals in fifth place with a score of 81.22, joined by teammate Jackson Harvey in 15th on 74.39.

The NSWIS Olympian delivered a strong performance in the final, boosting his score to 83.50 to secure the silver medal, marking the 29th podium of his career. Harvey achieved a personal best, finishing seventh with 80.24 points. Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury claimed victory with 85.83, his 100^th of his career, while American Nick Page rounded out the podium in third on 80.96.

“It was a different victory tonight, pretty weird competition day, but having put it down in qualifications worked out for me with finals cancelled,” said the 27-year-old Anthony-from Barwon Heads in Victoria. 

“I find it pretty important to put down the best run that I can from round to round, with the goal to build throughout the day, so that’s just what I was out there doing.”

“Very exciting to be back in the yellow jersey, I haven’t worn that since the 2024-2025 season. Even more special to have Matt in the yellow jersey at the same time, I think that’s a first for Australia.”

Graham commented after his podium performance.

“Obviously a good day, really happy with way I adapted given the conditions,” said the 31-year-old from the NSW Central Coast.

“It pretty much rained all day, with big delays before the qualification round. We had to sit around for two hours, and then buckle up to do the qualification round is always challenging, and at that point in time we were not sure if it would be a one run event or finals would happen, so had to lock in and put in a performance that would give me a good result.

“It was huge for Mikael Kingsbury to get his 100^th World Cup win, I was glad I was able to share that moment with him, we have competed against each other for a long time and shared a lot of podiums together. Happy I have slowed him up from winning on three sperate occasions, but I am super happy for him and his family.

Also representing Australia were NSWIS scholarship holders Charlotte Wilson, who narrowly missed the finals by just one spot in 17th, and Emma Bosco, finishing 27th. In the men’s competition, George Murphy placed 19th and Cooper Woods finished 21st.

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia