At her Olympic debut in PyeongChang 2018, Anthony performed incredibly over the five rounds of competition and secured a fourth-place finish, a mere 2 points off the podium.

This result was not only Jakara’s best to date, but it was also Australia’s best result in female mogul skiing Olympic history. 

“I was extremely happy with my result at the Games. I was able to put down high quality runs consistently which got me through to the super final. I was really excited to finish 4th as it was a personal best for me at the time,” Anthony said.  

Since then, Anthony has continued her impressive rise to the top and is widely known for her clean and consistent skiing.

During the 2018/2019 tour she achieved a podium result at five of the eight world cup starts she competed in, including her very first World Cup gold medal, and finished off the season winning a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships.  

After a tricky start to the 2019/2020 season falling just shy of the podium at her first two World Cup events, the 22-year-old managed to find her form during a training camp in Winter Park Colorado over the Christmas break. 

“The team had a really productive training camp in Winter Park, Colorado, before we started up the tour again in Canada and America,” she said.  

“I incorporated a new jump into my run, a back mute on the top air, which was really exciting. I also managed to incorporate a lot of the stuff that we had been training in Winter Park, into my competition run. So, come Deer Valley all the bits and pieces came together, and I was able to get my first podium of the season”.  

Following the Deer Valley World Cup, Anthony maintained a streak of outstanding performances with three podium finishes in Japan, Russia and Kazakstan.  

Unfortunately, the season came to an abrupt halt at the World Cup final in Idre Fjall, Sweden, due to the outbreak of COVID-19. After completing the first training day for the competition, the athletes were told the final event had been cancelled and that they were to organise their travel home.  

“I’m disappointed we didn’t get to compete, because it would have been my first world cup final and I was looking forward to having a final close out to the season with everyone on tour, but it was not meant to be,” Anthony said.  

Despite her disappointment, Anthony is grateful for the measures put in place by the FIS and the OWIA team back in Melbourne who quickly organised flights to get her and coach, Peter McNiel, back home as soon as the event was cancelled.  

“I think that everyone was just making decisions in the best interests of the athletes while we were over there, and I didn’t feel unsafe at any point of time. FIS were taking a lot of precautionary measures, assessing whether it was safe to travel to and from competition venues and making plans in case an athlete did contract the virus”.  

“I was doing a lot of sanitising on the plane, trying not to touch anything and being really careful in the airports,” Anthony continued. 

“At the end of the day I understand why it was cancelled and I am just glad everyone was able to get out of there safely”. 

COVID-19 continued to impact Anthony’s ability to train once she was back home in Victoria, with all training facilities forced to temporarily close and overseas travel ceased. Fortunately, she was able to build a home gym in her garage and kept in regular contact with her coaches online.  

“COVID-19 has had a pretty big effect on our training. If all went to plan, the team would’ve already had two overseas training camps earlier in the year in Canada, but they weren't able to go ahead. So, instead we focused on our strength and conditioning during the first lockdown," she said.

“As for on-snow training here in Australia, we have been very dependent on the snow conditions and the different COVID guidelines at the resorts. 

"We have been very lucky to be able to train at Perisher Ski Resort since mid-July, and we are just trying to take advantage of what we can do now because we are unsure of when we will be on snow next,” she said.  

“Usually our whole year is planned out ahead of us, we know 12 months in advance what we are going to be doing and where we will be. So, this is a new concept for us”. 

Despite this uncertainty, Anthony has remained focused on what she can control and has taken this time to work on aspects of her training that are often overlooked due to time constraints. 

“I have focused my energy on the things I can do to improve myself during COVID-19 and what I will be able to do once I come out of this situation”

“There have been a few niggly parts in my body, where in the past, I haven't had time to go back to square one and work it out," she explained.

With so much time during the lockdown, with no skill-based training, I was able to really sort that out and now that I am back on snow I have really noticed those improvements.

“It has not been easy by any means, it has been tricky for everyone, but I think focusing on those small improvements each day has definitely helped me to get through this period."

Anthony's advice to fellow athletes is to make the best of a tough situation by honing in on your training and focusing on areas that are usually overlooked.

“My advice to other athletes would be to utilise the extra time you have to work on the things you’re not good at or the things you have been putting aside because you may not have had the time. Use the time we have now to focus on those little 1 percenters”.  

Looking forward, Anthony has her sights set on the 2021 World Championships where she is hoping to improve on her 2019 silver medal performance and take that final step up the podium.  

“It would be great to take that top spot and I will be focusing on what I can do technically to give myself the best opportunity to be up there,” she said.  

“I am looking at skiing a bit faster, going bigger on my airs, progressing through the rounds and laying down my best runs possible when they count”. 

Taylah O'Neill