Freestyle Skiing: Double mogul gold in Ruka

Mogul skiers Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham have launched their Olympic campaign in perfect fashion, claiming a double gold medal overnight at the FIS World Cup in Ruka, Finland.

The achievement marks the second time Anthony and Graham have secured dual victories, having previously done so in Deer Valley in 2023, and only the third time in Australian history. Graham also shared the top of the podium with Britt Cox in Calgary back in 2017.

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For Anthony, the win signals a triumphant return to World Cup competition, coming in just her second start since a collarbone injury in Sweden 12 months ago ending her 2024–2025 season early.

In the first round of finals, Anthony placed second with 78.54 points, before lifting her performance in the super-final medal round to score 79.89, securing her 24th career World Cup victory. She finished ahead of Americans Olivia Giaccio (78.64) and Jaelin Kauf (78.08).

Jindabyne 20-year-old Charlotte Wilson also impressed, making finals on both days in Ruka, finishing 13th today with 66.63 points and was 16th on day one after not being able to complete her fin in the final.

“It’s pretty special,” said the 27-year-old Anthony from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“It’s probably nearly a year to the day of getting injured. I’ve been out since then, so this is a pretty special one.”

She also made the super final a day earlier but ended in sixth place after not completing her run.

“Yesterday was a bummer, just didn’t quite nail that last one,” she said. “To get some redemption tonight is pretty special. Took a few learnings about how the course developed. Been a while since I skied a comp, so I had to remember that, and make those adjustments tonight.”

In the men’s competition, Matt Graham bounced back from a near-podium finish on day one in fourth place to deliver one of the finest performances of his career on day two. Graham dominated all three phases to claim his fifth World Cup victory and first-ever gold in Ruka.

Graham topped the qualification round with 79.43 points, led the first final with 81.97, and sealed the gold in the super-final with 81.72 points. He finished ahead of Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, who scored 80.58, and Canada’s Julien Viel, who placed third with 79.30.

“It’s good to be putting down really good runs. The course was challenging, but really fun, and I’m just enjoying it,” said the 31-year-old Graham from the NSW Central Coast.

“To get a double gold with Jakara – it’s massive. We’re not a skiing nation. We’re a beach nation, so how the hell does this happen?”

Also competing for Australia but missing finals were NSWIS teammates Jackson Harvey in 18th, Emma Bosco 20th with Cooper Woods and George Murphy unable to finish the course.

On the previous day Woods made finals in ninth, with Harvey 19th, Murphy 20th, Bosco 26th and Oliver Logan 26th, but was unable to compete on day two.

The NSWIS team will remain in Ruka to continue training for a few more weeks, before the FIS World Cup tour shifts to North America in early January.

Aerial Skiing: Airleigh Frigo leads Aussies in Ruka

The Aerial Skiing World Cup season commenced in Ruka, Finland, with VIS skier Airleigh Frigo the highest placed finisher of the Flying Kangaroos, advancing to the super-final and securing a sixth-place finish overall.

2025 VIS World Cup Champion Laura Peel made a strong start, winning the qualifying round with 89.46 points for her full-full double twisting back somersault. Frigo secured the final spot in the 12-woman final, scoring 74.97 with the same jump.

Just missing the cut were VIS teammates Danielle Scott and Abbey Willcox, finishing 13th and 14th respectively, both scoring 73.71, with Scott ranked higher on a tiebreak. Sidney Stephens placed 21st (60.90), while in the men’s event Reilly Flannegan finished 19th (120 points).

Unfortunately, Elise Coleiro sustained a knee injury during training and has returned to Australia for further assessment.

In the first round of finals, Frigo scored 76.54 for her full-full jump, advancing in sixth place to the super-final medal round. Peel increased her degree of difficulty with a triple back somersault but struggled on landing, scoring 60.42 for 10th place.

In her third career super-final, Frigo performed a lay-full single twisting double back somersault, scoring 51.62 points to secure sixth place overall.

China’s Mengtao Xu claimed victory with a score of 89.29 points, ahead of Canada’s Marion Thenault in second place with 82.48 points. Third place went to Meiting Chen of China, who finished with 75.31 points.

The next Aerial Skiing World Cup stop will be at Secret Garden, China, featuring an individual event on December 20 and a team competition on December 21.

Park & Pipe: Coady leads Aussies at Beijing Big Air and Guseli narrowly misses final

The second Big Air World Cup in China took place over the weekend, this time as a city event in Beijing at the iconic 2022 Olympic venue. Once again, Olympic bronze medallist Tess Coady was the top-performing Australian.

Coady advanced to the women’s top-eight final, qualifying in seventh place with a score of 150.25. NSWIS teammates Meila Stalker (17th, 123.25) and Ally Hickman (24th, 77.50) missed the cut.

In the three-jump final, where the best two scores count, Coady’s highlight came in run two, landing a backside double cork 1080 method grab for 72.25 points. Her final attempt, a frontside 900 grab, was unsuccessful, scoring 21.50, giving her a two-jump total of 93.75 and an eighth-place finish.

In the men’s event, two-time World Overall Park & Pipe Champion Valentino Guseli narrowly missed the final, finishing seventh in his heat with a two-jump score of 138.50, just short of the top-five required. Guseli ranked 13th overall, while Joshua Robertson-Hahn placed 24th (106.50) and Jesse Parkinson finished 40th (77.50).

In the freeski Big Air competition, Abi Harrigan scored 97.50 for 18th place, and Joey Elliss finished 40th (110.50) in the men’s event.

Next weekend World Cup events are scheduled in China and the USA.

In China, the World Cup halfpipe event at Secret Garden will feature four-time World Champion Scotty James making his season debut, alongside snowboarders Emily Arthur, Amelie Haskell, Misaki Vaughan, and Indra Brown, who will make a World Cup debut in freeski halfpipe.

In the USA, the third World Cup Big Air of the season takes place in Steamboat, Colorado, with Harrigan and Elliss in freeski, and Coady, Stalker, Hickman, Guseli, Robertson-Hahn, and Parkinson in snowboard.

Curling: Hewitt and Gill complete final warm-up ahead of Olympic Qualification Event

Australia’s leading mixed doubles curling team, Olympians Dean Hewitt (VIS) and Tahli Gill (QAS), have concluded their final competition before the upcoming Olympic Qualification Event (OQE), participating in the Madtown Double Down in Madison, Wisconsin. The tournament featured a strong field of 32 teams representing nine nations.

Hewitt and Gill finished with a 4–3 record, narrowly missing a place in the finals.

Match results
Defeated Scheel/McMullin (USA), 7–3
Defeated Hagenbuch/Laufer (USA), 12–6
Lost to Ford/Campbell (CAN), 7–4
Lost to Kim/Jeong (KOR), 6–4
Defeated Dudt/Dudt (USA), 8–3
Defeated Weldon/Franey (USA), 9–5
Lost to Westman/Ahlberg (SWE), 8–4

The focus now turns to the Olympic Qualification Event, which will determine the final two mixed doubles spots for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. The OQE will take place December 13–18 in Kelowna, Canada.

Figure Skating: Anastasiia Golubeva & Hektor Giotopoulos Moore open season at Golden Spin of Zagreb

Australia’s top figure skating pair, Anastasiia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore, kicked off their Northern Hemisphere season over the weekend at the 2025 Golden Spin of Zagreb in Croatia.

Competing in a field of 16 pairs, the duo delivered a solid short program, scoring 49.01 points to sit in 12th place

Unfortunately, they were unable to compete in the final free skate due to illness impacting Giotopoulos Moore which also impacted him on the previous day, forcing them to withdraw from the event.

Victory went to Audrey Shin and Nancy Balazs (USA), with fellow Americans Valentia Plazas and Maximillano Fernandez in second, and Switzerland’s Oxana Vouillamoz and Tom Bouvart rounding out the podium in third.

Next up for Golubeva and Giotopoulos Moore and ice dance pair Holly Harris and Jason Chan is the prestigious Four Continents Championships in Beijing, China, scheduled for January 21–25 as the final lead up event to the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy.

Cross Country Skiing: 2 x top-40’s for Rosie Fordham in Trondheim World Cup

The FIS Cross Country Skiing World Cup moved to Trondheim, Norway this week for the second stop of the season, with nine Australian athletes taking part.

Rosie Fordham led the Australian contingent, delivering two strong performances with 36th place in the 10km interval freestyle and 40th in the 20km skiathlon. Both results count as Tier 3 finishes (top 60%), contributing towards Olympic qualification.

Phoebe Cridland also achieved a Tier 3 result, finishing 44th in the 10km freestyle.

The next World Cup event will be held in Davos, Switzerland, featuring a team sprint, individual sprint, and 10km interval race.

Summary of Australian results in Trondheim
Sprint Classic
Women
67th - Maddie Hooker
68th - Ellen Soehol Lie
Men
75th - Lars Young Vik
78th - Phillip Bellingham
80th - Fedele de Campo

20km Skiathlon
Women
40th - Rosie Fordham
Men
73rd - Seve de Campo
86th - Bentley Walker-Broose

10km Freestyle
Women
36th - Rosie Fordham
44th - Phoebe Cridland
72nd - Maddie Hooker
73rd - Ellen Soehol Lie
Men
78th - Seve de Campo
89th - Bentley Walker-Broose
93rd - Phillip Bellingham
95th - Fedele de Campo

Alpine Skiing: 39th for Louis Muhlen-Schulte in Beaver Creek GS

2022 Olympian Louis Muhlen-Schulte competed in his second World Cup giant slalom event in Colorado, racing on the legendary Birds of Prey course at Beaver Creek.

Muhlen-Schulte completed his first run in 1:11.33, placing 39th, just 2.53 seconds behind first-run leader and Swiss superstar Marco Odermatt.

Odermatt maintained his lead in the second run to claim his second victory at Beaver Creek, following his downhill win two days earlier. Alex Vinatzer of Italy secured second place, while Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway finished third.

Next up, Muhlen-Schulte heads back to Europe for the upcoming World Cup event in Val d’Isère, France.

Three-time Olympian Greta Small is set to make her comeback next weekend in St. Moritz, Switzerland, competing in the women’s speed events after a season-ending knee injury at the 2025 Alpine Skiing World Championships. The World Cup schedule in St Moritz will feature two downhill races and one super-G event.

Chris Hocking, Olympic Winter Institute of Australia

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