NEW Olympic champion Jakara Anthony will take off the COVID-19 mask for some gold medal celebrations only briefly, with the Australian still hunting moguls World Cup glory.<\/p>\n
Anthony is the toast of Australia after snapping a 12-year Winter Olympics gold medal drought with a dominant victory in the women’s moguls on Sunday night.<\/p>\n
It was the country\u2019s sixth Winter Games gold and pushed Australia to sixth on the overall Olympic medal tally, after snowboarder Tess Coady also won a bronze in a historic day for the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all still really sinking in but I was so grateful to be able to celebrate with my team last night,\u201d Anthony said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd to share it with Tess, with us both getting podiums on the same day, it was really special to be able to share that experience with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Due to COVID-19 protocols the athletes have to leave China 48 hours after their event, and Anthony is counting down to share her golden spoils with her family in Barwon Heads.<\/p>\n
No international fans are permitted at the Games, which the 23-year-old said was \u201csad\u201d, but helped it feel more like a normal competition.<\/p>\n
Anthony doesn\u2019t plan to kick up her heels for long as she will head back to Europe in early March.<\/p>\n
She will compete in a World Cup event in Chiesa in Italy on March 12 and then head to Megeve in France the following weekend for the final competition of the season.<\/p>\n
Presently third in the standings, winning the overall World Cup title would be another feather in her cap.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I go back home I will still probably be taking most of the COVID precautions because I will be continuing on the World Cup tour,\u201d Anthony said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be flying so I\u2019ve still got to stay negative so the mask won\u2019t be coming off for a little while still.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia has now four moguls medals, with Dale Begg-Smith winning the other gold among a haul of 17 overall, and Anthony said the country had proved it was a Winter Olympics player.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had spectacular results for years and years in freestyle, not just in the Olympics but in World Cup and world championships and I think what a lot of people don\u2019t realise is that the facilities we have in Australia are world class,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moguls course in Perisher that we train at, Toppa\u2019s Dream, is one of the most difficult courses that we ski on and in a non-COVID year we have nearly the whole World Cup tour fly out just to train on that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new water ramp facility in Brisbane means we have a lot more access to training on home soil.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re actually set up really well in Australia and the opportunities for athletes coming through are getting better and better.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just about increasing the exposure that winter sports gets in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW Olympic champion Jakara Anthony will take off the COVID-19 mask for some gold medal celebrations only briefly, with the Australian still hunting moguls World Cup glory. Anthony is the toast of Australia after snapping a 12-year Winter Olympics gold medal drought with a dominant victory in the women’s moguls on Sunday night. It was […]<\/p>\n