Torquay Taphouse to host Jakara watch party

THE community is invited to cheer on local Winter Olympics favourite Jakara Anthony an event in Torquay tomorrow (Saturday, February 14).

XTM, one of Anthony’s sponsors, will host the watch party at Torquay Taphouse for the Barwon Heads athlete as she goes for gold in the women’s dual moguls, a new discipline at Milan-Cortina.

The watch party will include giveaways and all the action up on the big screen.

In dual moguls, skiers will race head-to-head against each other with the winner moving on and the loser eliminated.

“It’s kind of nice that we’ve got the dual moguls so it’s not four years to wait ’til the next opportunity it’s only three days, so definitely looking forward to that,” Anthony said earlier this week.

“We’ll make a few adjustments because that sport is a little bit different, a bit more speed dependent and stuff, but yeah, we’ll shift the focus and learn.”

Anthony was unable to defend her Beijing moguls title on Wednesday this week despite looking like a gold medal lock in the early rounds and delivering a masterclass in the first final, scoring a whopping 83.96 – more than three points clear of the next best.

But in the eight-skier super final, she skidded off midway down the Livigno course and finished last, with judges awarding just 60.81 points.

I’m bummed, obviously,” said 27-year-old Anthony, who wasn’t sure what caused her to lose her footing.

“I’m really proud of the skiing that I was able to do on the course and I think I was skiing and jumping at such a high level and skiing with good speed.

“I think I really had what it took to take that top step, showed that in the first couple of rounds, but yeah, I just didn’t put it down on that last one when it counted.”

The watch party will take place at Torquay Taphouse, 27 Baines Crescent, Torquay tomorrow between 7pm and 10pm.

 – WITH AAP