Jakara Anthony finalist for Female Athlete of the Year

The award is given to the Victorian female athlete of the year. Past winners include Meg Lanning, Cathy Freeman and Belinda Hocking.

The other finalists for the award this year are rower Lucy Stephan, billiard player Anna Lynch, and netballer Liz Watson.

Anthony said she was pleased to be named alongside athletes of such quality.

“I feel very humbled to be nominated for this Kitty McEwan Award alongside some of the top female athletes in Victoria.

“It is very special to be considered in the same category as them.”

Anthony had a brilliant 2019. She claimed gold twice at the Moguls World Cup and made the podium on five separate occasions. She also claimed silver at the 2019 World Championships.

She says both events were among the standouts during the year.

“The World Championships second place was definitely one of my highlights from this season, but the biggest moment for me was taking my first World Cup win in Lake Placid.”

Unlike many of her competitors, Anthony has the challenge of living where there is no snow.

Anthony says that as a result her training schedule is quite unique.

“I spend about 8 months of the year chasing winter so that we can train on snow.

“This means that I am not home very often but when I am I spend a lot of time commuting to Melbourne to complete strength and conditioning at the Victorian Institute of Sport or train at the water ramp facility in Lilydale. The water ramp facility allows us to practice aerial tricks off plastic ramps into water.”

She said she was grateful for the support of the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia and its partners for supporting her pursuits but it is an investment Anthony has more than returned.

The winners of the 2019 Victorian Sport Awards will be named at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday, February 26.