Weekend’s World Cup Results: Tess Coady Wins Slopestyle Gold, Silver and Bronze for Jakara Anthony in Moguls

January 17th, 2022
Tess Coady, top of the podium in Laax with Anna Gasser, left, second and Annika Morgan, right, in third. Photo: OWIA

Mountainwatch |News

It was another big weekend for Australia’s snow athletes with the final Olympic-qualifying World Cup events in snowboard  park and pipe and in moguls.  Tess Coady lead the way, winning gold in the snowboard slopestyle World Cup in Laax, Switzerland.

Mogul skier Jakara continued her stellar season with a bronze and a silver in the back -to-back World Cups in Deer Valley and now has eight podium finishes this season.

Cody’s  win was the second World Cup victory of her career and it was an impressive performance, winning the qualification round and then locking in the two highest scores in the final. Tess scored 79.60 on her first run which was enough to guarantee victory before she dropped in for her final run. The pressure was off and Tess stepped it up, laying down an excellent run that included at dub 1080 off the second jump for a score of 86.18 to finish ahead of Austria’s Anna Gasser on 78.56 and Annika Morgan of Germany with a 76.61.

 

“It feels so good to take the win today,” Coady said. “I really just wanted to land my runs, I think that’s all you can ask for, so to achieve that today was just a win in itself for me.

“This event is always so sick, it’s run so well, and the park is always built well. It makes a massive difference for the riders and how much you enjoy the event.

“The frontside 1080 is a new one for me. I learnt it a few months ago at Prime Parks in Stubai. I really wanted to bring it out today so super stoked I was able to do that.”

In other snowboard results Matty Cox achieved his best World Cup result with a 7thin the men’s slopestyle in Laax while 16-year-old Valentino Guseli was fifth in the halfpipe, also his best World Cup finish. Scotty James was in great form in qualification and had the highest score with a 95.6, but failed to put down a clean run in the final, finishing in 11thplace.

It has been an intense couple of weeks four our mogul skiers with four events in two weeks, but Jakara Anthony has been incredibly consistent with three podiums, the silver in Deer Valley a great way to wrap up the pre-Olympic events.

 

“I am really happy with how this event has gone, I really progressed in certain aspects of my skiing and jumping in my four days here and I couldn’t have asked for much more,” Jakara said.

“The women’s mogul field is so exciting to watch this season, there are so many strong skiers and the women’s jumping has gone through the roof. I just love watching and I think it’s so exiting for the sport, and I can’t wait to see what everyone brings for the rest of the season.”

In the men’s Cooper Woods locked in his best ever World Cup result in Deer valley with a fifth in the first event and 11thin the second. Brodie Summers made it through to his first super final of the season, finishing gin sixth place while three-time Olympian Britt Cox finished 12th. The mogul team are now heading into a pre-Olympic camp in Ruka Finland.

The Para Snow Sports World Championships are also now on in Lillehammer, Norway and Paralympian Ben Tudhope won bronze in the Dual Banked Slalom SB-LL2 on Saturday.  USA’s Zach Miller took home the gold in the event ahead of Alex Massie from Canada in the Big Final.

 

Ben Tudhope, stoked after his third place at the World Championships

Tudhope’s next event at the Word Champs is the Snowboard Cross on Thursday, January 20.

“I think to get on the podium at the World Championships is an amazing achievement and I am honoured to be able to represent my country and the team and everyone here,” Tudhope said after Saturday’s race.

Tudhope placed 7th in the event at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Paralympicsand thebronze medal will be a good confidence booster with the  Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games getting underway on March 4.

In other pre-Olympic news,  Laura Peel was back on top with a win in Aerial World Cup in Deer Valley last week after she locked in one of the jumps of her career, scoring a massive 118.05.

Finally, in a first in sliding events for Australia, Jackie Narracott won gold in the World Cup Skeleton in St Moritz on the weekend.  Again, great timing  to hit form with the Olympics just a few weeks away.