Jakara Anthony tops Moguls qualifying with smooth run to the final

Jakara Anthony has finished the first women's moguls qualifying round on top, with a strong 2.64 points buffer on the rest of the field, marking the first time in Olympics history an Aussie woman has led a moguls qualifying round.

The 23-year-old put down a faultless run to post an intimidating score of 83.75, more than 2.5 points clear of the defending Olympic champion Perrine Laffont of France.

Jakara, competing at her second Olympics, sent an ominous warning to her rivals declaring there was room for improvement ahead of Sunday's final.

A familiar name joins Jakara on a one-way ticket to the final. Britt Cox, a four-time Olympian and self-confessed ‘mother hen' of the Australian moguls team, qualified ninth which advances two Aussie women from the one Olympic qualifying session for the first time.

Sophie Ash finished in 13th place on her Olympic debut and the 25-year-old will compete again in Sunday's qualifying. It was heartbreak for Taylah O'Neill, who did start but was unable to complete the run due to an ACL injury.

Read the reactions from Jaraka and Britt at olympics.com.au

It wasn't an ideal night for the Australian men's moguls team in the first round of qualifying at Beijing, with all four competitors needing to qualify for the finals through a second round of qualification.

Brodie Summers was the best placed compared to Matt Graham, James Matheson and Cooper Woods - finishing 11th with a score of 75.66. He just missed out on becoming a confirmed starter for the finals, as the top 10 athletes automatically qualify for the event on Saturday.

Cooper, competing in his first Games, put down a score of 74.65 to be in 14th place. He was grateful for his first opportunity to compete at the Olympic level.

"It's just great to put that run down, I'm really happy to put down a clean run," Cooper said.

"It's just an incredible experience to be competing at an Olympic Games," he added.

PyeongChang 2018 silver medallist Matt Graham hoped for a better first run, as after a clean start he gathered too much pace and could not complete the course. He will get one more chance to qualify on Saturday for Saturday's final.

Read more on olympics.com.au