Baff and Anthony claim medals to make it best ever start to World Cup season

Australia’s winter sports athletes have continued their remarkable start to the World Cup season, with teenage snowboard cross rider Josie Baff and Olympic champion mogul skier Jakara Anthony adding to the medal tally overnight in Europe, with Baff taking silver and bronze to Anthony.

In total Australian athletes have now won ten medals this month to make it the most successful start to a northern winter, with five individual athletes in separate disciplines recording World Cup wins.

In the snowboard cross event in Cervinia, Italy, Baff claimed the second medal of her World Cup career, in yet another impressive display by the 19-year-old from Jindabyne in the NSW Snowy Mountains.

Baff showed great speed throughout the day, winning her round of 32 and 16 heats to reach the semi-final. Against strong competition in the semi-final featuring multiple Olympic medallists, Baff finished in the top two to advance to the big-final medal round for the second time this season.

In a hotly contested final, Baff led for most of the race, and when challenged held on to secure the silver medal, finishing just behind Charlotte Bankes of Great Britain, with Chloe Trespeuch of France in third.

“Pretty overwhelmed, I am very happy with how I rode today, and after yesterday it was nice to be back on the podium for the second time” said Baff.

“I am grateful for my wax technicians, my board was flying out of the start, I couldn't have done it without them and my coaches and whole team.

“My goals have been top eight’s consistently, so hopefully I can keep that up and the podiums are a nice touch and a good reward showing my hard work is paying off.”

Heading into the Christmas and New Year break, Baff is ranked second in the world on the standings after three events.

At the dual moguls event in Alpe d’Huez in France, Jakara Anthony made it a double medal weekend with a bronze medal finish on day two to go with her gold medal performance in the single moguls the day before.

Anthony has now podiumed in four of the five moguls events this season, and is undefeated in single moguls winning the first three events.

In the semi-final round Anthony narrowly went down to eventual winner Anri Kawamura with a score of 19-16 in the Japanese skiers favour. In the dual for third place, Anthony rebounded strongly to take the bronze medal with a score of 22-13 against Avital Carroll from Austria. Perrine Laffont from France finished in second.

“I am very happy to be walking away with a third place today” said the 24-year-old Anthony from Barwon Heads in Victoria.

“The women’s field is so strong, and myself, Perrine and Anri keep tossing around those top few spots, so it’s pretty exciting to see that keep switching up and keeping it fresh the whole tour again.”

Anthony is currently ranked number one in the world on the single and overall moguls World Cup standings.