Rarely in the life of a professional athlete is there much time for rest and relaxation — not least in the midst of a record-breaking campaign.
So perhaps it was a surprise to some to see reigning Olympic moguls champion and Harry Potter fan Jakara Anthony wandering through Hogwarts at Universal Studios in Orlando between events.
“It’s fun when we get to do some more touristy things,” Anthony tells ABC Sport.
“The schedule can be pretty hectic, competing back-to-back and week-to-week, but we had a month’s break in the schedule so went to Universal Studios.
“It’s really cool to be able to have some experiences like that.”
Universal Studios proclaims the Harry Potter-themed amusement park “an experience unlike any other,” which is quite fitting.
It also promises a trip to the wizarding bank of Gringotts, which also fits nicely with Anthony’s year.
Because, aside from the obvious parallels of skiing with such grace and skill over the harsh, icy bumps of the world’s toughest moguls fields as if she were flying over them on a broomstick, Anthony has collected enough gold this season to fill an entire vault.
On Thursday night, Anthony capped a stunning season on snow by being crowned Female Athlete of the Year at the Snow Australia awards in Melbourne.
It was an accolade that is richly deserved after the 25-year-old completed a clean sweep of all three World Cup winner’s Crystal Globes on offer, for singles, duals and overall champion.
Anthony’s unprecedented season of dominance saw the Barwon Heads skier win 14 out of 16 World Cup moguls events.
Those 14 victories are the most by any moguls skier in history, three more than the previous mark held by American legend Hannah Kearney.
In fact, Anthony equalled an all time FIS World Cup record for ski and snowboard racers: Swiss alpine skiing superstar Vreni Schneider also recorded 14 victories during the 1989 season, in slalom and giant slalom competitions.
There is a very strong case to be made that she is currently Australia’s most in-form athlete in any sport.
Yet despite the enormity of that success, Anthony remains more focused on the process than the vagaries of the judges.
“I don’t try to take the approach where I’m focusing on the results,” Anthony said.
“Of course, I want to go out there and win every event but I think the majority of the field are out there trying to do that.
“Unfortunately the results are out of my control but for me it’s about going in and focusing on that process, doing all the little bits and pieces that I need to so I can ski the run I’m capable of.
“There were some events where I was having a bit more trouble navigating the course and it wasn’t necessarily my favourite skiing of the season, but I was still able to bring a really good performance there.
“I think I’m getting better at that in skiing the way that I do on more difficult courses rather than just trying to get up and down and survive.
“I had some performances where I was just like, that was one of the best runs I’ve ever completed, so that’s an incredible feeling too.”
On one of the only occasions Anthony didn’t claim gold on the circuit this year, she won a bronze medal in the Dual Moguls event at Idre Fjäll in Sweden in December.
The other time saw Anthony make a rare mistake — “just me misreading the conditions,” according to Anthony — at Deer Valley in February — although she recovered to take out the Dual event the following night.
“That Deer Valley [victory] was pretty special,” Anthony said.
“Every event was pretty cool, they all had different challenges but that duals final against Jaelen [Kauf] was some of the best skiing I’ve ever competed.”
It is not necessarily a surprise that coming back from adversity, however fleeting it was this season, was Anthony’s highlight of the year.
After all, the entire 2024 season was a comeback of sorts after the two-time Olympian took some time away from the slopes at the end of the 2023 campaign.
“I was in a pretty different place when I started this season compared to when last season finished,” Anthony said.
“Winning week-to-week always helps but I was out there having a lot of fun with the team and travelling with a really great crew.
Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-03/jakara-anthony-snow-australia-athlete-of-the-year/103450642
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