By Mari Saito and Winni Zhou
ZHANGJIAKOU (Reuters) – Australia’s Jakara Anthony won women’s freestyle skiing gold on Sunday, descending a steep slope and landing with a backstroke to give her country its first Winter Games gold in more than one of each.
Seconds after completing his run, Anthony hugged his teammates and burst into tears.
“It’s mind-blowing,” said the 23-year-old with an Australian flag slung over her shoulders.
Anthony surpassed France’s Perrine Laffont, who won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
The Australian athlete, who finished fourth at the 2018 Games, said she knew she would be “excited” with any result after coming down the track so well, she said.
Anthony achieved a top score of 83.09 in the final race, pulling off a 720th turn, a trick she said she only started performing this year.
“I’m in heaven. I think I’m still waiting for it to sink in, but I’m really, really happy and proud of what I’ve achieved.”
On Twitter, the Australian Olympic Committee said Sunday marked the most successful day in the country’s history at the Winter Olympics.
Born in a coastal town, Anthony started skiing at age 4 with her family and made her debut in her first World Cup at age 16 in the United States. At the 2021 World Championships in Kazakhstan, she placed fourth.
American Jaelin Kauf took silver, earning 80.28 points in the final attempt, while Anastasiia Smirnova, from the Russian Olympic Committee, won bronze.
Although some athletes complained of the extreme cold, with temperatures below minus 20 degrees Celsius, Smirnova didn’t look sad.
“We got used to the wind and this weather for our team is not surprising,” he said.
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