By Melissa Woods
Defending Olympic champion Jakara Anthony says she’s “over the moon” to share Australia’s flag bearer duties with fellow moguls star Matt Graham.
For the first time two athletes from the same sport have been chosen to lead the Australian team at a Winter Olympics opening ceremony.
The team announcement was made on Wednesday morning, two days out from the main opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro Olympic Stadium.
The pair were individually asked by team chef de mission Alisa Camplin about a month ago but had to keep it under wraps despite training alongside daily each other in the lead up to the Games.
“Having two moguls flag bearers, it’s the first time there’s two from one sport so we’re over the moon,” said Anthony, who will defend the moguls gold medal she won four years ago in Beijing.
“It’s really special to share it with Matt – I’ve always looked up to him.”
Anthony said it was special to mark another milestone with 31-year-old Graham, who won silver at the 2018 Olympics.
“I got to share a lot of milestones of Matt’s career, including winning silver in PyeongChang and get his first (crystal) globe,” said the Victorian product.
“I’ve been able to share the top step of the podium with him a couple times now and now we get to share this one so we’re really racking up the milestones together.”
In an historic first the opening event will be spread across four locations with the star duo to lead the Australian contingent marching in Livigno, a northern Italian town in the alps near the Swiss border.
As well as freestyle skiers, which includes aerialists and freeski competitors, the snowboarders are also competing in Livigno.
With the Games the most spread out in Winter Olympics history, Australian ice skaters are set to march in the opening ceremony in Milan while cross country skiers are located in Predazzo and sliders in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Competing at her third Games, 27-year-old Anthony will look to become the first Australian to successfully defend a Winter Olympic title while Graham is representing for the fourth time.
“It’s a massive honour – representing Australia at the Olympic Games is an honour in itself and to now have the privilege to lead out on paper what’s probably the best team in the history of Australian Winter Olympics is very special,” said Graham, who is from the NSW central coast.
“And to do so alongside my teammate Jakara – we’ve had had a lot of special memories together and this is just another one for the books.”
Camplin announced the popular pair at a ceremony in Livigno, saying Anthony was an inspiration to many young athletes.
“Jakara is in a league of her own – role model, Olympic champion and a young Australian who sets her sights on something and doesn’t give up. I am so proud to name her flag bearer,” Camplin said.
“There are athletes in our team who saw Jakara win gold in Beijing, and it sparked their Olympic dreams.”
Camplin also praised the leadership and resilience of Graham, who competed in Beijing with a fractured collarbone.
“Matt is a long-term leader in this team and competes with sheer grit and sportsmanly grace,” said Camplin, who won gold in the aerials in 2002 and bronze four years later.
“He has done it all – the hungry debutant in Sochi, the silver medallist in PyeongChang and an injury comeback for Beijing – on paper that’s more than enough to become flag bearer.
“But what I love about Matt, is how he always lifts the team and carries the Aussie spirit when he competes. He deservedly carries the Australian flag into the Milan-Cortina opening ceremony.”
While Milan is the focal point for the opening ceremony, where global stars Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli will perform, elements of the ceremony will be broadcast from the parade of athletes in the other three locations.
For the first time two official cauldrons will burn simultaneously: one in Milan’s Arco della Pace and one in Cortina’s Piazza Angelo Dibona.
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