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Australia's best medal chances at Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games

Jakara Anthony (left), Bree Walker (centre) and Laura Peel (right) are right in the mix for Olympic medals in Beijing. (Getty Images: Tom Pennington, IBSF: Viesturs Lacis)

It's fair to say that Australia might not be synonymous with winter sports.

But Aussies have punched well above their weight at Winter Olympics, bringing home 15 medals, five of them gold, including three in each of the last three Games.

Australia has named a 44-strong team of athletes for Beijing, all of whom will be giving everything to add their name to that honour roll.

There are, though, a select handful of athletes who have been in excellent form across the World Cup circuit this season.

Here are the Australians with a chance of medalling at Beijing 2022.

Jakara Anthony — Moguls

Jakara Anthony wore the yellow World Cup leaders bib earlier in the season.  (Michel Cottin/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)

Jakara Anthony has had a supreme season in 2021/22.

Anthony sits in third spot on the moguls list this World Cup season, having recorded six podiums, including a first-place finish on Alpe d'Huez before Christmas.

In truth, though, she has been growing in stature and belief since finishing in fourth at the last Games in PyeongChang.

Anthony has stood on the World Cup podium 17 times since South Korea, with the Cairns-born, Melbourne-based star saving her most consistently brilliant season for the build-up to Beijing, where it could be a toss-up as to which of the best contenders can win out.

Major rivals: This year's moguls World Cup has been a battle between the three top skiers in the world. 

Japan's Anri Kawamura leads the overall standings and will be tough to beat. So, too, is France's reigning Olympic champion, Perrine Laffont, who is second in the rankings.

Anthony's Australian teammates, Sophie Ash, Taylah O'Neill and Britt Cox, will also be competing at the Games.

When will she be competing? The qualifying run takes place on February 3, with the final on February 6. 

Matt Graham — Moguls

Matt Graham had to swap the snow of the northern hemisphere for a Brisbane swimming pool during his injury-hit Winter Olympics preparation. (Getty Images: Albert Perez)

Matt Graham is already on the Australian Olympic honour roll as a silver medallist from PyeongChang.

The two-time Olympian claimed the Crystal Globe in 2020/21 as the overall World Cup winner, and was building nicely to challenge Canada's moguls GOAT, Mikaël Kingsbury, for gold in Beijing

But the 27-year-old broke his collar bone in December at Idre Fjäll, an injury that required surgery and a significant period off the snow.

Despite that break, Graham has recovered, jumping into water in Brisbane to keep himself sharp before heading back to the snow to nail down his final preparations for a repeat podium in Beijing. 

Major rivals: Kingsbury is near unstoppable in moguls racing and has been for close to a decade — the only time he failed to win the overall title was when he missed a handful of races after fracturing his T4 and T5 vertebrae. He still won the world championships that year, though, just three months after the injury.

Japan's Ikuma Horishima has been pushing him all the way this year, taking wins in Deer Valley, Alpe d'Huez and Idre Fjäll, so will remain a threat.

Fellow Aussies James Matheson, Brodie Summers and Cooper Woods — who reached his first super final at Deer Valley in January, finishing fifth — are also competing. 

When will he be competing? The qualifying run takes place on February 3, with the final on February 5. 

Bree Walker —  Monobob

Bree Walker is bidding to become the first ever Olympic monobob champion. (IBSF: Viesturs Lacis)

Bree Walker is a sliding superstar.

The former hurdler finished second in the end-of-year World Series rankings in 2020/21 and has consistently finished near the top of the standings in this Olympic season.

After securing a podium position five times in seven World Series events, including winning on the fearsome Winterberg track in December, Walker is primed to challenge for gold as monobob makes its Olympics debut at the Yanqing sliding centre.

Major rivals: One thing about the monobob field; it is very, very tight at the top.

Veteran, multi-talented American Elana Meyers Taylor leads the overall standings, having won four sanctioned events this season.

Just behind her is fellow countrywoman Kaillie Humphries and Canadian stars Cynthia Appiah and Christine de Bruine.

In addition, it wouldn't be bobsleigh unless there are some German contenders, so watch out for Laura Nolte and Mariama Jamanka

When will she be competing? The first two qualifying runs are on February 13, with the final two runs on February 14.

Walker will also be competing in the two-woman bobsleigh event with "the Cool Runnings Kid", Kiara Reddingius, the 30-year-old from Leonora in outback Western Australia who only saw snow for the first time six months ago.

They will compete in February 18 and 19.

Jaclyn Narracott — Skeleton

Jaclyn Narracott became the first Aussie skeleton racer to win a World Cup event at St Mortiz on January 15. (IBSF: Viesturs Lacis)

Jaclyn Narracott has the Olympics coursing through her veins.

Her uncle, Paul Narracott, was the first Australian to compete at both the Summer and Winter Games, as a 100 and 200 metre runner in LA in 1984, and in the two-man bobsleigh at Albertville in 1992.

The 31-year-old competed at PyeongChang, finishing 16th, but will head to Beijing with high hopes after becoming the first Australian skeleton racer to win a World Cup race in St Moritz in mid-January.

Major rivals: Dutch slider Kimberley Bos has been bossing the overall World Cup standings this year, although Austria's Janine Flock has been the model of consistency across the competition.

In November at the Olympic test event in Yanqing, German Tina Hermann beat out countrywoman Hannah Neise and Russia's Elena Nikitina.

When will she be competing? The first two qualifying runs are on February 11, with the final two runs on February 12.

Scotty James — Snowboard half-pipe

Scotty James (right) stood on the podium in PyeongChang four years ago alongside contenders Ayumu Hirano (left) and reigning champion, Shaun White. (AP: Gregory Bull)

The bronze medal Scotty James won in PyeongChang speaks of his pedigree, but a barren period leading into this year might have had some of the non-believers questioning his form.

It is not entirely unwarranted — James had not won a major event in nearly two years, underwhelming at Laax in January, his one and only World Cup event this year, finishing 11th.

But then he went to Aspen and this year's X Games, winning his fourth gold medal with a blistering run in the super-pipe.

James did enough to convince the judges of his brilliance with another technically brilliant run, which he has been perfecting on a private half-pipe in Switzerland, without even pulling out a rumoured new triple cork move that's never been seen in competition.

Major rivals: You can't mention snowboarding and half-pipe without adding Shaun White to the equation. This Games is likely to be the last for the 35-year-old reigning Olympic champion.

Japanese athlete Ayumu Hirano, the two-time Olympic silver medallist, is arguably the best half-pipe rider in the world at the moment — and you cannot rule out his compatriots, Yuto Totsuka or Ruka Hirano.

But another rider to look out for is Aussie Valentino Guseli, who despite being just 16 years old is performing exceptionally on the global stage, nabbing sixth at last week's X Games.

When will he be competing? The qualifying run takes place on February 9, with the final round on February 11.

Belle Brockhoff — Snowboard cross

This will be Belle Brockhoff's third Olympics, overtaking her uncle, alpine skier Peter Brockhoff, who competed in 1960 and 1964.

The 29-year-old has two podiums on the World Cup circuit this season at Cervinia and Montafon, and is yet to finish lower than sixth, placing her third overall.

Having finished 11th in PyeongChang in 2018, just two months after surgery to repair her ACL, you wouldn't bet against Brockhoff mounting a podium challenge in Beijing.

Major rivals: British boarder Charlotte Banks leads the World Cup standings, while reigning Olympic champion Michela Moioli of Italy will not give up her crown quietly.

When will she be competing? The competition is scheduled for February 9.

Laura Peel — Aerials

Laura Peel nailed a quadruple twisting triple backflip at the Deer Valley World Cup in January. (Getty Images: Ezra Shaw)

The reigning world champion is looking seriously good to claim a medal in Beijing — and if she jumps her best, it could well be gold. 

Her spellbinding quadruple twisting triple backflip at the Deer Valley World Cup event was one of the finest jumps ever put together in competition and marked her as the top dog in the high-risk aerials world.

The 32-year-old has a seventh and a fifth to her name at Olympic level already, but will be hoping for more in her third Olympics.

Danielle Scott (left) and Laura Peel could both challenge for a medal in Beijing. (Supplied: OWIA)

Major rivals: One of Peel's biggest challengers could well be her fellow three-time Olympian Danielle Scott, the 31-year-old from Sydney who sits in fourth in the World Cup rankings.

China's Kong Fanyu and Xu Mengtao lead the cohort of talented home athletes who will be hoping for aerials success.

Gabi Ash will also compete in the aerials for Australia.

When will she be competing? Qualifying for the aerials competition is scheduled for February 13, with the final run on February 14.

Tess Coady — Snowboard Slopestyle

Tess Coady won the Laax leg of the FIS Snowboard World Cup in January. (Getty Images: Thomas Lohnes)

Tess Coady's Olympic Games debut ended in despair, with the then-17-year-old rupturing her ACL in training, just one hour before conditions were deemed too dangerous for athletes.

The stage is now set for a fairytale return, though, as the 21-year-old comes into the Beijing Games off the back of her second career World Cup victory at Laax in January.

Major rivals: Japan's Kokomo Murase leads the overall World Cup standings this year, with her teammate Reira Iwabuchi sitting third.

Look out also for Kiwi skier Cool Wakushima.

When will she be competing? Qualifying is scheduled for February 5, with the final run on February 6.

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