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Livigno: A day after hot favourite Jakara Anthony missed the podium in the women’s final, Cooper Woods has delivered Australia’s first podium finish of Milano Cortina 2026 in men’s moguls - a stunning gold medal.
Competing at his second Winter Olympics, Cooper snatched the top prize from Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury, one of the greatest moguls skiers of all time, with the last run of the final at the Livigno Aerials and Moguls Park on Thursday.
Cooper Woods has delivered gold for Australia.Credit: Getty Images
The 25-year-old, who qualified in first position, showed nerves of steel to produce a score of 83.71 - the same number Kingsbury, a three-time Olympic medallist, also produced.
But because of Woods’ higher turns score - 48.4 to Kingsbury’s 47.7 - he won the gold.
It is the nation’s 20th overall medal at the Winter Olympics and seventh gold, and the fifth in moguls freestyle skiing, a discipline Australia has excelled at for many years.
Australia had three men in the final, with Matt Graham coming fifth and Jackson Harvey eighth. The bronze medal went to Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, who was the bronze medallist in this event at the last Winter Olympics and led the World Cup standings coming into these Games.
More to come
