{"id":457914,"date":"2026-02-04T13:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T13:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/457914\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T13:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T13:44:11","slug":"australia-announces-jakara-anthony-matt-graham-as-2026-milano-cortina-winter-olympics-flag-bearers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/457914\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia announces Jakara Anthony, Matt Graham as 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics flag bearers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham will fly the flag for Australia at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony.<\/p>\n

The two Olympic medal-winning moguls skiers were announced as flag bearers in Livigno on Wednesday morning, local time.<\/p>\n

“It’s probably one of the biggest honours you can receive as an Olympic athlete,” defending Olympic champion Anthony said.<\/p>\n

“I’m still lost for words over it.<\/p>\n

“Thinking back to growing up and seeing all the flag bearers that we’ve had for Australia, Summer and Winter, and to now get to stand alongside them and have that honour, it’s pretty mind-blowing.”<\/p>\n

\"Jakara<\/p>\n

Jakara Anthony is the number-one ranked moguls skier and defending Olympic champion. (Getty Images: Agence Zoom\/Millo Moravski)<\/p>\n

Anthony, 27, has won three World Cup events this season and comes into the Olympics as the number-one ranked moguls skier in the world<\/p>\n

Those three titles this year mean she has won more World Cup gold medals than any other Australian, with 26 in total.<\/p>\n

Graham, 31, has enjoyed one of his best seasons on the World Cup circuit in many years, sitting second in the overall standings with two podiums and claiming his first victory in a World Cup since Deer Valley in the 2022\/23 season.<\/p>\n

Graham’s victory in Ruka was shared with Anthony<\/a>, the third time in history that Australia has claimed gold medals in both men’s and women’s events on the same day.<\/p>\n

The PyeongChang silver medallist is appearing in his fourth Games, and the new father is eager to bounce back after injury cruelled his preparation for the Beijing Games four years ago.<\/p>\n

“Representing Australia at an 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,” Graham said.<\/p>\n

“To do it alongside my teammate Jakara, we’ve had a lot of special memories together, and this is another one for the books.”<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Graham and Jakara Anthony have shared plenty of moments together in their career. (Supplied: AOC)<\/p>\n

Anthony, who suffered a collarbone injury similar to Graham’s that ruled her out of the 2024\/25 season, said it was important to share the moment with her long-time teammate.<\/p>\n

“It’s really special to share it with Matt,” Anthony said.<\/p>\n

“I’ve always looked up to him; he’s four years ahead of me. I’ve seen a lot of milestones of Matt’s career.<\/p>\n

“I saw him win silver in PyeongChang 2018 and get his first Crystal Globe [in 2020\/21], and I’ve been able to share the top step of the podium with him a couple of times.<\/p>\n

“Now we get to share this one, so we’re really racking up the milestones together.”<\/p>\n

\"Jakara<\/p>\n

Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham were both ranked first in the overall moguls standings. (Supplied: Kate Blamey)<\/p>\n

Chef de Mission Alisa Camplin-Warner, a two-time Olympic medallist in aerials, praised both her freestyle skiing compatriots on their selection.<\/p>\n

ABC Sport Daily podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that’s making headlines.<\/p>\n

“Jakara Anthony is the epitome of poise and excellence,” Camplin-Warner said.<\/p>\n

“Her measured yet dogged pursuit of perfection has set her apart from her competitors for an entire Olympiad.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“Matt is a long-term leader in this team and competes with sheer grit and sportsmanly grace. He has done it all \u2014 the hungry debutant in Sochi, the silver medallist in PyeongChang and an injury comeback for Beijing \u2014 on paper, that’s more than enough to become flag bearer.<\/p>\n

“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 Milano Cortina opening ceremony.”<\/p>\n

The 2026 Olympics get underway on Friday with the focal point of the opening ceremony taking place in Milan’s San Siro stadium.<\/p>\n

However, several other locations will also be utilised, with celebrations also taking place in Livigno \u2014 where Anthony and Graham will carry the flag \u2014 as well as Predazzo and Cortina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham will fly the flag for Australia at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[110809,235766,64,63,220527,235765,190438,234686,142583,195276,85,234053,31080],"class_list":["post-457914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-2026-winter-olympics","tag-alisa-camplin-warner","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-jakara-anthony","tag-matt-graham","tag-milan-cortina","tag-milan-cortina-2026","tag-milano-cortina","tag-opening-ceremony","tag-sports","tag-winter-olympic-games","tag-winter-olympics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}