Charlotte Wilson Clinches First World Cup Gold in Stunning Victory at Livigno

Australian freestyle skier Charlotte Wilson concluded an exceptional debut season by clinching her first-ever FIS World Cup gold medal at Livigno, Italy. The 20-year-old athlete from Jindabyne delivered a remarkable performance in the dual moguls event mere hours after receiving the honor of FIS Freestyle moguls Rookie of the Year.

Wilson expressed to the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia her initial disbelief at this achievement, describing the victory as an extraordinary moment that had yet to fully sink in. Her journey to securing this medal was especially challenging, as she competed head-to-head against four of the world's top-ranked female skiers throughout successive knockout rounds.

On an intensely competitive day, Wilson impressively defeated top contenders, including Maia Schwinghammer from Canada, Rino Yanagimoto from Japan, and French moguls veteran Perrine Laffont. Her triumphant final run ended with an impressive 22-13 victory over American world number one Jaelin Kauf. Reflecting upon her performance, Wilson credited momentum from the previous day's results for contributing greatly to her success, noting her determination to seize such rare opportunities.

The Livigno competition also served as a test event for the Winter Olympics, where dual moguls is scheduled to debut next year. Due to defending Olympic champion Jakara Anthony's continued recovery from injury, Wilson's gold medal provides strong reassurance that Australia's moguls future remains bright.

In other news from the men's competition, Australian skier Matt Graham was unable to participate in the dual moguls due to a severe crash during the singles event one day earlier. Graham suffered significant physical trauma during the medal round, experiencing lung bruising and bleeding after colliding heavily with the moguls at high speed. Despite the scare, medical scans confirmed he sustained no significant injuries, and he aims to recover fully in time for next month's World Championships in St. Moritz.

Meanwhile, 2022 Olympic finalist Cooper Woods delivered his best World Cup result this season with a fifth-place performance, narrowly losing to Canadian moguls icon Mikaël Kingsbury, who claimed his 99th career World Cup win. Next to compete on the Livigno Olympic course will be Australian aerial skier Laura Peel, who currently leads the overall standings and is aiming to finish in 12th position or higher to secure the season's overall title.