LIVIGNO: Gold medal hero Jakara Anthony and fellow moguls destroyer Matt Graham will carry the flag for Australia at the opening ceremony for the Milano Cortina Games but due to some understandable confusion, Graham’s parents will be in a different Italian city when their son leads the team out.
Anthony, 27, and Graham, 31, will march in the opening ceremony for the very first time on Saturday morning (AEDT) due to the addition of the dual moguls event, which has pushed the moguls back in the schedule.
In past Games, Graham and Anthony were among the first athletes to compete, sidelining them from one of the most special moments an Olympian will experience. When the schedule for Milano Cortina was first released Graham told his parents he would finally get a chance to march but left out one key detail. This year’s opening ceremony is held concurrently in all the locations where athletes are competing, to ensure that not too many athletes will miss out.
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As a result, while Graham and Anthony are waving the flag in Livigno, an honour that was bestowed upon them at a ceremony on Wednesday, his parents, Debbie and Steve, will be in their seats in famous Milan stadium the San Siro, where the main part of the ceremony will take place, minus the largest Australian contingent.
“I’m sure they’ll have it on record back home and that Channel Nine will do a great job telecasting us (Graham and Anthony leading the Australian team out) and that we’ll sort of be on show but yeah, I guess it’s just the way it is,” Graham told assembled media, including Wide World of Sports, after the flag bearer announcement.
“When the schedule came out and I told my mum and dad that I was going to march, they were like ‘Awesome, we’ll buy tickets,’ so they rushed in and bought the tickets and booked the accommodation as soon as they could. So, I guess in some ways it’s a little bit frustrating but I know they’re going to be there in spirit and they’re going to see a great show down there in Milan.”
The mix-up highlights a detail of this Games that will be easy to miss for those watching the competition unfold in their lounge rooms in Australia.
While most Olympic Games, winter or summer, are primarily hosted by one city, with just a few sports hosted in other parts of the host nation, Milano Cortina will be the most spread out Winter Games in history.
Australia has athletes competing in both Milan and Cortina but the overwhelming majority of the green and gold will be spotted in Livigno – a small, postcard perfect ski village in the Italian Alps, four hours drive north of Milan in a ski resort setting a stone’s throw from Switzerland.
It is here that Anthony will defend her gold medal from the COVID-affected Games in Beijing four years ago and where Graham will attempt to add gold to the silver medal he won in Pyeongchang eight years ago, in 2018.
Watch the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026 live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now. Plus, every event live & on demand, every medal in 4K, and exclusive international coverage on Stan Sport.
Now a veteran of four Olympic Games, Graham admitted that one of the key motivations for competing into his thirties was the lure of an Olympic Games in the Italian Alps, where natural snow falls almost every day at this time of year and the vibe is familiar to anyone who has been on a ski holiday in Europe.
While the last two Games in Beijing and Pyeongchang both appeared to be winter wonderlands for those who were only getting their fix through TV, that was in some ways an illusion. Cold, yes. Snowy and with natural runs that play host to skiers and snowboarders of all levels every winter? Not so much.
And competing on artificial snow in manufactured villages doesn’t quite measure up for the athletes, who tend to be drawn to the true ski towns like Livigno.
“For me, especially the last two Olympics – Pyeongchang and Beijing – they’re not necessarily in snow winter nations (South Korea and China). They’re bloody cold, that’s for sure but there’s not a whole lot of natural snow in those locations,” Graham said.
“On the cameras it all looked nice and pretty but off to the side I guess they don’t get the natural snow that you’re sort of accustomed to here in Italy.
“It’s cool to be back here for a Winter Olympics. I remember when Milano Cortina I guess won the bid to host the Olympic Games, that was one thing that spurred me on to keep going, knowing that when we’re back in the Alps, in a big winter climate and also, after Beijing, having family and friends back again as well, it’s going to be really special.”
Anthony echoed Graham’s sentiments and was clear about how different it would be to win a gold medal in front of her nearest and dearest in a nation where snow sports are a big part of the culture, versus her experience winning gold in Beijing, which took place under restrictions that banished crowds.
“The last couple of Games have also been fantastic but COVID had a real impact on the Games in Beijing and in Pyeongchang and Beijing, snow sports is relatively new in those countries, so there’s not quite the major following and passion about it as there is in countries like Italy, so I think we’re all really looking forward to that,” she said.
While Graham is driven by the prospect of a gold medal and has carried motivation to compete in the picturesque setting of Livigno, he admitted it would be a very different experience competing at an Olympics for the first time as a father.
After giving a composed performance throughout his media appearances on Wednesday, his voice cracked a little reflecting on his new life as a first-time father, with 17-month-old daughter Ada due to fly to Italy with his wife, Jess, in the coming days to support him as he goes for gold.
“Becoming a father’s changed my perspective on a lot of things,” he said. “If anything I’ve found it’s given me extra motivation going through this cycle.
“… They’ll be here to cheer me on in the finishing area, so that’s something I’ve been really looking forward to and regardless of the result it’s going to be a win for me. She makes the bad days that much easier to get over and she makes the good days even sweeter, so I guess she’s given me another purpose and another reason to keep pushing on and make the most of this life I’m currently living.
“It’s pretty special and unique to have the opportunity to be the world’s best at something. Once I put the skis away and my ski boots go back in the closet and I stop competing, I don’t know if I’m going to have another opportunity to be the world’s best at something. I’ll always try to be the world’s best dad but there’s no way of really determining that, whereas here the world’s best gets a gold medal, so I guess I’m sort of enjoying these moments while they last and knowing they’re going to be in the finishing area and going to be happy regardless. They’ll be proud of me as much as I’m proud of my wife and daughter for everything they’ve had to deal with, with me travelling away and what not over the last 12-18 months.”
