Defending Olympic freestyle ski champion Jakara Anthony says she’s “over the moon” to share Australia’s flag-bearer duties at the Winter Olympics with fellow moguls star Matt Graham.

For the first time, two athletes from the same sport have been chosen to lead the Australian team at a Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

The team announcement was made late Wednesday (AEDT), two days ahead of the main opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro Olympic Stadium.

“Having two moguls flag bearers, it’s the first time there’s two from one sport so we’re over the moon,” said Anthony, who will defend the moguls gold medal she won four years ago in Beijing.

“It’s really special to share it with Matt — I’ve always looked up to him.”

Competing at her third Games, 27-year-old Anthony will look to become the first Australian to successfully defend a Winter Olympic title while Graham is representing for the fourth time.

Anthony, who is from Victoria, said it was special to mark another milestone with 31-year-old Graham, who won silver at the 2018 Olympics.

“I got to share a lot of milestones of Matt’s career, including winning silver in PyeongChang and get his first [crystal] globe,” she said.

“I’ve been able to share the top step of the podium with him a couple times now and now we get to share this one so we’re really racking up the milestones together.”

In a historic first, the 2026 Winter Olympics opening event will be spread across four locations. Anthony and Graham will lead the Australian contingent marching in Livigno, a northern Italian town in the alps near the Swiss border.

With the Games the most spread out in Winter Olympics history, Australian ice skaters will march in the opening ceremony in Milan while cross-country skiers are in Predazzo and sliders in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Australia has sent 53-strong Olympic team to compete this year, looking to build on the successes of previous years.

For a country known more for its beaches than its snowy slopes, Australia has shown itself to be a competitive contender in the Winter Games.

This is everything you need to know about the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.

When do the Winter Olympics start?

The 2026 Games begin with the opening ceremonies on February 6 local time (early February 7, Australian time) and conclude with the closing ceremony on February 22.

Some events have already started; curling began on Wednesday and ice hockey and some snowboarding start on Thursday.

There will be 19 days of competition at the Games.

Where is the Games being held?

The event is known as the Milano Cortina Games, with sporting contests in the northern Italian city of Milan and on the northern Italian slopes and towns in the Cortina d’Ampezzo region.

The decision to hold competition across two regions was about cutting costs and making use of existing infrastructure.

The athletes are spread across six villages, depending on which of the 15 venues they are competing at.

Milan is one of the venues for this year’s multi-region Olympics. Photo: AAP

How to watch the Games in Australia

The Nine Network holds the Australian broadcast rights to this year’s Winter Olympics and will televised events on its traditional channels, the 9Now app and the Stan Sport streaming platform.

The timing of live coverage events vary from competition to competition, but many will be held throughout the night and early morning,

Italy (Central European Time) is 10 hours behind Australia’s east coast (Australian Eastern Daylight Time). 

The full schedule of Olympic events is listed here. 

Who are the Australian’s to look out for?

Australia’s team in Italy is made up of 53 athletes – 10 more than the previous Winter Games in Beijing. It is our second-largest Winter Olympics contingent.

Among the 33 women taking part is 2022 moguls gold medallist Anthony. She is looking to become the first Australian to win two Winter Olympic gold medals.

Anthony won the women’s freestyle skiing moguls in Beijing. Photo: AAP

The Victorian is the clear favourite to retain her individual title after dominating the World Cup in the four years since Beijing, while inclusion of dual moguls at this Games gives her a strong chance at two more medals in Italy.

Graham will also has a chance at two medals, in single and dual moguls. He is competing at his fourth Winter Olympics, having debuted more than a decade ago at Sochi in 2014.

The NSW Central Coast native won silver at the PyeongChang Games in 2018 and has five world championships medals to his name.

Acknowledged as one of the greatest snowboarders the world has seen, Scotty James has won everything available in the sport apart from an Olympic gold medal.

He is competing in his fifth Olympics since his debut as a 15-year-old in Vancouver in 2010.

James won bronze in 2018 and silver in 2022. Now the reigning world champion, he is a favourite for gold in Italy.

Fellow snowboarder Valentino Guseli broke the world record for the highest half-pipe jump at just 16 on his Olympic debut in Beijing 2022.

After an injury-marred 2025 season, the NSW South Coast-raised Guseli is fit again and a strong chance for an Olympic medal.

Former hurdler Bree Walker switched to monobob (a single-handed bobsled) to improve her chances of an Olympic medal.

The Melburnian made her Olympic debut in 2022 at Beijing, finishing fifth. Now with 17 World Cup medals, including six gold, there are high expectations for Walker.

Two-time freestyle aerials world champion Laura Peel heads into the Games under an injury cloud after injuring her knee at a pre-Olympics training camp.

The 36-year-old won five World Cup events in 2025 to capture her third Crystal Globe for finishing the season as the world’s top ranked women’s aerial skier.

All eyes will be on her hopeful comeback from injury.

Adam Lambert is competing in his third Winter Olympics as a genuine medal contender in snowboard cross.

Leading this season’s overall World Cup points standings after three successive podiums, he also has a chance of a second medal in the mixed team event with partner Josie Baff.

At just 15 years old, Indra Brown is a chance in the halfpipe, while 2022 bronze medalist Tess Coady in the snowboard slopestyle are also a chance for the podium.

What is Australia’s Winter Olympics record?

Australia has won 19 Winter Olympics medals, all since the 1994 Lillehammer Games in 1994.

Among those medallists, six Australians have won gold: 

• Steven Bradbury famously came from behind to win the men’s 1000-metre short-track speed skating in 2002
• Alisa Camplin won the women’s aerials in 2002.
• Dale Begg-Smith claimed the men’s moguls in 2006
• Torah Bright was women’s halfpipe champion in 2010
• Lydia Lassila won the women’s aerials in 2010
• Jakara Anthony won women’s moguls in 2022