Industry News
Ruka, Finland, hosted the first Moguls World Cup events of the 2025-26 season on Sunday and Monday, December 7 and 8. The early-season World Cup stop in Ruka proved a major success for both Australia and the United States, with Aussies taking top honors across both men’s and women’s events—and several impressive U.S. performances, including a victory for Tess Johnson in Sunday’s women’s event as well as a slew of podium spots by the whole team.
Sunday: Challenging Conditions, Surprise Opens
The first moguls competition of the weekend was marked by icy snow, wind, and tricky landings, testing even the world’s most seasoned ski-freestyle veterans. Despite the difficult conditions, a handful of athletes rose to the occasion. In men’s moguls, Japan’s veteran mogul skier Ikuma Horishima delivered a textbook superfinal, stomping a cork 1440 and cruising to victory with 83.48 points. Sweden’s Walter Wallberg took second place, while American Nick Page grabbed third, giving the U.S. a strong finish amid rough snow conditions.
In the women’s race, U.S. skier Tess Johnson proved tenacious under pressure, navigating the hazardous course to claim gold. She earned 78.86 points in the final, giving herself and Team USA a strong start to the season. She was joined on the podium by her teammate Olivia Giaccio in third place while second place went to France’s Perrine Laffont. Team USA’s Elizabeth Lemley narrowly missed out on a podium with a fourth place.
“I’m really thankful that I was able to lay down runs throughout the whole weekend. It was so fun to be back in action and build on my performances round after round. I couldn’t have asked for a better comeback to World Cup.”
— Olivia Giaccio
Monday: Aussie Sweep — Anthony and Graham Claim Golds
On Monday, the competition came full circle as Australians dominated. In the women’s moguls, Olympic champion Jakara Anthony made a triumphant return, after a season that was cut short with a broken collarbone in 2024-25. delivering a clean, fast run to take victory with 79.89 points.
Rounding out the women’s podium were Team USA’s Olivia Giaccio in second place and last season’s title winner Jaelin Kauf in third place. It was a great redemption for Kauf who had ended Sunday’s race with a DNF. “Yeah tough start yesterday,” Kauf admitted, “But some good takeaways and learning moments from it,” she added. “Today, I took a bit more of a mellow start to it and just tried to get a top-to-bottom under my belt. After getting that out of the way, I was able to just focus on skiing my run and having fun out there!”
Anthony’s teammate Matt Graham lit up the men’s field: as the final starter, he landed a composed, high-scoring run (81.72 points) to take gold, ending a two-year victory-less streak for the Aussie. Graham was joined on the podium by Ikuma Horishima in second place and Canada’s Julien Viel in third place.
What is most remarkable about the moguls results is the incredible depth in the U.S. team. Across both days, U.S. athletes made up a significant portion of the superfinal field: on Sunday four of six superfinalists were Americans. The level of consistency and depth in the U.S. Team bodes well for the Olympic season, however, sadly, only four athletes are allowed to start per gender, meaning the selection for the coveted Olympic spots will heat up at Val St. Come, Canada, in the new year. Unfortunately, the upcoming events in Idre Fjäll, Sweden, and Almaty, Kazakstan, were both canceled.
