A rising star of Kazakhstani sports has triumphed over an Olympic champion.

Kazakhstan freestyle skier Anastasia Gorodko won her first career medal in the senior World Cup in mogul skiing during the night of February 1-2, as reported by Caravan.kz.

This historic event took place at the stage in Val Saint Come, Canada. The discipline that brought success to Gorodko was "parallel mogul" (an Olympic discipline).

In the knockout tournament at the 1/8 finals, Anastasia triumphed over Australian Charlotte Wilson (27:8), and in the quarterfinals, she confidently defeated the rising star of Canadian mogul, Maya Schwinhammmer (19:16). The semifinal race was significant for Anastasia as she faced Olympic champion, French skier Perrine Laffont. Much to the delight of Kazakh fans, Anastasia emerged victorious against her esteemed opponent with a score of 20:15.

In the final race, she struggled to compete with American Jaelin Kauf; nevertheless, Anastasia Gorodko secured the silver medal. This marks her first award at the World Cup stages.

“Before each opponent, it wasn’t just about setting the mood; it was more about analysis. Anastasia did everything as it needed to be done. As for the final race, experience is crucial; I am confident that she will succeed in the next race against a strong opponent,” commented Elena Kruglykhina, the head coach of the Kazakhstan freestyle mogul team, to Caravan.

Anastasia Gorodko herself shared with us that the feelings from her first podium finish in the World Cup are indescribable, and she received her first congratulations from her team and competitors.

“I still can’t believe this happened. The beginning of the year has been intense — junior world championship, Universiade. Did I manage to recover? I think it’s more yes than no, although fatigue is certainly present. But there’s no time to relax,” said Anastasia Gorodko.

Previously, Anastasia won bronze in the senior championship, also in parallel mogul. Additionally, Gorodko has earned a total of 7 medals at junior world championships (6 of which are individual). Furthermore, Gorodko is a two-time champion of the Universiade-2025. In 2022, Anastasia was involved in a serious accident, but after a series of complex surgeries in Kazakhstan and Germany, she triumphantly returned to competitive sports.