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Olympic moguls champion Jakara Anthony was almost unbeatable last season, but the return of French ace Perrine Laffont sets up an enthralling rivalry.
Jakara Anthony's record-breaking moguls run will be tested by the return of French skier Perrine Laffont, who ruled before the Australian's rise.
Olympic champion Anthony will spearhead the Australian team in Ruka, Finland, this weekend in the opening round of the World Cup moguls season.
Last season Anthony set a World Cup record, topping the podium in 14 of 16 events to become the first woman to bring home the singles, duals and overall Crystal Globes.
But the Victorian's complete domination came in the absence of Laffont, the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic champion and two-time world champion.
Also 26, Laffont took last season off after finishing fourth behind Anthony at the Beijing Games and says she's "hungry" to resume her mantle.
"It gave me time to recover both mentally and physically, and now I'm hungry for competition again," Laffont told fis-ski.com.
"I've missed the adrenaline, the fans, and being out there with my team. I feel stronger and more prepared than ever to fight for my place."
While freestyle skiing fans are salivating at the renewed rivalry, Anthony told AAP she was keeping her focus on her own performance.
"I'm just out there focusing on what it is that I'm trying to do, that's a lot of noise if you start getting really caught up in what everyone else is doing," Anthony said.
"At the end of the day, I've got no control over that.
"It is fun to kind of see where everyone's at and everything but the focus out on the hill is definitely on what I need to do."
With an additional World Cup event - the last an Olympic test event in Livigno, Italy, in March - Anthony has the chance to surpass her own record.
But she admitted it would be a tough task.
"Last season was crazy - the results were just incredible - and I couldn't really ask for much more," Anthony said.
"In technical terms we have more starts this year - we're going to have 19 World Cups so you could top it but we're just going to be going in with the focus on the bits and pieces in my skiing we want to keep improving.
"We're always chasing that perfection, so trying to achieve that."
Dual moguls also has a new edge this season with the event added to the Olympic program in Milan-Cortina in 2026, making speed an even more important skill.
As well as a World Cup sweep, Anthony is targeting the only major trophy missing from her bulging cabinet - a world title, which will be decided in St Moritz in Switzerland in March.
Held biannually, Laffont is the defending champion in both disciplines.
But with a crowded calendar that takes her to Georgia, the US and Kazakhstan before then, Anthony isn't letting it crowd her mind.
"You kind of got to take it one event at a time because if you start thinking ahead right to the end goal, that's going to feel like there's a lot to do," she said.
"We're just taking it one day at a time, one event at a time."
Anthony will be joined in Ruka by World Cup debutante Charlotte Wilson while 2018 Olympic silver medallist and new dad Matt Graham and rising star Cooper Woods headline the four-strong men's squad.
Veteran Graham and 24-year-old Woods were both on the World Cup podium last season, with the latter making his return from a knee injury which cut short his campaign.
Qualification kicks off at 11.45pm (AEDT) Saturday, November 30.