OWIA/NSWIS mogul skier Matt Graham has reached his second consecutive Super Final, this time at the World Cup event in Calgary, Canada..

After qualifying 12th for the finals, Graham, who finished second at last week’s World Cup event in Val Saint-Come, put in a good run in the first finals run placing fourth with a score of 76.80, therefore qualifying for the top six Super Final.

Graham finished with a total score of 48.93 in the final, a score which saw him finish fifth overall.

“I had quite a good final #1 run which I was happy with, but a little disappointed with my super final run,” he said.

“I felt like I had the ability to back up last week and finish on the podium today, so moving forward this will be a goal for me to back up results and consistent performances week after week,” Graham added.

NSWIS athlete Rohan Chapman-Davies finished 18th with a personal best performance, while Brodie Summers placed 41st.

In the women’s section, Britt Cox finished fourth in qualifying, securing a place in the 16 field finals, with a total score of 70.52.

Cox scored a 69.42 in her first run in the finals, which saw her eventually finish in 13th place overall.

At the completion of the event, Cox reflected on the positives.

"My qualifications run felt like the skiing I know I am capable of doing. Unfortunately, I did not repeat this in the final, and was unable to progress to the next round," Cox said.

"I am choosing to look at my fourth in qualifying as a positive stepping stone, and it's now a matter of bringing it together in the final rounds," she added.
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World Cup Standings (after Calgary):

Men:                                                                            
4th - Matt Graham                                                   
27th - Brodie Summers                     
​33rd - Rohan Chapman-Davies

Women:
11th - Britt Cox

IMAGE: Matt Graham receiving feedback from OWIA Mogul Skiing Head Coach Matt Graham in Calgary © Peter Hogg

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA)/ New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete Matt Graham has finished second at the Moguls World Cup event in Val Saint-Come, Canada.

It was an impressive performance from the 21 year old, who placed seventh at the Sochi Winter Olympics back in 2014.

Graham finished with a total score of 87.74.

The event was taken out by Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, with countryman Laurent Dumais third.

Fellow OWIA athlete Brodie Summers finished in 27th place, while NSWIS athlete Rohan Chapman-Davies came in 32nd position.

In the women’s section, Britt Cox also put in an impressive display finishing seventh, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the Top 6 Super Final by 0.28 points.

In a remarkable result, the top three places in the women’s final were taken out by Canadian sisters, Justine, Chloe and Maxine Dufour-Lapointe.

After the presentations, Graham reflected on his great performance.

"I am very happy with how today went," Graham said. "I had to lay down a really solid final run in order to make the super final, so to get back on the podium has given me a lot of confidence going into Calgary and Deer Valley over the next two weeks."

OWIA Mogul Skiing head coach Steve Desovich was also delighted with Graham’s performance.

“Matt continues to demonstrate outstanding quality in both his jumps and turns and he is being recognized now for his superb skills,” Desovich said.
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"Britt had a very nice run and just needs to improve a bit in every area from turns, to jumps and speed,” Desovich added.

IMAGE: Matt Graham collects his silver medal @ Val St Come © Peter Hogg

Following the cancellation of the World Cup event in Lake Placid due to warm conditions during late December. The Moguls team is now ready and excited to be able to get back to competing this weekend in Val St Come, Canada.

Following a lengthy break from the opening round back in early December in Finland, the team was able to extend its training camp in Winter Park, Colorado, USA.

Head coach Steve Desovich says the three week camp has allowed the team time to focus on all aspects of competing.

“We have been able to focus separately on skiing and jumping whole, and also working on the performance aspect of simulating whole runs,” Desovich said.

It’s a busy few weeks for the Mogul Skiing athletes, with events in Calgary and Deer Valley to follow in consecutive weeks, after this weekend’s event.

Although disappointed in the Lake Placid cancellation, Britt Cox said the extra weeks training was a great opportunity to focus on skills.

“This is a great training location for us; the course is well maintained and easy to get too, and there is a very good gym facility here too, so this camp provided a great chance for me to really work some skills in the middle of the season,” Cox said.

“This will be my first time competing in Val St Come. With such a big break between Ruka and the next World Cup, I'm really looking forward to getting back in the start gate to perform on demand,” Cox added.

Fellow OWIA athlete Brodie Summers has also benefited from the extra training.

“Training at altitude; there's nothing quite like that, to make you feel like a super-human when returning to training at lower elevations! My body is feeling great, and I'm just enjoying a few days of rest before our next event in Val St Come, Canada.”

IMAGE: Matt Graham in action at last years World Cup event in Val St Come © Julien Heon Photography

The OWIA Mogul Skiing program is entering final stages of a 3-week training block in Winter Park, Colorado, USA.
 
Warm weather on the east coast of North America forced the cancellation of the Lake Placid World Cup on January 14-15.
 
The first event for the program in 2016 will be in Val St Come, Canada, on January 23.
 
OWIA Mogul Skiing Head Coach Steve Desovich found the training camp very productive.
 
"The camp has offered great conditions enabling further skill development for each athlete according to their individual needs.”
 
“We look forward to competing in the North American World Cups in Val St Come, Calgary and Deer Valley later this month and in early February.”