Australian 16-year-old year 11 school student Britt Cox turned the heads of the world's elite mogul skiers with a personal best 12th place in the United States today.

Skiing in the FIS dual moguls World Championship as clearly the youngest athlete in the finals, the petite dual AIS/NSWIS scholarship holder may well have signalled to the world and the huge crowd on the Deer Valley Mountain in Utah, that her unquestionable talent will soon be richly rewarded at an international level.

Cox finished behind Canadian Jennifer Heil, who added today's gold medal to the individual moguls World Championship title from three days ago. Compatriot Chloe Dufour-Lapointe picked up silver and American Hannah Kearney took home the bronze.

While Cox's 12th place is still a long way from emulating the feats of her heroes - Alisa Camplin, Dale Begg-Smith and Lydia Lassila, all Australian athletes to have won Olympic gold - today was a huge step forward towards achieving that quest.

A little more than 12 months ago she recorded a 29th and 34th in individual moguls in World Cup competition on the same mountain. In the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver last year she finished in 23rd and each of the four times she has stepped out to compete on the World Cup tour this season she has shown significant signs of improvement.

In fact NSW Institute of Sport moguls head coach Peter Topalovic said that practically every coach on the mountain today, including those of the three medalists, praised today's performance by the Scott's School student who grew up on the slopes of Falls Creek.

"Britt made her mark today and just about every coach came up to me and said that they had been really impressed by her performance," Topalovic beamed.

Cox qualified for the finals in 11th place earning the right to dual against Canadian Audrey Robichaud, ranked third in the world.

Cox was neck and neck with her opponent, who is a veteran of 60 World Cup starts dating back to 2005, but was narrowly beaten in the first knock out final round. Robichaud went on to finish fifth today.

Had it not been for a slower start than she would have liked, the young gun Australian may have advanced to the quarter finals.

Cox said she found the 28-degree incline and 240-metre long Deer Valley course physically challenging, which is not surprising given her youthful age.

"Competing in Deer Valley is a real challenge that I look forward to. It is one of the toughest courses in the world and has a great atmosphere with thousands of people watching," Cox said.

"After making a mistake on the bottom section in the single moguls on Wednesday and missing the final by one place, I had extra motivation to do well in the dual moguls.

"Overall this year's international season has been a great learning curve for me. Competing against the best in the world over the last month has taught me a lot about competition strategy and what I am capable of."

Teammate Nicole Parks finished in 19th while Sam Hall, 19th, and David Graham, 24th, finished the men's event behind Canadians Alexandre Bilodeau and Mikael Kingsbury with Japan's Nobuyuki Nishi in third.

Promising teenager Britt Cox and fellow AIS mogul teammate Sam Hall both captured top 20 finishes in the opening day of the Freestyle Skiing World Championships in the United States today.

Skiing in her first World Championships, Cox finished in 17th while 22-year-old Hall improved on his only other World Championship appearance by placing 20th in the men's event.

Olympic Winter Games silver medalist and runner-up from the last World Championships Jennifer Heil from Canada won the gold,

Vancouver Olympic champion Hannah Kearney from the United States was second and Canadian Kristi Richards was third.

Frenchman Guilbaut Colas won the men's championship with Canadian duo Alexandre Bilodeau and Mikael Kingsbury filling the other two podium places.

Both Australians will be satisfied that their performances today were their best single moguls result recorded at either Olympic or World Championship levels and both gained valuable experience for their promising careers.

By finishing 17th, Cox missed qualifying for the final by just one place, which is eight places higher than her 23rd at the Vancouver Winter Olympics 12 months ago.

In other mogul results, Australians David Graham finished 24th and Nicole Parks crashed off the bottom air and was unable to complete the course.

The World Championships, being held at Deer Valley and the Park City Mountain resort in Utah, have attracted 36 nations and 313 athletes, significantly more than the previous event in Japan in 2009.

The mogul athletes will compete again in Saturday's dual moguls.

She may be only 16 years-old but Australian moguls skier Britt Cox is already earning a reputation for her plucky determination.

After making her World Cup debut only last week in Canada, the AIS/NSWIS scholarship holder battled hard to turn disappointment into a creditable top 20 place over the weekend during the second day of a double-header at Lake Placid in the United States.

Cox fought back from 33rd on day one of the double-header to record a 20th place 24 hours later in minus 20 degrees Celsius conditions.

Sunday's race, which was won by American Hannah Kearney with Canada's Chloe Dufour Lapointe in second spot and compatriot Kristi Richards in third, comes on the heels of finishing 18th in Cox's World Cup debut, the dual moguls at Mont Gabriel, Canada on January 15.

Given her youthful age and her limited international experience, indications are that Australia may soon have another contender for international freestyle skiing honours.

NSWIS Mogul Skiing Head Coach Peter "Toppa" Topalovic said that Cox was again the team's best performing athlete.

"It was impressive to see her come out today and bounce back from a disappointing event yesterday (the first of the double header)", Topalovic said.

"After yesterday, we encouraged Britt to ski a different line in the moguls which paid off.

"As a result, she picked up her speed by a few seconds today. The top half of her run was great, but she had a little bit of trouble with the bottom air."

Cox's teammate David Graham showed that his preparation for the World Championships at Deer Valley in the United States from February 2 is also gathering speed.

Graham could manage only 34th in Mont Gabriel but finished in 28th on day one in Lake Placid and 26th on day 2.

Topalovic rated Graham's second day performance as much better than other World Cup appearances this season with signs of further improvement ahead.

He added that all athletes are gaining valuable experience from the intense competition of the World Cup and the lead up training

In other results, fellow Australian Nicole Parks finished in 25th place on day one and 31st on day 2 while Sam Hall's finishes in the men's events were 26th and 33rd.

The team now heads back to Canada, for next weekend's round seven of the World Cup tour at Calgary's Olympic Park.

AIS/NSWIS scholarship athlete Britt Cox has made an impressive start to her World Cup campaign, posting a career best 18th place performance in Mont Gabriel, Canada.

The 16-year-old Mogul Skier recorded career best turn scores to narrowly miss out on the 16 woman Dual Mogul final.

Finishing just behind Cox was NSWIS team-mate Nicole Parks in 26th, also a personal best World Cup performance.

NSWIS Mogul Skiing Head Coach Peter "Toppa" Topalovic was very happy with the performance of his female athletes.

"Britt's turns were without a doubt the most impressive aspect of her run," Topalovic said.

"She has worked hard in this area over the past twelve months since the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, and it's great to see her rewarded."

"Nicole also had a good run, and like Britt made some small mistakes which they are both capable of improving on in the next event."

In the men's event, Sam Hall was the highest placed Australian in 31st place with David Graham in 34th.

The event was won by Canadian athletes Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Alexandre Bilodeau.

The mogul team now heads to Lake Placid, USA, for the next round of the FIS Freestyle World Cup which will take place next weekend.

The NSWIS/SSA Mogul Team has made an impressive start to their international season, taking out three medals at the US Selection events in Steamboat, Colorado.

Leading the way was teenage athletes Britt Cox and Nicole Parks, who both recorded victories, with Cox also winning a bronze medal.

NSWIS Head Coach Peter "Toppa" Topalovic was extremely happy with the girl's performance.

"The team has had a great training camp in Apex, Canada, which gave them a strong lead-in to the US Selection events".

"The result will give both girls confidence for the season and best of all they both are capable of further improvement in their competition runs and can lift their performance even further".

Brodie Summers was the leading male skier for Australia in 23rd place, with NSWIS team-mates Sam Hall and David Graham in 27th and 30th place respectively.

The US Selection events are very competitive, with America's best skiers battling it out for a chance to compete on the World Cup tour for the strong US team.

Two more events will take place in Steamboat, with a singles and dual mogul event scheduled for later this week.

OWI Head Moguls skiing Coach Steve Desovich reports from Switzerland at the conclusion of a two week training camp for the World Cup moguls team:

"The OWI mogul skiing team enjoyed some vigorous and quality training in Zermatt. Zermatt features a competition style course at over 3000 metres altitude, and most of the international teams attend at one time or another during the month of October."

"The team skied a total of 12 ski days and, despite numerous weather day closures, benefitted from the intense environment provided by a host of international teams all training the same course."

"Dale Begg-Smith continues to progress nicely from knee surgery. Dale is skiing and jumping with confidence and continues to gain physical strength by the week."

"Ramone Cooper is mostly healthy now and therefore made gains in all areas. Ramone has showed great promise in turns, speed and his jumping. In Ruka later this month he will look to put all these aspects together in a whole run package."

Sam Hall adapted nicely to the altitude and intensity of training and by the second half of the camp was faring very well on an overall basis."

The team heads to Finland later this month to resume training, and will then compete in the opening two events of the season in Suomo, Finland, on December 12 and Meribel, France, on December 16.

Australia's mogul skiing star Dale Begg-Smith has continued his sparkling form, claiming the silver medal in the second of two World Cup events in Deer Valley, Utah.

The AIS 24-year-old took things easy in the qualifying round, finishing in sixth place, but then stepped it up in the final to make his fourth podium in a row.

Following the event, Begg-Smith donated his second place prize money to the Haitian relief effort.

"I'm glad to be able to make this donation to the Haitian relief effort," Begg-Smith said.

"The devastation and trauma that these people have endured is horrific."

"Hopefully we can collectively band together as a society to help in the recovery efforts."

French skier Guilbaut Colas collected the Deer Valley victory, his first for the season, with 26.80 points, 0.59 points ahead of the Australian.

Defending World Cup champion Alexandre Bilodeau of Canada rounded out the minor medals on 25.95 points.

"Dale was quite conservative in qualifying," said Olympic Winter Institute CEO Geoff Lipshut.

"Then he put down a very good run in the final after swapping lanes just before it."

"He was very fast, very clean, and it was a great effort to get second. It just shows his great adaptability."

The result stretched Begg-Smith's lead on the World Cup standings, his 475 points putting him 123 clear of nearest rival, Jesper Bjoernlund of Sweden.

Colas, who looms as a serious medal threat in Vancouver after claiming silver in the opening Deer Valley event, is in third place, despite missing the season's opening two World Cups.

NSWIS athlete Matt Graham was in 27th position, an impressive pb performance in just his second World Cup appearance, while Begg-Smith's AIS team-mate Sam Hall finished in 35th place.

NSWIS skiers David Graham and Hugh Norton were in 38th and 53rd places respectively.

In the women's event, 15-year-old NSWIS skier Britteny Cox was also impressive, finishing in 29th place in her second World Cup event.

Team-mate Sarah Melville was two places further back, while Nicole Parks (33rd), Roanna Humphries (34th) and Taylah O'Neill (42nd) were also in action.

Dale Begg-Smith has continued his remarkable Vancouver preparation, winning a third straight moguls skiing World Cup event.

Competing in the first of two events scheduled on the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic course in Deer Valley, Begg-Smith lifted his performance level once again, scoring 26.42 points from the judges, 0.64 ahead of silver medallist Guilbaut Colas of France on 25.48 points.

Dmitry Reiherd of Kazakhstan collected the bronze medal with 25.10 points.

Begg-Smith was in awesome form, collecting the highest turns score, the second best jump points and recording the second fastest time down the Utah course that put him out of last season's World Cup with a leg injury.

"Dale is really solid at the moment," said OWI team physiotherapist Peter Hogg.

"And he's doing a good job of maintaining his health in the process."

"As of right now, everything is going really well."

On the World Cup standings, Begg-Smith has now amassed 395 points from his five events, 69 points clear of his nearest rival, Swedish skier Jesper Bjoernlund, gold medallist in the opening two events of the season.

Defending World Cup champion Alexandre Bilodeau is in third place on 205 points, after finishing in 39th place.

Missing from the Deer Valley action was Australia's number two mogul skier Ramone Cooper, ruled out of the event and out of the Vancouver 2010 Games following a major knee injury sustained in training the previous day.

The Perisher Blue 21-year-old had started the season with a ninth placing, the second top ten of his career, and was looking forward to a strong performance at the Games.

"I was holding onto a glimmer of hope that it was not as bad as first thought," Cooper said.

"But the MRI results show a torn PCL (posterior cruciate ligament), partial MCL (medial collateral ligament) tear, a partial lateral meniscus tear, another tear on something I'm not sure of, and bone bruising."

"I'm extremely devastated."

Fellow AIS skier Sam Hall finished in 40th place on 19.68 points, while NSWIS athletes Matt Graham, David Graham and Hugh Norton filled 41st, 48th and 56th place respectively.

NSWIS female mogul skiers were also in the Deer Valley line-up, with Nicole Parks producing the best result, a 31st placing, one spot ahead of Sarah Melville.

Britteny Cox was in 34th position, Taylah O'Neill 38th and Roanna Humphries 41st.