Britt Cox has won her fourth World Cup gold medal in Mogul Skiing in the Dual Mogul event in Deer Valley, Utah, USA.

Following her bronze in the single mogul format two days earlier, Cox maintained her strong form to win gold again and make it five podium finishes from the six World Cups this season.

Cox retained her yellow bib as the current world number one and remains focused on each event taking just one step at a time.

“I didn’t think it was going to pan out this way this season, I’ve just been focused on every event that’s coming, but it’s awesome to win again,” Cox said.

“The course was a lot more challenging tonight than it has been all week, but my family got to see me win for the first time which is really special.”

It was also a landmark personal best night for team mate Brodie Summers, who reached the World Cup podium for the first time by claiming the bronze.

Brodie Summers was impressive as he took flight on the way to a debut podium spot.

​Speaking after his win in the Small Final, the 23-year-old shared his excitement.

“I’m so stoked right now, I was just having so much fun tonight and now I’m really on top of the world,” Summers beamed.

Summers raced against NSWIS teammate Matt Graham in the quarter final round on his way to the podium, with Graham finishing 11th overall.

“It was just great to ski with my boy (Graham) again, he had the tough line in that dual and I didn’t really know what was going on but he put up a really good fight,” Summers said.

Nicole Parks was the best placed of the remaining Australian female skiers finishing with a dual mogul PB in 8th followed by Krystle Yin (12th), Jakara Anthony (19th), Claudia Gueli (26th) and Madii Himbury (29th).

In the mens, James Matheson was 20th with Cooper Woods-Topalovic (24th) and Rohan Chapman-Davies (39th).

The next World Cup event for the mogul athletes is the Olympic test event in PyeongChang, Korea on February 10.

Britt Cox continues to deliver her best every week in this year’s Mogul Skiing World Cup season, bringing home the bronze from Deer Valley in Utah and retaining her number one world ranking.

Her bronze medal in Deer Valley adds to three previous golds this season (Ruka, Lake Placid and Calgary) highlighting an exceptional achievement, having now been on the podium in four out of five World Cups and 5th in the one World Cup in which she didn’t medal (Val St Come).   

Cox dominated the qualifying round of 33 women, maintaining the high execution level, by the talented and dedicated NSWIS athlete.

Going into the finals Britt said the course was in good shape, and, “Classic Deer Valley - which is always great.”

In the first final for the top 16, Britt was joined by development NSWIS skier Jakara Anthony who had qualified for the final with a PB seventh place, but was then unable to make the top six medal round.

Cox qualified for the medal final and claimed bronze behind Canadian Justine Dufour-Lapointe and winner, Morgan Schild from the USA.

“I’m so excited with my podium here in Deer Valley tonight. Many people call this event the Super Bowl of Freestyle skiing and it’s my favourite stop on the World Cup tour, ” Britt said.

“I’m yet to see the scores but I think I made a mistake on the top jump that may have cost me the top spot tonight but that’s something I’ll be working on over the next few days.”

“My entire family and extended family are here and that makes it even more special.”

Coach Steve Desovich was happy with his athletes saying video review will continue to help with fine tuning.

“Britt skied well today with the exception of a few small errors,” Desovich said.

“She was able to produce a good performance over three runs and I am sure that she will learn a lot after we review the video and apply those lessons to the next competition opportunity, which is dual moguls here on Saturday.”

Matt Graham, coming off his win last week in Calgary, is consistently remains near the podium with a fourth place, very narrowly missing third place.

Coming through qualifying in third, Graham then finished second in the final 16, and in the medal super final scored 79.18 points, but was just behind Canadian Phillipe Marquis who pipped him for the bronze with 79.76 points.

"Overall today was quite a success," Matt said after the event. 

"I am happy to have put down three solid runs in the qualifications and the two final rounds. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to be up on the podium which is a little disappointing."

"I made a couple of errors in my super final run which cost me. I feel like I am skiing strong and with confidence so I plan to take that into duals on Saturday."

The coaches are happy.

“We are very pleased with Matt's performance here. Jerry and I thought that he executed quite well overall. It will be good to re-examine the video to see what needs to be done moving forward,” Coach Steve Desovich said.

Australia fielded a large moguls squad in Deer Valley. Other results in the men included NSWIS Skiers James Matheson (30th), Brodie Summers (35th), Rohan Chapman-Davies (37th) and Cooper Woods-Topalovic (DNF).

In the women’s, NSWIS skier Jakara Anthony who is heading to the Asian Winter Games later this month continues improving, qualifying  seventh, then a final placing of 14th.

Other women to compete were Madi Himbury who qualified in 17th and was unlucky to miss the first final, Claudia Gueli (21st), Nicole Parks (24th) and Krystle Yin (26th).

The Australian Mogul Skiing team has had its most successful day in history, with Britt Cox and Matt Graham both winning World Cup gold in Canada.
 
Cox is now a triple World Cup winner, having won three of the four World Cups so far since the season opened mid-December in Ruka, Finland. She backed up the opening win with another gold in Lake Placid a month later, securing the yellow bib for the World number one ranking. Last weekend Cox had to settle for fifth in Val St Come, Canada but retained her lead in the ranking.
 
The 22-year-old Cox led the field in the qualifying round by over three points (78.22), went up a notch in the first final to lead scoring 81.11 and then had more for the medal round, taking the win with 82.11 points.
 
“Last week in Val St Come was a good learning event. This week in Calgary I stayed really focused on the process.”
 
“The course in Calgary is very technical because the pitch changes midway and becomes steeper. In previous years, I’ve found the course to be challenging, but now I can attack it more aggressively.”
 
“I wanted to be lofty in the jumps and also snappy, aggressive and fast,” Britt said.
 
Cox was satisfied with her three runs on the way to the win.
 
“I felt I did a clean run in the qualifying with room for improvement, because the level rises for the finals and I was able to lift all day. Each time I win, it’s more and more motivating.”
 
Retaining the yellow bib had a special significance for Cox this week.
 
“Our first day of training here was Australia Day. I was able to wear my green jacket and yellow bib. That was pretty exciting.”
 
The historic win puts the dual-Olympian into rare company as a multiple World Cup winner in one season with seven World Cup events to come before the World Championships in early March in Spain.

Matt Graham scored an impressive win over the five-time Overall World Cup Champion Mikael Kingsbury from Canada, who is widely regarded as the most successful World Cup mogul skier ever.
 
Graham has been steady throughout the season so far, scoring silver behind Kingsbury in the first World Cup and fourth last week in Val St. Come, Canada.
 
After qualifying in fourth, Graham was relaxed saying, “I knew I had more in the tank.”
 
In the first final, he took the top position for the medal run: a space he hasn’t occupied before.
 
“The course here is very technical. There’s not many courses like this in the world. The second half is much harder.”
 
“It was pretty bizarre being the last to go and up there by myself. It was windy with a cross tail wind. There was the sound of the wind and I just got in a good head space,” he said of the time waiting.
 
“I executed well, putting all the pieces together with two clean jumps and landings and good turns with no breaks in form or leg splits.”
 
Arriving at the finish Graham’s first reaction was how he could have done better.
 
“To be honest – I know I made a few mistakes and I wasn’t super confident (of winning). I couldn’t hear anything up the top. Then the score and placing came up and I was stoked – super excited.”
 
Overhauling Kingsbury for the second time is major win for the 22-year-old, Graham now moves into second on the world rankings behind the Canadian.
 
Britt Cox was just as excited for her NSWIS team mate. “It feels unreal to share the top spot on the podium with Matt. We train together all year round and I’m stoked to see his hard work paying off.”

See Britt Cox and Matt Graham’s winning runs: https://youtu.be/-zEn_IHNVbs

A number of NSWIS athletes also achieved personal best results, with three athletes reaching their first ever World cup final. These personal best results included Madii Himbury in 10th, Jakara Anthony 11th and Krystle Yin in 14th.

Also in action for Australia was Nicole Parks 22nd, Pip Sparrow 26th, Brodie Summers 28th, James Matheson 29th, Claudia Gueli 32nd and Rohan Chapman-Davies 42nd.

Mogul skier Britt Cox has fulfilled her goal by retaining the coveted ‘yellow bib’ after winning her second World Cup in Mogul Skiing in Lake Placid, USA this morning, making it back-to-back golds having won in Ruka, Finland in December. 
 
The 22-year-old upped the ante in execution, finding perfect form at exactly the right time winning the qualifying round with a massive 77.00 points, repeated the same form in the first final making it into the top six and then nailed the steep course yet again to stand atop the podium on Whiteface Mountain.
 
Despite her young age, the  Lake Placid win marks her 35th World Cup appearance.  Now firmly ranked as the World number one, Britt again scored the yellow bib – a feat no other Australian woman has achieved in Moguls and only Dale Begg-Smith has in the Men.
 
“I’m so excited to have back-to-back wins. After my win Ruka, this was the goal I set myself and I’m really happy to have executed today,” Britt said from Lake Placid.
 
“The course and conditions changed significantly throughout the rounds today, so I needed to be adaptive and just take it run by run.”
 
Preparation and detail are the keys to success according to head coach Steve ‘Des’ Desovich.

“Britt's early season success has been a very pleasant surprise and we are quite happy that all of her work has come to fruition,” Desovich said.

“As per usual Britt jumped quite well today so that was great. A lot of people have made contributions and we would like to acknowledge Marissa Downes from the OWIA/VIS Strength and Conditioning department who has worked very closely with Britt to improve her physical prep.”

“It’s a very exciting and dynamic period of growth that we hope to continue with.”

The OWIA mogul ski coaches plan to keep working on skills.

“From here the goal is just to keep working on skills and incorporating those skills into consistent performance.” 

“Dr Tom Hammond, our OWIA performance coach, has helped Britt a great deal so we would like to thank him as well.” 

Brodie Summers chalked up his first appearance in a World Cup first Final since 2014, scoring a PB of 73.10 after qualifying 7th ahead of his team mate and World number two, Matt Graham who qualified in 10th position but did not finish in the first Final.
 
“We are thrilled with this step up in Brodie’s performance but want to remain diligent moving forward,” said Coach Desovich.
 
“The coaching staff have been very impressed with Brodie’s work at our recent Winter Park camp in which he appeared to click on many levels. Brodie jumped extremely well today and we look forward to his continued growth in each sector of his skills and then into the whole runs completion percentage.”
 
Matt Graham did not have his best day on a changing course but is in great shape going forward.

“Matt had a challenging day on a difficult course but regardless of this particular performance the objectives remain the same in terms of skills and competition,” Desovich said.

“The coaching staff have full confidence in Matt and appreciate his overall great work. We will treat each event as a separate entity moving forward and look forward to the next stop in Val St Come.”

Final result for the Lake Placid Ladies Mogul Skiing World Cup: 1st Britteny Cox AUS (75.27) 2nd Perrine Laffont FRA (74.20) 3rd Morgan Schild USA (72.51).

Nicole Parks made her return to competition with a 24th place in the qualification round, scoring 61.73 points. NSWIS development athletes Claudia Gueli placed 27th, Krsytle Yin 28th, Madi Himbury 31st and Pip Sparrow 32nd.

Other men’s results for Australia include NSWIS skiers James Matheson 35th (61.69) and Rohan Chapman-Davies 36th (61.61).
 
The Australian Mogul Skiing team are looking forward to cheering on the Flying Kangaroos Aerial Ski team before heading to Val St. Come, Canada for the third World Cup on January 28.  
 
 

Courage, loads of ability and a calm mind is required for a skier standing alone in the moguls start gate because the only way is down – at extreme speed, in an extreme environment with knee-punishing risky bumps over a 250 metre-long course at an angle of between 26 and 30 degrees.  

The expanded Australian moguls team, led by Britt Cox and Matt Graham, is back in action for the second World Cup on Whiteface mountain in Lake Placid, USA early on Saturday morning (AEDT).   

Britt Cox claimed a breakthrough victory at the season-opening World Cup in Ruka, Finland in December, winning her first gold medal.

Britt found her rhythm in Finland after having to fight through the qualification round.

“I realised after the first final (in Finland) to stay calm, use breathing and focus on the process and not the outcome because there is still a job to be done,” Britt said after her win.

She will be hoping to emulate that form in Lake Placid, having had two weeks at home for her first Australian Christmas in nine years before returning to the snow and her team mates and coaches in Colorado for a pre-comp camp.

"The training camp in Winter Park was really productive.

The moguls team heading to Lake Placid has expanded with OWIA athlete Nicole Parks now on deck plus a contingent of NSWIS skiers.

"We had some excellent training conditions and ended up with nine quality days on snow. It was great  to train alongside more Aussies and I'm looking forward to having more girls join me on the circuit for these upcoming events," Britt explained.

"I'm excited to get back in the start gate this weekend in Lake Placid for the first World Cup of 2017."

Also home for a short summer burst on the NSW Central Coast was 22-year-old Matt Graham, who has heads turning following his impressive growth in consistency that saw him ranked second only to Canadian Mikael Kingsbury.

Graham opened his new season in Finland with another silver behind the Canadian, cementing his ranking as a podium athlete before heading home for Christmas.

“It was nice to spend some time with my family and friends before getting back into an intense training block over the past two weeks,” Matt said.
 
“I was able to capitalize on my time at home and have a strong strength and conditioning focus by getting into gym to train with John Marsden.”
 
“I think overall it was very beneficial to give the mind and body a break and also get some good strength and fitness gains. This will make a big difference come World Championships in March.”

Perth born and bred Brodie Summers, is looking for more this season, after placing 36th in Finland following a strong preparation.
 
“I wasn’t pleased with last year’s season at all. My major goals for this season are to compete how I practice and put down a good base,” Brodie said.
 
“The second half of this off-season went well and I want to build on top of that and execute to the best of my ability.”
 
Summers paid tribute to coaches Steve (Des) Desovich and Jerry Grossi.
 
“Des and Jerry have an unbelievable technical knowledge. They see and pick up on minute details, provide good tactical advice and we benefit from that. They are the difference between a good run and an amazing run.”
 
Nicole Parks spent last season rehabilitating a knee injury and is now ready to compete.

Lake Placid marks Nicole's first World Cup for the 2016/17 season. The OWIA athletes have been joined by NSWIS mogul skiers Rohan Chapman Davies (who finished 14th in Ruka, Finland), James Mathieson, Jakara Anthony, Madii Himbury and Claudia Gueli. Also competing in Lake Placid are Krystle Yin (NSW) and Pip Sparrow (VIC)

The World Cup for Moguls in Lake Placid will be held January 13 and 14.

What a day for Australian moguls with Matt Graham winning silver in the Ruka, Finland World Cup adding to Britt Cox's earlier Gold.

This is the first time that Australians have been first and second in the same World Cup event, a result which delights OWIA CEO, Geoff Lipshut.

"Statistically, this morning's results have been the OWIA's best ever moguls day," Lipshut declared.

Britteny Cox delivered Australia's the best-ever Ladies Moguls World Cup result winning Gold in magnificent style in the season's opener and Head Coach Steve Desovich is happy.

"Britt got through from the qualification in only 11th place, but she had a great run in the round of 16, and went into the superfinal ranked number 1. A strong performance  skiing the last run of the night gave her a great first win of her career," he said.

Success sits well with the 22-year-old from Mt Beauty in Victoria.

"I am so excited to kick of the season with my first World Cup win. This has been a goal of mine for quite some time now and it's very satisfying to finally climb to the top of the podium," Britt said this morning.

"I made a big mistake in my first qualification run so I knew I needed to execute a nice clean and tidy run in the second quals to get back in the game. Once I reached the finals I found my gear and let my training come through."

"Sharing the podium with a team mate makes it even more special. It's a very proud moment to be there with Matt, and makes it even more special."

"The whole team, including the coaches and OWIA support staff worked really well together here and I'm really  grateful for the support we have, which gives me confidence for the rest of the season."

Execution, speed and detail were all on show as Britt skiied a brilliant run to score 73.81 in the final ahead of Perrine Laffont (FRA) close behind on 73.13 and Keaton McCargo (USA) on 71.78. 

Graham, from the NSW Central Coast, was well prepared for the opening World Cup - knowing that all eyes would once again be on Canada's Mikael Kingsbury, who claimed his 30th career victory and clearly the favourite for the win in Ruka.

"Matt was very solid today, he skied well at all stages of the event. It is great to see him pick where he left off last season," said coach Steve (Des) Desovich.

Kingsbury was challenged by Graham whose solid performances had him second in the qualifying and both finals, displaying the consistency that the Australian coaches Des and Jerry are looking for in their squad.  

In the end, Kingsbury won by four points with 84.26, followed by Matt Graham on 80.30 just edging out Ben Cavet from France who scored 80.11.

"Rohan Chapman Davies also did a really nice job today to qualify for the final and then register a PB in 14th place," Coach Desovich added.

The moguls team are headed back to Australia for a two-week strength and conditioning camp before the North American leg of the tour.

Britteny Cox has delivered Australia's best-ever Ladies Moguls World Cup result winning gold in magnificent style in the season's opener in Ruka, Finland.

The first qualifying run left Britt in 26th, then up to 11th.

In the second qualifying run Britt made it onto the finals, moving into the top spot after the first finals run after which she held that position in the superfinal.

Execution, speed and detail were all on show as Britt skiied a brilliant run to score 73.81 in the final ahead of Perrine Laffont (FRA) close behind on 73.13 and Keaton McCargo (USA) on 71.78. 

Watch Britt's historic gold by clicking https://instagram.com/p/BN2a26zhexW/

Forget about the warm weather and summer for the Aussies looking to qualify for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. It’s all snow and ice in a power-packed few days as World Cups and Grand Prix Final events dominate the icy European sports calendar this weekend.

Kicking off on Thursday night in France are Ski Cross athletes Sami-Kennedy-Sim and Anton Grimus at Val Thorrens who are looking to qualify in the season’s first World Cup in a re-vamped competition schedule that has six World Cups in 15 days.

Still in France are Australia’s new wonder pair skating team, Harley Windsor and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya, who will compete in the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Marseille early tomorrow morning (2.25AM AEDT).

The 20-year-old indigenous skater from Sydney’s western suburbs and his Russian-born 16-year-old partner shocked the figure skating world with their surprise gold medal at the Junior Grand Prix in Tallinn, Estonia, qualifying 7th best in the world and scoring a berth in the prestigious final six world when a Russian team withdrew due to injury.

Australia’s Short Track team are in action in Shanghai, the third World Cup this season.

Deanna Lockett came away with a top ten ranking in the 1500m in Salt Lake City in November and says she is, “working to match my strength with my racing skills. I feel like I'm taking small steps forward but I need to focus on my racing in the lead up to the next event."

In the Men’s Short Track – the tight-knit group of Pierre Boda, Andy Jung and Alex Bryant are looking to capitalise on their past top 20 performances.

The ice has more to offer with newly-crowned National Figure Skating Champions Brendan Kerry and Kailani Craine competing in the final ISU Challenger event in Zagreb, Croatia.

Craine is topping up her competitions this season having already bagged a silver medal in Warsaw and bronze in Latvia last month. She faces stiff competition with the return of 2014 Sochi bronze medallist and 2012 World Champion Carolina Kostner and 2016 US Champion Gracie Gold.

Kerry, who landed a magnificent quad salchow jump in last week’s nationals has been on the invite-only Grand Prix circuit but needs competition ranking points ahead of the World Championships next March.

The technically gifted skater knows he needs his quad jumps but there’s always two sides to a figure
skater.

“I’ve worked a lot on the component side of my skating, as well as my spins and steps. It’s headed in
the right direction,” Kerry said after the National Championships last week.

Long track speed skater Daniel Greig is fresh from a silver medal in the 500m B Division in Astana,
Kazakhstan last weekend, lifting his ranking and qualifying for the A Division. Greig headed straight
back to his Netherlands base to prepare for the A Division showdown with the world’s best in
Heerenveen early Saturday morning (3.15Am AEDT).

The always entertaining Moguls World Cups are a physical and technical contest like no other. The
OWIA Moguls team have been ensconced in Ruka, Finland, ahead of their assault on their first World
Cup just after midnight Sunday (AEDT).

First to hit the bumps in the qualifying rounds is Britt Cox, Australia's first female World Cup
medallist in mogul skiing.

World moguls men’s number two Matt Graham, who had a breakthrough with his first career victory
last season, and teammate Brodie Summers make it to the starting blocks around 2AM on Sunday
morning. All three skiers will be looking to make it to the final 16 and top 6 from 6.30am on Sunday
morning.

Australia’s biathlon hopefuls will be on course in Ridnaun, Italy, for the IBU Cup 2 with Youth
Olympic Games athlete Darcie Morton and brother Damon combining for the single mixed relay on
Thursday evening. The duo will then back up for the sprint event on Friday with Daniel Walker
joining them.

In a positive sign for the growth of biathlon in Australia, seven up-and-coming youngsters will take to
the snow in Lenzerheide, Switzerland for the Junior IBU Cup 1.

OWIA/NSWIS athlete Matt Graham remains ranked the number two athlete in the world following the Deer Valley world cup.

Competing in dual moguls, the second World Cup event in Deer Valley, Graham was unable to progress past the round of 16, finishing in ninth place.

With a number of other leading male athletes also upset in the early rounds of the event, Graham remains in second place on the World Cup standings with three events remaining in the season.

Britt Cox also made it through to the round of 16, finishing in 11th place. Cox finishes the season in 12th place on the World Cup standings.

Australian athletes Brodie Summers, Rohan Chapman-Davies, James Matheson, Nicole Parks and Madi Himbury were all eliminated in their first round of duals.

IMAGE: Britt Cox after the dual mogul event in Deer Valley © Andrew Pattison

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA)/New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete Matt Graham has won his first ever World Cup event, after securing the gold medal in the moguls World Cup event in Deer Valley, Utah, USA.

Graham has described the victory as the highlight of his career to date.

“I am super ecstatic, this is without a doubt the biggest and best result of my career to date,” Graham said.

Graham went into the Super Final, consisting of the top six skiers, in second place, and put down a near perfect run.

It was then a nervous wait for Graham, as he watched the great Canadian Mikael Kingsbury come down last. But, when he realised he’d beaten the Olympic champion’s score, the celebrations began.

“This is definitely the biggest event of the year, and technically it’s a tough course,” Graham said.

“It is just great knowing that I am getting appreciated by the judges, and I know now that when I perform at my best, I can be right in contention,” he added.

OWIA teammate Brodie Summers missed out on a spot in the Finals, after finishing 20th in qualifying.

Britt Cox’s consistent season continued after finishing in the top ten and qualifying for the Finals.

Cox finished eighth with a score of 75.39, to just miss out on a place in the Super Final.

Nicole Parks made a return to World Cup competition following knee surgery just over 12 months ago, finishing in 26th place.

A number of NSWIS athletes also competed after being granted development World Cup starts.

James Matheson placed 44th and Rohan Chapman Davies finished in 46th position in the men's event.

In the women's event, Jakara Anthony finished in 31st place, with Madi Himbury unfortunately crashing on the bottom jump and was unable to finish her run. Claudia Gueli was unable to compete due to a hip injury sustained in official training.

IMAGE: Matt Graham celebrates on the podium after winning his first ever World Cup © Andrew Pattison

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.
​
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

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.”

The opening round of the 2015/16 Moguls World Cup took place in Ruka over the weekend, with a dual event to kick start the season.
 
After weeks of training in the Finnish resort, the athletes were pleased to get into some competition.
 
OWIA/NSWIS athlete, Matt Graham, was the best of the Australians finishing eighth.
 
Pleasingly Brodie Summers, back in World Cup action after missing all of last season, produced a solid performance to finish 15th.
 
In the women’s competition, Britt Cox also finished in 15th place.
 
Graham had an interrupted off-season, having injured his arm in a freak out-of-training accident.
 
So he was pleased to kick-start his season with a strong showing.
 
“I’m pretty happy with how today went overall,” Graham said.
 
“I’m happy how my armed has healed and that it is not affecting my skiing, and this gave me a lot of confidence going into this event.
 
“Due to my arm injury I haven't had the best preparation for the season, but I’m confident moving forward that I have come out of this fitter, stronger and better than before.
 
“For me, this event was really a confidence booster after I got injured and I am looking forward to getting back to work over the Christmas and New Year break.
 
“My focus is to increase my consistency and high-end performance level going into the rest of the season. If I do this, the results will show.”
 
The next round of the mogul’s World Cup will take place across January 13 and 14 in Lake Placid, USA.

IMAGE: Brodie Summers (left) and Matt Graham (right) in Ruka © Matt Graham Instagram

Twenty-year-old mogul skier Britt Cox this afternoon (Australian time) secured Australia’s second World Cup medal in 24 hours to cap off a highly successful weekend at Deer Valley in the United States.

The Olympic Winter Institute of Australia/NSW Institute of Sport athlete snared the bronze medal, which is the third time she has finished third in a World Cup, in the duals moguls event.

Cox’s impressive performance under lights in front of a huge crowd comes on the heels of a second place by teammate Matt Graham who won his first World Cup medal in the singles event on day one at Deer Valley.

The event, regarded as the best on the World Cup tour, was won by Canada’s reigning Olympic champion Justine Dufour-Lapointe with American two-time Olympic medallist Hannah Kearney in second.

Although Cox, who improved on her sixth place in yesterday’s singles event, provided the biggest highlight for the Aussie team this afternoon, there were several other impressive results by OWIA/NSWIS teammates.

Once again Graham showed that he has improved significantly this season when he went down in a tough quarter final tussle with the eventual winner, Olympic silver medallist and current World Cup points leader Mikael Kingsbury from Canada.

American Dylan Walczyk was second and third went to Switzerland’s Marco Tade.

Graham ended the day in sixth overall and his successes this weekend have lifted his current World Cup ranking to number four.

Adding to the fortunes of the day, NSWIS athlete Madi Himbury finished in eighth place after winning through to the quarters, to record a career best in World Cup competition.

In other results for Australians, Nicole Parks was 23rd, Jakara Anthony 38th, Roanna Humphries 39th and James Matheson and Rohan Chapman-Davies were 38th and 40th respectively.

Cox, who has fought back from an interrupted start to the season, clearly showed that she is also still improving each week due to her strong work ethic and is looking for further improvements.

Cox admitted that her podium performance came as a little surprising, particularly as she survived an ultra-close battle in the quarters against Canada’s Maxime Dufour-Lapointe before winning her small final dual against Switzerland’s Deborah Scanzio.

“It did come as a bit of a surprise but it feels awesome, really good,” Cox said.

“I trained so hard all year and I really wanted it.

“I’m really proud and really proud to be part of the Australian team. We have a fantastic relationship and we all push each other.

“And I have two incredible coaches, Steve Desovich and Jerry Grossi, and we’re a fantastic team. With that team around me, it is all very special.”

With World Championships in Kreischberg, Austria, next Sunday, the medal winning performance gives Cox a great deal of confidence.

“I have a lot of confidence because of the way I have trained this year and this is more evidence that shows me that I am capable of skiing well,” she said.

“I will now move forward and focus on the job.

“I’m really happy with the way I’m skiing right now but I know I can do more and it’s just a matter of focusing and making sure everything comes together at the right time and the right place.

“Every competition I go out there and focus on skiing my best and if I focus on that I have confidence I can be the best out there on the day.”

The Aussie team now travel to Austria for a training camp in preparation for Kreischberg.

Results

Women’s dual moguls World Cup, Deer Valley, USA

1.   Justine Dufour-Lapointe (CAN), 2. Hannah Kearney (USA), 3. Britt Cox (AUS), 4. Deborah Scanzio (SUI), 5. Maxime Dufour-Lapointe (CAN), 6. Jee Won Seo (KOR), 8. Madi Himbury (AUS), 23. Nicole Parks (AUS), 38. Jakara Anthony (AUS), 39 Roanna Humphries (AUS).

Women’s moguls World Cup standings after round 4

1.   Justine Dufour-Lapointe (CAN) 285, 2. Hannah Kearney (USA) 246, 3. Chloe Dufour-Lapointe (CAN) 220, 4. KC Oakley (USA) 163, 5. Maxime Dufour-Lapointe (CAN) 151, Britt Cox (AUS) 140, 22. Nicole Parks (AUS) 52, 26. Madi Himbury (AUS) 43.

 

Men’s dual moguls World Cup, Deer Valley, USA

1.   Mikael Kingsbury (CAN), 2. Dylan Walczyk (USA), 3. Marco Tade (SUI), 4Philippe Marquis (CAN), 6. Matt Graham (AUS), 38 James Matheson (AUS), 40. Rohan Chapman-Davies (AUS).

Men’s moguls World Cup standings after round 4

1.   Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) 329, 2. Philippe Marquis (CAN) 185, 3. Endo Sho (JPN) 156, 4. Matt Graham (AUS) 149, 5. Alexandr Smyshlyaev (RUS) 141, 6. Simon Pouliot-Cavanagh (CAN) 140.

Mt Buller hosted the 26th annual ABOM Moguls Challenge yesterday, with the event again attracting a world class field of competitors and a massive crowd on the Summit course.

First held at Mt Buller in 1989, this iconic event is one of the highlights of the winter season, attracting some of the world’s best mogul skiers and yesterday’s competition was no exception. 

After making his Olympic debut at Sochi in 2014, Olympic Winter Institute of Australia skier Matt Graham took out the Men’s final yesterday in a hard fought duel against Rohan Chapman–Davies.

Graham has now won 5 ABOM Titles equalling two-time Australian Olympian Nick Cleaver’s record of five straight ABOM titles, which Nick achieved between 1991 and 1995.

In the women’s event, 2013 winner Nicole Parks celebrated back to back ABOM Moguls Title’s after prevailing against fellow Winter Olympian Britteny Cox. Parks has now won 3 ABOM Title’s, after breaking Cox’s streak of 3 consecutive Titles last year.

Buller Ski Lifts CEO Laurie Blampied was very happy with the success of the 2015 event.

“It was fantastic to see the ABOM Moguls return to the Summit course yesterday, helping make the event into a true spectacle for everyone to enjoy.

Once again we welcomed a world class field of competitors and we congratulate Matthew Graham and Nicole Parks who were once again well deserving champions.”

The ABOM Mogul Challenge is sanctioned by the International Ski Federation (FIS) with results contributing to World Rankings and National team selections.

http://www.abommogulchallenge.com/

Australian teenager Britteny Cox finished fifth in the Moguls final at Extreme Park on Saturday night. In doing so, she became the most successful Australian female Moguls skier of all time.

“Incredible. That’s the skiing that I needed to do tonight. That final round of 12 was some of the best skiing I’ve ever done. I had a lot of fun on that Moguls course,” Cox said.

“It definitely feels like a win. These are happy tears right now.”

The 19-year-old admits she struggled a bit in the qualifications, but fought hard to get into the super-final.

In her final run, Cox pulled off a clean 360 on the first jump, picked up some speed in her turns through the middle, but then wobbled the landing of her backflip.

“A little bit overcooked on the bottom air which probably cost me a few points there, but I’m happy because I pushed the limits and personally that’s a big step and big hurdle for me,” she said.

The two-time Olympian is already looking forward to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

“In Moguls skiing, anything can happen especially when you’re down to that final six and the girls are just really pushing it. I could have been in there, on the podium, but I’m happy with my skiing tonight and really excited for what I can do in the future.”

Canadian sisters Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe went 1-2, with defending Olympic Champion Hannah Kearney (USA) claiming Bronze.

Cox’s teammates Nicole Parks and Taylah O’Neill both had fantastic Olympic debuts to progress from qualifying to Final 1 where they finished 15th and 16th. To reach the top 20 finals was a goal of the pair and they delivered.

Emily Groves | sochi2014.olympics.com.au

Australian Institute of Sport/NSW Institute of Sport mogul skier Britt Cox advanced to the final with the fourth highest qualification score and ended the World Cup in Lake Placid, USA, today in ninth place.

Making today’s 16-woman final means that Cox, 19, has appeared in a final at each World Cup this season.

However, Cox’s score in the first final was 74.26, which was unfortunately not high enough to make the second final, which decided medals.

The event was won by American Hannah Kearney, second was Yulia Galysheva from Kazakhstan with third going to Canadian Justine Dufour-Lapointe.

Brodie Summers, another AIS/NSWIS athlete, was Australia’s best male, finishing 18th, an equal best for the season, but unfortunately he missed the cut for the final.

Canadian Alex Bilodeau took out the event ahead of Americans Patrick Deneen in second and Bradley Wilson in third.

In other results with AIS/NSWIS skiers, Matt Graham was 22nd, Sam Hall was 35th, Nicole Parks was 19th while Dale Begg-Smith was rested. NSWIS athlete Taylah-Paige O’Neill was 28th.

Nineteen-year-old mogul skier Britt Cox achieved her second World Cup super-final appearance from four starts this season when she delivered a strong performance to finish sixth in front of 10,000 spectators attending the second World Cup event in Deer Valley, UT, USA.

Competing under lights, the Australian Institute of Sport / NSW Institute of Sport athlete was pressing for a medal in the final round against the day’s other top five athletes when Cox was unable to land her second jump cleanly on the famous Deer Valley Champion Run, which limited her scoring ability.

American Hannah Kearney gave the huge and vocal crowd something to cheer for by taking top honours ahead of Kazakhstan’s Yulia Galysheva in second, while Canadian Maxime Dufour-Lapointe was third.

With her parents and brother among the crowd, Cox was impressive all day, with eighth place in the qualification session and a fifth place in the first final, which qualified her for one of the six super-final positions up for grabs.

While Cox led the Australian charge, fellow squad member Nicole Parks also experienced a day to be proud of when she ended the event in 11th, an equal personal best in World Cup competition.

In men’s results, AIS / NSWIS scholarship holder Matt Graham was the best Australian, finishing in eighth, with his AIS team-mate Dale Begg-Smith in twelfth.

AIS mogul skiing program head coach Steve Desovich said that the squad is experiencing a “tight and intense period” as they begin their preparation for their third event in six days.

“It is challenging and the guys have to be prepared for it,” Desovich said.

“They have to be able to adapt and respond although the whole field has to also so it’s no different for us.”

As well as Cox’s solid result, Desovich added that he was very impressed with Graham’s performance.

“I was very pleased that Matt was able to bump it up a notch compared with the day before, in what I believe was a very nice run.”

In other results with Australians competing at Deer Valley, Sam Hall was 27th, James Matheson was 38th and Brodie Summers was 47th, while Taylah O’Neill was 19th.

AIS Mogul skier Dale Begg-Smith posted his second top-10 World Cup finish from three starts this season with another finals appearance in Deer Valley, USA.

After more than three years away from competition before starting his comeback in December, Begg-Smith was Australia’s best performer among the seven-member mogul ski squad with a ninth place.

Begg-Smith was unlucky not to reach the six-man super-final, after putting down what appeared to be the highest quality turns of the field in the first final.

In the women’s competition, AIS / NSWIS athlete Britt Cox also added to her consistent season with a 12th place after advancing to the final with the ninth best score in the qualification session.

In other Australian results, Taylah O’Neill was 28th, Nicole Parks 34th, Matt Graham 20th, Brodie Summers 49th, James Matheson 61st and Sam Hall did not finish his qualification run.

Australia’s mogul skiing squad had a solid day at the Calgary World Cup in Canada, with four athletes qualifying for finals.

The leading performance came from AIS / NSWIS athlete Britt Cox, who placed seventh, narrowly missing the top six super final.

Her seventh place result means that Cox maintains her world ranking of four.

Fellow AIS / NSWIS athlete Nicole Parks had the best day of her career, recording a personal best 11th place finish and has lifted her ranking from 30 after the first World Cup of the season to currently sit in 20th spot.

In the men's event, AIS / NSWIS athlete Dale Begg-Smith was the best placed of the Australians finishing 12th, with Matt Graham, another AIS / NSWIS scholarship holder, was 13th. The two had exactly the same score, but were separated on a countback.

The women's World Cup was won by Canadian Justine Dufour-Lapointe, with American Hannah Kearney second and another Canadian Chloe Dufour-Lapointe in third.

Canadian Mikael Kingsbury took the win from compatriot Alex Bilodeau and American Patrick Deneen in third.

Other Australian results in the 1988 Olympic Winter Games host city, held in minus 18 degrees Celsius, saw NSWIS skier Taylah-Paige O’Neill finish 22nd and AIS / NSWIS athletes Brodie Summers 29th and Sam Hall 40th.

AIS mogul skiing program head coach Steve Desovich was impressed by the speed down the steep challenging course by Cox.

Cox is benefitting from working tirelessly on strength and conditioning during the off season and in the event she was the second fastest woman on the course.

“It was a slightly above average day but we’ll definitely have to build on it,” Desovich said.

“Britt had a very good run in the first final and actually I was pretty impressed with the run.

“Her speed was very encouraging.”