The Australian Mogul Skiing Team has completed two days of World Cup competition in Thaiwoo, China, with some great performances, but an unfortunate accident to former World Champion Britt Cox putting a dampener on the weekend.
 
On day one, three Australian athletes qualified for the top six super-final, equal most in the event along with Japan, with Britt Cox almost making it four athletes, just missing out in seventh place.
 
In the super-final, Matt Graham and Jakara Anthony missed out on making the podium by the smallest of margins, finishing in fourth place.
 
Brodie Summers finished in fifth place, his first super-final performance since February 2017, after injury impacted his past two season.
 
Summers was thrilled with his performance after the event.
 
“It’s a great feeling to get back to a higher level of skiing once again, after all of the issues with my knee. It’s been a long road to get back to a place where I’m happier with my skiing.
 
“Today felt like a big step in the right direction and it’s nice to get some redemption after the mishap that I had at the World Cup opener in Ruka last week.
 
“I couldn’t have done it without my support network - my family, my team, my sponsors, the OWIA and NSWIS and everyone else who’s played a part in my recovery.”
 
Ikuma Horishima (Japan) upset world number one Mikael Kingsbury (Canada) to take victory in the men’s event, with Ben Cavet (France) in third. In the women’s event, Perrine Laffont (France) won her second straight event of the season ahead of Yulia Galysheva (Kazakhstan) and Justine Dufour-Lapointe (Canada).
 
Other Australians in the field included James Matheson 27th, Cooper-Woods-Topalovic 30th and Claudia Gueli also in 30th.
 
On day two, the first Dual Mogul event of the year took place, with the highlight being a personal best sixth place finish to 2018 Olympian Claudia Gueli.
 
Matt Graham also made it through to the quarter final stage finishing in eighth, with Jakara Anthony ninth, James Matheson 20th, Brodie Summers 29th and Cooper Woods-Topalovic 35th.
 
In her quarter final round dual, Britt Cox had a big fall after the top air ski out, losing consciousness and sustaining injuries to her ribs and collarbone.
 
Further scans are still being completed, with the treatment plan to be determined once she returns to Australia.
 
“I am a bit shaken after my crash in the duals in Thaiwoo, but my coach Kate Blamey and the OWIA Head Physio Peter Caine have taken excellent care of me and I feel in safe hands.”

The dual mogul events were won by the 2018 Olympic Champions, Mikael Kingsbury (Canada) and Perinne Laffont (fFrance).
 
The mogul athletes will now head home for a break in Australia, before resuming training after Christmas in Winter Park, Colorado, USA.

IMAGE - Britt Cox taking on the Thaiwoo Moguls on day one © FIS

It was a stellar start to the 2019/2020 FIS World Cup season for 25 year old mogul skier, Britt Cox, with a third place podium at the opening FIS World Cup Women’s Moguls event in Ruka, Finland.

The three time Winter Olympian from Mt Beauty, Victoria, qualified fourth for the final where she came third with 77.78 out of a field of 12, securing a spot in the second final of six competitors. Cox then won her third place podium with a final score of 78.29, her sixteenth World Cup medal (9 gold, 1 silver, 6 bronze) to date.

“It feels so amazing, mogul skiing is my absolute passion” said Cox, Australia’s most successful women’s mogul skier, after her bronze win.

“It’s been a pretty tough 18 months to get back to skiing how I wanted to ski, there’s no other secret I think than hard work and showing up at training with the intention to give your best and just remembering why you do it, I do it because I love skiing. Every morning I wake up I’m grateful I get to do this as my job.”

Perrine Laffont (France) took gold and Anri Kawamura (Japan) took silver at the event while Australian Jakara Anthony also qualified for the final and finished in fifth place.

Olympian Claudia Gueli narrowly missed the 16-woman final in 17th place, and Sophie Ash finished 34th.

Australia’s PyeongChang silver medallist, Matt Graham, qualified third for the men’s mogul finals in Ruka and finished the event with a top 10 finish with ninth place. Other Australian results in the men's event were Cooper Woods-Topalovic with a personal best single moguls performance in 24th place, Brodie Summers 31st and James Matheson 43rd.

The Australian team will now travel to China for training before the Thaiwoo World Cup on December 14.  

Mt Buller turned on the sunshine and the bumps for the legendary ABOM Mogul Challenge on Saturday 31 August with the action extending into a thrilling night final under new stadium lights.

An exciting line up of Australian and international talent kept the crowds gripped with fast and stylish runs on show. The growth in Asian skiing talent clearly on show with a solid line up of Japanese and Chinese entrants mixing it with the locals.


A number of exciting dual heats saw runs going down to the wire. The format is a thrilling one for spectators featuring skiers going head to head down 197 metres of bumps with two huge jumps.


The men’s event was hotly contested, with a number of the best skiers in the world in action including Olympic Silver Medallist Matt Graham, World Cup medallist Brodie Summers, and World Cup winner Benjamin Cavet (FRA).


It was impressive to see the jumping degree of difficulty step up in the women’s event, especially the Japanese athletes performing jumps not seen before in the women’s field at the ABOM Mogul Challenge.

Britt Cox was in good form for her 14th event starting the competition back as a Junior in 2005 ultimately taking 2nd place on the podium behind Rino Yanagimoto (JPN) in the women’s. Fellow Aussie Olympian Claudia Gueli also had a good run narrowly missing the podium to take 4th place.

The men put on a dazzling show with the usual contenders at the top of the table and Brodie Summers ultimately taking the top spot from James Matheson and Matt Graham who hold 6 and 1 previous ABOM title respectively.

Current world number three and Mt Buller skier Jakara Anthony unfortunately came unstuck on the top jump in her qualification run, catching her feet in the soft snow.

Mt Buller has hosted the ABOM Moguls since 1989 at the height of ‘hot dogging’ and freestyle skiing. Mt Buller is home to the Olympic freestyle team and the new lighting and improvements to the legendary Chamois run look set to ensure a strong future for the sport.

PyeongChang Olympian Jakara Anthony was unstoppable at the 2019 Australian National Mogul Championships, defeating some of the sport’s biggest names to win the two women’s events and the Australian women’s championship.   

The 21-year-old also paired with Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham to win bronze in the first ever team’s event staged at Perisher’s ‘Toppa’s Dream’.

Anthony was a decisive winner of Tuesday’s qualification, booking her finals berth with a very strong 83.73. She was again the best in the round of 16, scoring 79.02 to give her the advantage leading into the super final of six.

Proving her consistency, Anthony produced a final run score of 82.65 to take the first of two event titles. Her next nearest competitor was Japan’s Anri Kawamura who scored 74.78.

Australia’s Britt Cox finished just outside the podium in fourth position.

Anthony was back at it on Wednesday, defeating the Olympic gold medallist Perrine Laffont (FRA) by less than a point, winning with a thrilling 78.18 to Laffont’s 77.68.

In the men’s event, Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham was the best of the Aussies, finishing second on Wednesday and sixth on Tuesday. His results earning him the Australian’s men’s championship.

Graham qualified for Tuesday’s super final in third place, but an unsteady landing on the second kicker in the super final proved costly and he finished sixth behind fellow Aussie Brodie Summers who was fifth.

Olympic gold medallist Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) was again the one to beat, winning gold on Wednesday and silver on Tuesday.

Results from the two days of competition contributed to overall Australian champion standings*.

Men’s Open
1st Matthew Graham
2nd Brodie Summers
3rd James Matheson

Men’s Junior
1st Cooper Woods-Topalovi
=2nd Ben Matsumoto and George Murphy

Women’s Open
1st Jakara Anthony
2nd Britteny Cox
3rd Claudia Gueli

Women’s Junior
1st Emma Bosco
2nd Charlotte Wilson
3rd Georgia Stewart

One event that had everyone talking was the inaugural Teams’ Competition which was run as a trial for potential inclusion into future World Championships and Olympic Winter Games.

Many of the sport’s top contenders, including Anthony and Graham took part in the event. 

Using the dual moguls format, competitors, in mixed-teams of two, race one after the other and against another competitor from an opposing team.

Scores from each team member are combined to determine the overall winner.

Similarly, to dual moguls, the team that wins the bout advances to the next stage, while the losing team is eliminated.
Team Pacific consisting of Rino Yanagimoto (JPN) and Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) took out the gold medal, with French pair Perrine Laffont and Jules Escobar taking home the silver and Australians  Anthony and Graham claiming the bronze.

The team event was praised by spectators as being amazing to watch, keeping them on the edge of their seat and some of the best skiing that has ever been seen on the course.

In another great step forward for the sport, a full judging panel of seven adjudicated the event for the first time in Australia, many boasting International World Cup experience.

Australia's leading mogul skiers Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham have again performed strongly at the World Cup event in Tazawako, Japan, with the pair competing in single and dual mogul events.

The NSWIS athletes appeared across the two days of competition with Anthony achieving podiums in both her events and Graham finishing inside the top eight on each day.

On Saturday, Jakara Anthony secured her third straight spot on the World Cup podium with a silver medal performance in the single moguls, while Graham finished seventh.

Following the single moguls event, on Sunday the season’s second dual moguls competition saw Anthony claim bronze with Graham just missing out on the podium, finishing in fourth place.

Anthony was ecstatic with her podium appearances.

“I’m really happy to take back to back podiums here in Japan. I was really happy with my skiing today. I was backing it up from yesterday and putting down some really clean runs," Anthony said.

“Unfortunately in the semi-final I had a little slip up which put me into the small final which meant I didn’t get a chance to ski again but I still came away with a bronze medal and couldn’t be happier."

With Anthony currently ranked second in the overall World Cup standings, and Graham ranked fifth, Tazawako marked the end of the World Cup season for the pair, with the Australian program electing not to compete in next weekend's final World Cup events in Kazakhstan.

IMAGE - Jakara Anthony on the podium in Tazawako © FIS

Ski and Snowboard Australia / olympics.com.au

Australian Olympians Matt Graham and Jakara Anthony have won Men’s and Women’s Moguls World Championships silver medals in Deer Valley, Utah.

On the one-year anniversary of the PyeongChang 2018 Opening Ceremony, it marks the first World Championships podiums for both athletes, after the NSWIS pair were the top placed Aussies at last year’s Olympic Winter Games.

Continuing her season-best form, 20-year-old Anthony sailed through the qualifiers and top-18 Final#1 in first place.
The 6 athletes in Final 2, also known as the Super Final, held their breath at the bottom of the hill after Anthony’s final run, knowing the scores would be tight for the top of the dais.

Anthony’s run of 78.99 in Final 2 sealed the silver medal for Australia, only 0.15 off the winner, Yulia Galysheva from Kazakhstan.

France’s Perrine Laffont rounded out the podium in third, with a top score of 78.70.

Anthony, who placed fourth on debut at PyeongChang, said it was really special to win her first World Championships medal in front of her family and friends.

“It’s been an incredible night,” she said.

“Deer Valley is such a special event, skiing under the lights, and I had my whole family and a massive Australian crew here watching. To get up on the podium, I’m really happy with how I went tonight.”

Dual Olympian Graham has 15 World Cup podiums and an Olympic silver medal to his name, but was finally able to add a World Championships medal to his collection today.

The 24-year-old qualified for the Super Final in second place. His run of 81.64 was only bested by PyeongChang gold medallist, Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury, the most successful Mogul skier of all time, who won his third World Championships title with a massive score of 84.89.

Japan’s Daichi Hara finished in third on 81.64.

After unpredictable conditions earlier in the week, Graham was thrilled to finally add World Championships hardware to his impressive collection.

“Wow what a night, this week has been a rollercoaster!” he said.

“The course has been so hard with a lot of snow earlier in the week, so I’m really happy that it all came together tonight.

“I found a groove and I think I was absorbing up to my chin on some of those moguls they were so big. But I’m really happy with the way I skied, and I feel a sense of closure.

“I skied really fast in the Super Final, probably a little faster than I wanted which caused a couple of mistakes which might have cost me the win. But credit to Mik [Kingsbury], he’s skiing really well and having an amazing season like always.”

In other Aussie results, Sochi 2014 Olympian Taylah O’Neill was the second placed Aussie in the women’s event, placing 13th with a score of 64.68, while 22-year-old Sophie Ash finished 15th in her World Championships debut with a run of 59.18.

Narrowly missing the 18-woman finals was Claudia Gueli in 19th and three-time Olympian Britt Cox in 20th, who then jumped into the commentary box to commentate on both the men’s and women’s finals.

PyeongChang Olympian Rohan Chapman-Davies finished 14th with a run of 70.47, with Brodie Summers 27th and James Matheson 30th.

In the Dual Moguls event, which took place the following day, Jakara Anthony finished in 7th and Matt Graham 8th as the leading Australian athletes.

Also in action in the dual moguls was Rohan Chapman-Davies, who backed up his single moguls performance to again finish 14th, with James Matheson 22nd, Brodie Summers 26th, Taylah O'Neill 16th, and Sophie Ash 18th.

IMAGE - Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham on the World Championship podium in Deer Valley © OWIA/ Lachy Keevers
Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

NSWIS mogul skier Jakara Anthony continued her best ever winter season at the Mont Tremblant World Cup in Canada with a silver medal.

20-year-old Anthony scored 75.08 to narrowly miss out on the gold medal which France’s Perrine Laffont won with a 75.51. Canada’s Justine Lapointe-Dufour won the bronze with 73.67, just in front of her sister Chloe in fourth.

Anthony has made the final of every event this season, and her third podium, which is a promising sign ahead of the 2019 World Championships, kicking off in Utah at the end of the week.

“I couldn’t be happier right now, backing up another podium from last week’s gold medal,” Anthony said.

“Now I’m really looking forward to World Championships in Deer Valley next week.”
Britt Cox also qualified for women’s finals, finishing 12th overall. Taylah O’Neill missed out on a spot in the final by one place, finishing 17th, Sophie Ash placed 20th and Claudia Gueli did not finish.
Matt Graham was once again the top placed Aussie in the men’s event, finishing in 4th place just missing the podium. Brodie Summers finished 21st, Rohan Chapman-Davies 26th, James Matheson 33rd and Cooper Woods-Topalovic 43rd.

IMAGE: Jakara Anthony (left) celebrates her second place finish on the Mont Tremlant podium © FIS

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

NSWIS mogul skier Jakara Anthony has claimed her first ever World Cup gold medal at the Lake Placid World Cup tour event, beating out France’s Perrine Laffont and USA’s Tess Johnson.

The 20-year-old set one of the fastest times of the day while also landing both of her jumps to top the leaderboard with 78.76, after qualifying through to the final in fourth position.

Anthony, who finished fourth at her Olympic debut at Pyeonchang in 2018, was ecstatic with her first World Cup victory.

“I’m so stoked! I had a great day on the course, it was epic conditions and I put down some runs I’m super stoked with, got all the bits and pieces together I was working on and managed to come away on top, I couldn’t be happier right now,” Anthony said.

“I’ve just had a great time skiing in Lake Placid and the course here is probably the all-time best on the World Cup tour.”

The win was Anthony’s second podium this season to go with consistent top five finishes, showing encouraging form in the leadup to the 2019 World Championships in Utah in February.

“I’ve stepped up my game this season and it’s paying off with my results.”

“Now we have the next stop coming in Tremblant with the world champs in Deer Valley following up right after that so I’ll be definitely looking to back this up in the following weeks.”

Pyeongchang silver medallist Matt Graham continued the successful day for the Australians, taking bronze behind France’s Benjamin Cavet and Sweden’s Walter Wallberg.

“I’m stoked to finish up with a bronze medal today,” Graham said. “Special congratulations to Jakara for her first World Cup win, I’m sure there’s many more to come.”

Fellow Aussies Britt Cox and Brodie Summers also made it through to the finals, finishing 9th and 13th respectively.

Also in action for Australia but missing out on finals where Taylah O'Neill in 21st, Claudia Gueli 24th, Sophie Ash 25th, Rohan Chapman-Davies 2th and Cooper Woods-Topalovic 34th.

IMAGE: Jakara Anthony & Matt Graham, medallists in Lake Placid © OWIA/Lachy Keevers

olympics.com.au

Australia’s Mogul Skiing Team kicked off the New Year with the Calgary World Cup over the weekend, while unpredictable weather hampered Australia’s Skeleton and Alpine athletes.

NSWIS skiers Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham were the top placed mogul skiers in Calgary, both recording 4th place finishes in their respective events. Britt Cox and James Matheson also put down top-10 performances, both finishing 9th.

PyeongChang silver medallist Graham qualified in second place for the first final, but said he still needs to give more to boost him back up into the medal positions.

“Yesterday went quite well for me and I am happy to come away with a 4th place,” he said. “I didn't ski my best runs in the finals so I still have a lot left in the tank moving forward.

“After qualifying second, putting down two solid finals runs is something that I am looking to build on this week going into Lake Placid [World Cup].

“We have a big few weeks leading up to the World Championships so putting down consistent performances each week is a high priority.”

Claudia Gueli qualified for her fourth individual World Cup final, placing 14th overall in the women’s event. Fellow Aussie Sophie Ash placed 24th and unfortunately Taylah O’Neill had a crash on course and didn’t record a finishing score.

In the men’s event, Sochi Olympian Brodie Summers narrowly missed out on a place in the top-16 final, placing 17th in qualifiers. Rohan Chapman-Davies placed 32nd and Cooper Woods-Topalovic 38th.

IMAGE - The Mogul Course at the Canadian Olympic Park (COP)  © Mateusz Kielpinski (FIS)

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

Jakara Anthony first became a household name when she narrowly missed out on a medal at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, placing fourth in Women’s Mogul Skiing.

Now the 20-year-old is cementing herself as one of the best in the world, having just won her first World Cup medal with silver in Thaiwoo, China over the weekend.

Anthony easily qualified for the first final in second place with a score of 83.74 in Saturday’s qualification round. She backed up her performance a few hours later to top the first final with a score of 82.71, before securing the silver medal in the 6-athlete Super Final with a score of 82.42.

She finished just behind USA’s Jaelin Kauf in gold on 83.08. France’s Perrine Laffont rounded out the podium on 81.23.

"I’m really happy with how I've been able to perform so far this season and especially today with getting my first World Cup podium in China,” Anthony said after the medal presentation.

“All the hard work and effort I've put in during the off season is paying off.

“For me, today was about getting repetition on the runs that I had put down in training in competition. I was able to put down three high quality runs and qualify in second and first for Final 1 and Final 2 respectively," Anthony continued.

“To then finish up in second place was a great way to wrap up the day! It was also a great day for the rest of the Team with James making his first super final and Britt and Matt joining me up top for the final.”

Nine-time World Cup gold medallist Britt Cox qualified for the first final, finishing 9th overall.

In the men’s, fellow Aussie Olympian James Matheson recorded the best result of his career so far, making his first Super Final and placing 6th overall. PyeongChang bronze medallist Matt Graham finished 13th and Rohan Chapman-Davies placed 21st.

While Graham didn't have an ideal performance, he was quick to congratulate his teammates on their success.
"Today didn't go too well for me, unfortunately. In the qualification round I missed the grab on my cork 720 which cost me, so I qualified in16th place for the finals," he said.

"From there it was going to take something amazing to ski up into the Super Final as the first skier to go down is often judged quite hard to set the standard. I ended up in 13th place which is a bit disaappointing as I know I have so much more in me.

"On a more positive note, Jakara skied out of her skin to finish second and got her first podium. She has worked really hard this off-season and everything is really starting to click for her so I am very happy for her," Graham continues.

"Also, Jimmy [James Matheson] skied awesome to make his first Super Final and finish 6th. I think he has a lot of potential and today he got rewarded for his clean turns and well executed jumps."

The Australian team all backed up their performances the next day for the head-to-head Dual Moguls World Cup.
Anthony had another strong day on the slopes, placing 5th in the women’s duals, and Cox placed 14th. Graham was the top placed male on Sunday, finishing 5th. Matheson placed 22nd and Chapman-Davies was 29th.

The team will have a break over Christmas before the World Cup season continues in Calgary, Canada on January 11.

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

Triple Olympian Britt Cox has won silver in the women’s dual moguls at the Tazawako World Cup in Japan over the weekend.

After placing fifth at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games last month, there was hardly any rest for the 23-year-old, who also finished fifth in the single moguls event on Saturday.

Cox was tempted to wrap up her massive season after the 2018 Games, but was attracted to one last hit out in Japan.

“It feels so great to be back on the podium,” she said after Sunday’s dual event.

“I almost finished the season after the Games, but I had some fire in me and I love this event so I decided to come here and compete.

“The atmosphere in Tazawako is crazy for the World Cup. The event attracts a lot of people from the Akita region and the crowd really get behind the sport. So it’s an amazing place to be on the podium.”

“Being the first competition post Olympics, there were more skiers here who didn’t make the Games but were fired up and ready to go. Dual moguls is always really exciting for us as athletes and everyone was having a great time pushing the speed.”

The duals format sees two skiers go head-to-head in elimination rounds where each winner advances to the next round until there are only two athletes left.

Cox lined up against USA’s Tess Johnson in the fourth round for a shot at the top spot on the podium. Johnson’s put down a blinder final run and the 17-year-old claimed the gold medal in what was her very first World Cup podium.

Cox’s Tazawako results see her move into second place on the overall women’s moguls World Cup standings for the 2017/18 season.

“Stoked to creep back up to second on the overall standings even with skipping the last World Cup before the Games,” she said.

France’s Olympic champion Perrine Laffont still stands as world number one on 527 points after winning the single Tazawako event and placing fifth in the duals. Cox sits behind her on 467 points, just six points ahead of USA’s Jaelin Kauf.

Laffont won gold in the single event, ahead of 2018 Olympic silver medallist Justine Dufour-Lapointe, from Canada, and USA’s Keaton McCargo in bronze.

In the men’s event, Australia’s PyeongChang Olympic bronze medallist Matt Graham was unable to return to his medal-winning form, placing 15th in the single moguls and 17th in the dual moguls.

Japan’s Ikuma Horiashima won double gold in both the single and dual events in front of an energetic home crowd. Olympic Champion Mikael Kingsbury had to settle for second in both events, ahead of Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Reikherd who won double bronze.

The event in Japan marked the end of the season for Cox and Graham, who will join the rest of the Australian Mogul Skiing Team on a well-deserved break.

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

FREESTYLE SKI: Milestones and more were par for the course for Australia’s freestyle skiing athletes at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

Sixteen Australians were in action across aerials, moguls, ski cross and ski slopestyle, and the Aussies were setting records before stepping on the snow.

Aerials Olympic gold medallist Lydia Lassila became the first woman to compete at five Winter Olympic Games, the achievement followed two Winter Olympic Games where she claimed medals, becoming Olympic Champion in 2010 before she won bronze at Sochi 2014.

In Moguls, the 2018 Games marked the first time Australia had four men and four women at an Olympics. In doing so, Australia and Canada were the only nations to have full representation at the Moguls competition.

Moguls athletes got Australia’s 2018 Olympic Winter Games campaign underway and the women were up first. On Olympic debut, 19-year-old Jakara Anthony was exceptional as she claimed fourth in the super final. Three-time Olympian Britt Cox was fifth.

“The whole thing’s been a massive learning experience for me and I’ll definitely be taking all the experience that I had here going into Beijing 2022," Anthony said.

Madii Himbury progressed from the second qualification round and finished 20th, while fellow debutant Claudia Gueli finished 23rd.

A day later and in the men’s moguls, Matt Graham put Australia on the medal tally with a stunning silver medal winning performance. Graham was consistently consistent through qualifying and finals, and put down one of the best runs of his life to finish second behind Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury.

"It was amazing putting down that final run which was my best run of the night. I knew when I saw the score I was going to be on the podium,” Graham said.

Olympic rookie James Matheson finished 14th while teammate Rohan Chapman-Davies finished 22nd. Having flared up his ACL injury during training, Summers chose not to risk further injury and did not line up for the event.

"Wasn’t an easy decision that’s for sure,” Summers said.

“Definitely emotional. As soon as I made the call everybody in my team told me ‘you’ve made a smart decision and you’ve reduced your risk for getting yourself right for world championships next year.’”

At the Aerials, all eyes were on five-time Olympian Lydia Lassila and her final Olympics performance.

The 36-year-old narrowly missed the final and finished 14th.

"This is an outside sport and you can't control a lot of things and tonight I just couldn't control the speed," Lassila said.

With an Olympic career spanning nearly two decades, Lassila said she was disappointed with her final Winter Games performance.

"It's a feeling of loss in a way ... you've lost an opportunity but that's sport and you've got to reflect on the good and happy moments that I've had with my kids, my family, my friends -- life is good," she said.

Results were mixed in the women’s event, with Laura Peel and Danielle Scott advancing to the finals and Samantha Wells exiting at the qualifying round, finishing in 17th place.

In the Super Final, Peel attempted a Back Double Full-Full where she over-rotated and then back-slapped on her landing. She finished fifth.

“My goal was to make the top six, the Super Final, and I did that,” Peel said.

“We did our best out there. I had a huge group of supporters in the crowd so I was definitely feeling the love.”

Needing to be in the top nine to progress from Final 1 to Final 2, Scott backslapped while attempting a Back Full-Full to finish the competition in 12th.

In the men’s event, David Morris secured a start in the final after finishing the second qualification round in second place.

He performed a Back Full – Double Full – Full, to claim 10th overall.

Morris was pleased with the jump he put down but the field produced high scoring jumps. The leader, Guangpu Qi of China was awarded 127.44 for his execution of the same trick.

“We tried our best, it is what it is. Tenth is a pretty sweet result and I’m happy with that,” Morris said.

“We’re in an Olympic final so that’s awesome and this competition is top class so even to be here is quite the privilege.”

In the days leading into the men’s ski slopestyle, dual Olympian Russ Henshaw struggled to walk up stairs, but that didn’t stop the 27-year old from putting down two solid runs.

Having injured his knee less than a month ago, Henshaw said he was happy just to make it to the start gate.
He finished 19th in qualifying, putting him out of contention for a place in the final.

“Just being in that start gate about to drop, to get there after all I’ve been through over the last two weeks was a surreal feeling in itself,” Henshaw said.

There were mixed results at the Ski Cross after Anton Grimus fractured his collarbone and Sami Kennedy-Sim advanced to the small final and finished eighth overall.

27-year-old Grimus suffered a crash during his seeding run and went into the finals with a sore shoulder. He went on to finish fourth in his round of eight heat.

Dual Olympian Sami Kennedy-Sim recorded her best result of the 2017/18 season.

"That was a solid battle and it's a step up for me and the best result that I've had all season," Kennedy-Sim said.

"To be one of the top girls in the world, that's sick and I hope that I can get other kids to come and have a crack, it's super fun!"

Michelle Cook
olympics.com.au

Matt Graham has put down one of the best runs of his life to win Winter Olympic silver in the men's moguls at Phoenix Snow Park tonight.

Becoming the 11th Australian to win a Winter Olympic medal, Graham saved his best run for last scoring 82.57 to put him in first place with three skiers to come.

Only one would better his score and it was the overwhelming favourite for top spot on the podium, Mikael Kingsbury.
The all-conquering Canadian pulled off a near flawless run scoring 86.63 to take home the gold. Japan's Daichi Hara won bronze with a run of 82.19.

Graham was undoubtedly ecstatic with the result.

"It's pretty awesome," Graham said. 

"I'm over the moon, it still hasn't sunk in but I can't wait to celebrate.

"It was amazing putting down that final run which was my best run of the night. I knew when I saw the score I was going to be on the podium.

“I came out today and, actually the first training session before the qualification session didn’t exactly go as I would’ve liked, maybe I just felt a little bit stiff and then went inside, took a breather and came out firing. 

“I was just having fun and when I’m having fun I’m skiing the best.”

Graham said the support in the crowd meant so much.

“It’s amazing, my teammate Jimmy they’re his brother and his best mates and they’re mine too so it’s amazing having all those guys out, all the families, my family in particular and, you know, my three friends here and my girlfriend — it’s really amazing to have them all here and I’m just really happy," Graham said.

“And my grandparents too, besides mum and dad they’re a very close second to my biggest supporters and it means the world to me to have them here and I can’t wait to hug them and celebrate later."

Kingsbury has now won it all in the sport and despite his lofty status he still had time for some kind words for his good mate Graham. 

"I'm yet to see his run but Matt is so consistent and so precise in everything he does - he is one of the toughest competitors I have," Kingsbury said.

"I always want him to do well but I want to do a little better."

Competing at his second Games, Graham earlier moved into the Super Final with a score of 80.01 to progress as the fourth highest ranked runner.

Prior to that he put down a superb run in Final 1 to score 81.39 to claim second and easily progress from the top 20 into the top 12. 

Olympic rookie James Matheson finished just outside the cutoff in Final 1 placing 14th with a score of 75.98. 

“Coming out here today I basically had nothing to lose, it was just to come out here and do my best run without any place in mind," Matheson said.

"I was just focused on the simple things and that ended up getting me my second best result ever to date.

“Overall I’m really happy with it and to narrowly scrape on the next final was just the cherry on top and also seeing my friends with their shirts off was pretty funny.”

Teammate Rohan Chapman-Davies didn’t better his run from Friday night in Qualification 2, and recorded a best score of 73.96, finishing in 22nd place overall.

Unfortunately, after completing an on snow assessment, it was decided that Brodie Summers would not line up for the event.

Summers flared up his ACL knee injury at training before the first run on Friday and was not showing great mobility tonight so chose not to risk further injury.

Matt Bartolo/Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

Australia’s full contingent moguls team have enjoyed their first training run on the PyeongChang 2018 course – and they believe the conditions are primed for Australian success.

Four Australian men and four Australian women will compete in the freestyle skiing event, beginning with qualifications on Day 0 (Friday 9 February).
The team competed on the Phoenix Snow Park course in February 2017 but recent adjustments to the moguls has put the competition into Australia’s advantage.

“The moguls are actually quite big and firm which adds a bit more technicality to the course,” Sochi Olympian Matt Graham said.

“Last year from my perspective the course may have been slightly easy so they’ve done a really good job to build the top section up and put a bit more pitch and firmer and icier moguls in which I think will work into [Australia’s] favour as we’re generally really technical skiers so that gives us a lot of confidence going forward into the week.”

Graham, who is competing in his second Winter Olympic Games, said the course design would "separate the men from the boys".

“For us [the course is] quite normal; it’s 250m, it’s about 28 degrees in pitch but what can change is just the snow conditions, the shape of the moguls, the transitions to the jumps.

“That’s the stuff they can really manipulate to make the course more technical, and for us we thrive on technical courses and challenging courses.”

Fellow men’s mogul skier Brodie Summers – who is also lining up for his second Olympic berth – agreed that the course was tough but was a welcome personal challenge.

Returning from major surgery on his ACL in September 2017, Summers relished his the opportunity to try out the Winter Olympic venue just days before competition.

“Last night I looked at it and I thought this will be a really good test for [for my knee] because as we’ve discussed the conditions are quite challenging and it’s a technical course,” he said.

“But after the first two runs I warmed up, I relaxed into it and I had a really good time.

“I looked at the video after training and I thought ‘you know what, the skiing’s not looking too bad’ so I’m feeling good about where I’m at.”

Olympic debutant Jakara Anthony said for the moment, the experience felt similar to her World Cup appearances – which is good news for Australia given the 19-year-old finished fifth at the first Deer Valley World Cup in January this year.

“I’m just trying to approach it the same as a World Cup so that I can put together the run that I’m trying to do, similar to what I’ve been doing all season,” Anthony said.

Still, it will be an incredibly tough battle for a spot on the podium and some of Anthony’s greatest threats are her teammates, including world number 4 Britt Cox  who will make her third Olympic start at just 23 years of age.

Cox, who took out the World Championship title in Sierra Nevada, Spain, in March 2017, said the women’s moguls’ event would be one to watch in PyeongChang.

“It’s a really exciting time in women’s mogul skiing at the moment and I feel really honoured to be a part of that,” Cox said.

“At the moment, anyone within the top 10 is capable of putting down the best run on the night and that’s really exciting and that’s really motivating for me for when I’m up there and training in the next couple of days to push myself and let that competitive vibe come out of me in my training in through to the competition.”

Moguls qualification will be held on Day 0 (February 9), with Women's finals on Day 2 and Men's finals on Day 3 (February 10-11). See more of the freestyle skiing Team HERE.

Candice Keller
olympics.com.au

Matt Graham and Jakara Anthony have finished the pre-Olympic season with a finals run at the Tremblant Moguls World Cup this morning.

Both missed out on advancing to the 6-man Super Final, with current world number three Graham finishing in 11th place and Anthony finishing in 13th.


22-year-old Graham qualified 11th with a score of 83.36, and held his position with a score of 83.92 in the first final.
Although he was pleased with the way he skied, the Sochi Olympian prefers a more technical course and said the Canadian mountain didn’t play to his strengths.


“I thought I skied quite well today, I thought I jumped well and executed the plan, but the judges didn’t really agree with that, so not much I can do about that,” Graham said.


“The course here is quite interesting, it’s not much of a standard course like the one we’ll see in Korea.


“The course is really flat and quite short, which makes it easy and when it’s easy everyone skis well, so it condenses the field quite a lot and everyone was scoring really high so you couldn’t really make any mistakes.


“Today was a different story to most events but none the less it was still a fun day skiing and now on to the next day.”


In the 6-man Super Final, Japanese skier Ikuma Horishima, brought an end to Canadian Mikael Kingsbury’s streak of 13 World Cup wins.


Horishima, currently ranked sixth, pipped Kingsbury for the gold medal by 0.51 points, taking the top spot on the podium with a score of 93.88, above the world number one’s silver-medal score of 93.27.


“[Horishima’s] put down runs which were really hard to beat,” Graham said. “I don’t think anyone would have beaten him today, his final run was quite amazing.”


Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Reikherd rounded out the podium with bronze, keeping his spot as second in the world, while Graham remains comfortably in third.


Things didn’t go to plan for Graham’s fellow Aussie teammates, Cooper Woods-Tapolovic, James Matheson and Rohan- Chapman-Davies, who finished 47th, 49th and 50th respectively.


In the women’s event 19-year-old Anthony qualified 15th for the small final, and boosted her final position up two places with score of 75.54 in the 16-women first final.


At the end of the Olympic qualification period she sits in 14th place on the world rankings.


Sochi 2014 gold medallist, Canadian Justine Dufour-Lapointe, won gold with 87.43, followed by her teammate Andi Laude in second on 85.35 and Kazakhstan’s Yulie Galysheva won bronze with 84.61.


Krystle Yin was the next best placed Australian female (29th) followed in quick succession be Madii Himbury (30th), Sophie Ash (31st), Claudia Gueli (34th) and Taylah O’Neill (35th).


The Aussie Mogul Team now head to Colorado for a final training camp before the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, which kick off in three weeks’ time.


“From here we go down to Steamboat for five or six days of training before we head to Korea at the end of the month.
“So now it’s about putting the final touches together and trying to get the most out of the final days of preparation as possible,” Graham said.


Full results from the Tremblant World Cup are available HERE. The Australian Winter Olympian Team will be selected at the end of the week.


Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

With only three weeks until the Opening Ceremony of PyeongChang 2018, the final Olympic qualification Moguls World Cup kicks off in Tremblant, Canada this weekend.

Matt Graham will lead the charge for Australia, fresh off a bronze medal from last week’s Deer Valley World Cup.
With four podium finishes (three bronze and one silver) from five starts this season, Graham’s coach Steve Desovich, is pleased with the progress he is making this Olympic season.

“Matt has done a superb job in most of the events this season getting a handle on his speed and managing his run accordingly,” Desovich said.

"The aims for Matt are to achieve a number of top to bottom simulations in the two days of training beforehand, thereby placing him in a position to perform well in the event itself."

The current world number three will be joined by his Aussie teammates James Matheson, Rohan Chapman-Davies and Cooper Woods-Tapolovic.

Currently ranked 14th in the world, young-gun Jakara Anthony will headline the women’s team in Canada while current world number three Britt Cox attends a pre-Games training camp.

"Britt will not partake in the Tremblant event but will instead engage in a strength and conditioning camp to increase her physical capacities and recovery before Korea,” Desovich said.

19-year-old Anthony made her first Super Final last week at the first Deer Valley World Cup, finishing fifth overall. She has also recorded three top-20 performances this season and will look to carry that strong form in the final world cup before the Winter Olympics.

Joining Anthony on the course will be Sophie Ash, Claudia Gueli, Madii Himbury, Taylah O’Neill and Krystle Yin.

21-year-old Ash has already qualified for two small finals this year, in what is her debut World Cup season.

Teammate Gueli has also recorded a career-best result this year, finishing 10th at the Calgary World Cup in early January. 

The Tremblant Moguls World Cup kicks off at 1.30pm local time (5.30am AEDT Sunday 21st). Watch the finals live in Eurosport from 7.30am AEDT Sunday morning and follow the results online HERE.

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

A nasty stomach virus, which required a hospital admission on Tuesday night, did not keep mogul skier Matt Graham from reaching his fourth podium in the second World Cup events in Deer Valley, Utah today.
 
Graham picked up the bronze medal behind Canada’s Mikhail Kingsbury and Kazakhstan’s Dmitry Reikherd, repeating a photo that has seen the three same men on the podium together in Calgary and Thaiwoo this season.  
 
Yesterday’s first World Cup saw a brave Graham put mind over matter to make the final 16 before bowing out of the first round of Finals in 13th. Another 24 hours was all it took for the world number three to sufficiently recover and deliver another consistent run.
 
“Coming from Calgary I picked up a pretty bad stomach virus on travel day and for the last few days I’ve been in the wars,” Graham said after being hospitalised for three hours on Tuesday night for intravenous treatment. 
 
“A lot of people of people telling me to take it easy and take the day off,” he said of the first World Cup. “I listened to my body and knew what I could do.”
 
“Yesterday in the start gate in the final, I had a big pain in my tummy and it took very ounce of resilience. I did make a mistake on the last jump.” 
 
“(Today) I was in a lot of pain, but it was better this afternoon. I wasn’t sure if I was going to compete until thirty minutes before the event. I mustered the energy.”
 
“The top guys had a great run too and to be up against those guys was special given the circumstance.  It was the icing on the cake.”
 
“For sure it’s worth it now,” he said.
 
“We have a week off now and I can recover then come out firing in the final event in Tremblant (Canada) before PyeonChang.”
 
World Champion Britt Cox has faced stiff competition this season and did so again today, coming away with a fourth place in the second Deer Valley World Cup after missing the Super Final yesterday.
 
Undeterred, Cox says she on track and feeling good.
 
“Really close to the podium tonight so I’m happy with my skiing but there’s definitely more in the tank and more that I need to do but happy to be in the mix in the super final tonight,” she said.
 
“I’m happy that I progressed through the rounds today - skied better in each round and my skiing is moving in a positive direction. I’m determined that I’m focussed on doing the work that needs to be done.”
 
Jakara Anthony, who reached her first Super Final yesterday placing 5th overall was again in good form today, qualifying into the top 16 and then coming 12th.
 
Other Australian results today included Taylah O’Neill placing 17th in the qualifying in an unlucky tie break situation to not make the final 16, Claudia Gueli 26th, Madii Himbury 36th, Krystle Yin 38th and Sophie Ash 48th. In the Men, James Matheson placed 44th, Cooper Woods-Topalovic 48th and Rohan Chapman-Davies DNF.
 
The final World Cup before the PyeongChang Games will be held in Tremblant, Canada on January 20th.
 
Belinda Noonan
OWIA

Gold for Britt Cox and bronze for Matt Graham provided Australia with two appearances on the podium on Saturday following the first Moguls World Cup of the year in Calgary, Canada.
 
It’s the second time in less than 12-months that Cox has won gold at Calgary and the World Champion said that she was absolutely “stoked” to be back doing what she loves, especially now that she’s back in the yellow bib and leading the pack.
 
“So happy with today, I just feel so lucky to be doing what I love every single day and to finish today in Calgary on top of the podium feels even better,” she said.
 
“It feels great to start the first World Cup of the year with a gold and I just want to keep the momentum moving and progressing my skiing week-to week.”
 
The 23-year-old added that she was “happy to come out here and turn things around in Calgary” after some mistakes  at the last Moguls World Cup in Thaiwoo China during December.
 
Fellow Aussie and Sochi Olympian Matt Graham claimed bronze after a fantastic run in the men’s Super Final, finishing alongside Canadian Mikael Kingsbury who won gold and Dimitry Reikherd from Kazakhstan in second place.
 
“Definitely came here pretty hungry coming off two podiums in China, I was keen to get up there again,” he said.
 
“After having a successful year last year, it was definitely motivating to come back and do well again. Overall I was pretty happy with my two final runs, I just made small mistakes and my bottom air and location sof the landings were slightly off which I think cost me a higher step on the podium.
 
“I think I had some good energy today and harnessed a good mental state … [I’m] stoked to come away with a podium and for Britty to get up there on the top step where she belongs was pretty awesome.”

Graham’s fellow Aussies weren’t able to make it to the 16-man final, with James Matheson finishing 24th, Rohan Chapman-Davies 30th  and rookie Cooper Woods-Topalovic 39th.
 
Cox however was joined in the first final of the day by Claudia Gueli and Sophie Ash who both finished in the top 15. Both skied to career best restuls, Gueli finished 10th while Ash was 14th.
 
The next destination for the Aussie mogul skiers is Deer Valley, USA, with the next World Cup kicking off this Wednesday.
 
“We have a really quick turnaround this week, but I love Deer Valley,” Cox said.
 
“I love the course and we also have a lot of Aussies coming there to support us including my mum, dad and brother so really excited to see them and to get back on Champion Course.”
 
“We trained hard in the offseason, put in a lot of work,” added Graham.
 
“As long as my bags arrive I’ll be fine!”


David Barden
​OWIA

Australia’s top mogul skiers have touched down in Calgary, Canada ahead of their third World Cup of the season.
 
Following a well-deserved break after competing in China just before Christmas, the Aussies
jumped straight back into their preparations as the PyeongChang Winter Games edge closer.
 
“The team spent the break period in Winter Park, Colorado in camp recovering, strength and conditioning on snow for four days,” coach Steve Desovich said.
 
Matt Graham heads into the third World Cup of the season after back-to-back podium finishes at China’s Thaiwoo Ski resort, claiming silver on Day 1 and taking bronze just 24 hours later.
 
After a bumpy start to the season for Australia’s male mogul skiers in Ruka, Finland, the 23-year-old previously said that he was “really happy” with the way he had bounced back.
 
NSWIS athletes Rohan Chapman-Davies and James Matheson also made impressive comebacks in Thaiwoo after failing to make it past qualifications at the season opener.
 
Matheson finished in the top 10 taking 7th place in a big personal best on Day 1, while Chapman-Davies was also a PB in 13th and rookie Cooper Woods-Topalovic finished inside the top 30 for the first time.
 
The second day of competition also saw 2017 World Champion and Crystal Globe winner Britt Cox deliver a solid performance placing fourth after an uncharacteristic mistake on Day 1 prevented her from progressing to the finals.
 
“While the initial recovery period was quite strenuous Britt and Matt have managed to get up to par mid-way through,” Desovich said.
 
“As we arrive now into Calgary we will have two days of training on a very challenging course with women’s qualifications taking place on January 5th and the finals for both men and women on January 6th.”
 
The third FIS Moguls World Cup will be held in Calgary, Canada on 6 January. You can keep up-to-date with the results HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE for live reporting from the event.
 
David Barden
OWIA

Matt Graham has made his Mogul Skiing World Cup career medal haul an even dozen taking bronze in Thaiwoo, China today just 24 hours since he won silver on the same course.

Graham finished fourth in the qualification round of 64 men with 78.88 points, then upped his game in the first final with 80.92 points, placing fifth and making it into the final six. 

Again, Graham found more in the medal round – scoring 82.96 in a burning run, which landed him on the podium for the second time in two days.

"I think today went really well actually,” Graham said after the medal presentations.
 
“I felt a little better this morning, had a good sleep last night. Kind of came out firing in the qualification run and put down a run that I was really happy with."

"Pretty solid run in the final 1 round - slightly drifted my jumps though, which cost me a little bit so I was going into the Super Final in fifth place and I really had to put it all on the line and not make any mistakes.”
 
“To come away with back to back podiums here in Thaiwoo is pretty awesome and I'm just really happy with the way I bounced back after the first event in Ruka."
 
"The stats are nice but at the end of the day we've got bigger things coming up - so we've just got to focus on each day and trying to get better."

The day undoubtedly belonged to Canadian World number 1, Mikael Kinsgbury who won gold yesterday and again today with a blistering run scoring 85.94. Silver went to Dmirty Reikard from Kazakhstan. 

NSWIS athletes Rohan Chapman-Davies and James Matheson both missed out on the 16-man final, placing 20th and 32nd respectively during qualifications. A fall by Cooper Woods-Topalovic during the qualification run relegated the 17-year-old  to 58th place.

2017 World Champion and Crystal Globe winner Britt Cox rebounded from yesterday’s place and disappointment by progressing to the Super Final and finishing 4th.  

“I’m really happy to turn things around after some mistakes yesterday and get back up there and be able to ski in the Super Final again,” an upbeat Cox said today.

“I definitely feel like there’s some work to do but happy with the result today.”

“Yesterday I had some good training in the morning but made some mistakes in my qualification run so that really cost me and it meant that I had to go home early and didn’t get to ski in the finals, which was quite disappointing for me.”

“But the team did really well as a whole yesterday for Australia and the team vibes were really positive, so I chose to draw on that energy and put everything into competing well today and having a more solid performance.”

“That’s the beauty of having a two-day event where you do have an opportunity the next day and you don’t have to wait for the next week,” Cox said.  

The Australian mogul skiers will head to North America for Christmas, but will continue to train.

“We will have a break over Christmas and New Year’s and spend time training in Colorado. I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to making some adjustments before the first World Cup of the new year in Calgary.

Sochi Olympian Taylah O’Neill, placed 17th in the qualifier, missing the by just 0.10 points behind South Korean Jung Hwa Seo.  Jakara Anthony finished 21st, Claudia Gueli 23rd and Krystle Yin 28th. Madii Himbury wasn’t far behind taking 32nd place while Sophie Ash finished 33rd in a field of 48 women.  

David Barden/Belinda Noonan
OWIA

Matt Graham has claimed silver in the second Mogul Skiing World Cup of the season at China’s Thaiwoo resort, a location earmarked to host several medal events in the 2022 Olympic Games.
 
It’s the second time the 23-year-old has stepped up onto the podium at Thaiwoo in less than twelve months, claiming bronze at the resort in February this year.
 
After his 11th World Cup podium finish, the Sochi Olympian said that he was “really happy to bounce back and put a couple of good runs down” on Thursday after a bumpy start to the season in Ruka, Finland.
 
“To get back up on the podium is definitely something I really wanted and I’m very happy,” he said.
 
“I didn’t start off the season the way I wanted to in Ruka so I’ve been itching to get back into the start gate fort he past two weeks and today didn’t go exactly the way I wanted to. The qualification was pretty rusty and training this morning was quite difficult.
 
“The way I came out and handled myself in the finals and put down two solid final runs – you can’t ask for too much more than that after how I was skiing this morning.”
 
Coming in first, World Number One Mikael Kingsbruy won gold for the third time at the Chinese resort while American Troy Murphy earned Bronze.
 
With no less than 50 days until the PyeongChang Winter Games, Graham said that his main goal is to “hopefully walk away with many more podiums this season and try and peak at the Games”.
 
“There’s still a long way to go, today’s 50 days out to the Olympics so that means it’s coming up quick and there’s still al ot of work I need to do and a lot of screws and bolts that I need to tighten between now and Pyeongchang,” he said.
 
“I’ve just got to maximise every day and try and put run after run down.”
 
NSWIS athletes Rohan Chapman-Davies and James Matheson also made impressive comebacks in Thaiwoo after no Aussie men made it past qualifications in Ruka.
 
Matheson finished in the top 10 taking 7th place in a big personal best, while Chapman-Davies was also a PB in 13th and rookie Cooper Woods-Topalovic finished inside the top 30 for the first time.
 
As the only Australian woman to make it through to the finals on Thursday, Jakara Anthony finished 14th and is itching for Day 2 of the competition.
 
“It was pretty good, it was nice to have made finals at the first two events,” she said.
 
“I’m skiing pretty consistently at the moment which is good for the start of the season. We’ve got an early start tomorrow but hopefully I can do something similar, maybe even something a little bit better than today.”
 
World Champion Britt Cox made an uncharacteristic mistake at the bottom of the course and missed finals action in 25th place.
 
Unable to also secure a spot in the 16-woman final, Claudia Gueli finished 19th, and Madii Himbury, finished 26th. Sochi Olympian Taylah O’Neill finished 31st while 21-year-old Sophie Ash was 32nd and unfortunately, Krystle Yin did not finish.
 
Day Two of the World Cup kicks off on Friday before the Aussies get a well deserved break ahead of their next competition in Calgary, Canada early in 2018.
 
“I’m pretty keen to kick these boots off and go inside, lay down – I’m pretty sore and tired,” Graham said.
 
“Tomorrow’s a new day, I’ll get as much rest as I can tonight and muster up as much energy as I can for tomorrow and put my heart and soul into it. [Then] we’ve got a little Christmas break coming up so that’ll be nice.”

Dave Barden
OWIA
 

Australia’s top mogul skiers are set to start their official training in Thaiwoo, China on Tuesday ahead of back-to-back events at their second World Cup of the season this week.
 
While the weather in Thaiwoo – like nearby Secret -- has been far from ideal, coach Steve Desovich said that the Australians had nonetheless had a productive “pre-training camp hosted by the resort on the actual competition mogul course”.
 
“Conditions have been challenging but productive enabling Britt Cox and Matt Graham the opportunity to focus on ongoing skills as well as line selection,” he said.
 
Cox is set to compete in Thaiwoo after winning gold in a six-woman Super Final at the 2017/18 World Cup season opener in Ruka, Finland last week.
 
The 23-year-old World Champion described the result at the time as “awesome” particularly as it was on the very same mountain that she had won her first World Cup a year ago.
 
“We are thrilled with Britt’s performance in Ruka but engaged in the present of an ongoing skill acquisition and course adaptation,” Desovich said.
 
“The course here, like any new course, presents a variety of challenges and issues to work on.”
 
For Sochi Olympian Matt Graham, Ruka wasn’t an ideal start to the season with the 23-year-old crashing his second jump after “getting a little out of control in the middle section of the course”.
 
“The qualifications were pretty wild in the men’s field as the course deteriorated during the training session which made a lot of competitors make mistakes,” he said at the time.
 
Nevertheless, Desovich said that things are looking up for Graham ahead of this week’s event.
 
“Matt has done some really nice things in the pre-event training in Thaiwoo,” he said.
 
“We look forward now to the official training on December 19 and 20 before back-to-back events on December 21 and 22.”
 
The second FIS Moguls World Cup will run from the 21 – 22 December. You can keep up-to-date with results HERE or follow OWIA on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE for live reporting from the event.
 
David Barden
OWIA

2017 World Champion mogul skier Britt Cox has picked up right where she left off, winning gold in the 2017/18 World Cup season opener in Ruka, Finland.

On the same mountain she won her first World Cup a year ago, Cox topped the qualification round with a score of 77.47, and again in the first final with a score of 82.24, before securing the victory in the six-woman Super Final with a score of 80.32.

The 2017 Crystal Globe winner was ecstatic to be on top of the podium for the opening event of the Winter Olympic qualification period.

“Oh, it feels awesome to put that result down first event of the season,” the 23-year-old said.

“I got my first ever World Cup win here at Ruka a year ago, so taking the win feels awesome.

“And it being an Olympic season it’s obviously very exciting, that’s the pinnacle event of the season and everyone’s motivated.”

After Cox’s top challenger and world number two, Frenchman Perrine Lafont, skied out of her line in the Super Final costing her a podium spot, Canada’s Audrey Robichaud won silver on 77.73 and Russia’s Marika Pertakhiya rounded out the podium on 74.59.

The Australian Mogul Skiing Team have been in Ruka for the past couple of weeks on a pre-competition training camp, but Cox said today’s race conditions were not what they were expecting.

“Fresh snow overnight meant that the course was soft which was a lot a lot of fun, [but] we had a lot of wind and the course was quite different to what we’ve been training on.

“I made the fine tuning and tweaks I needed to run-to-run and it ended up working well for me in the end.”

The majority of the Australian NSWIS female mogul skiing contingent finished in the top-half of the field, with Jakara Anthony the next best place female, placing 12th in the first final with a score of 73.50.

Madii Himbury just missed a spot on the 16-woman final, finishing 17th with 69.42. Claudia Gueli finished 21st, Sochi Olympian Taylah O’Neill was 23rd and Krystle Yin placed 25th. Sophie Ash unfortunately crashed out in her first run and did not finish.

“Lucky for me, this wasn’t the big show this season so I can learn from today and make some changes moving forward.”

It was a bumpy start for the Australia’s male mogul skiers, with no one making it past the qualification rounds. Rohan Chapman-Davies was the top placed Aussie in 43rd, followed by Cooper Woods-Topalovic in 44th and Matt Graham in 46th.

“Today didn’t go as I planned,” Sochi Olympian Graham said after the event. “I crashed my second jump after getting a little out of control in the middle section of the course.

“The qualifications were pretty wild in the men’s field as the course deteriorated during the training session which made a lot of competitors make mistakes.

World Number one Mikael Kingsbury held true to form to top the men’s event, followed by the Kazakhstan duo of Dmitriy Reikherd and Pavel Kolmakov in second and third respectively.

The Australian team now make their way to China for the Thaiwoo World Cup kicking off on the 16th of December.

Georgia Thompson
olympics.com.au

Australia’s top mogul skiers are strapping in their skis for the final push towards PyeongChang with the World Cup season kicking off in Ruka, Finland on Saturday.

2017 World Champion Britt Cox will lead the charge for Australia in hope of defending her first ever World Cup victory, which she won on the very same mountain 363 days ago (read more about Cox’s preparations here >>>).

Fellow Sochi Olympian and current World number three, Matt Graham won silver in Ruka last year and will be determined for another podium finish this time around.

Cox, Graham and the rest of the Australian Moguls Team have been in Ruka for over a week now, making the most of time time on snow in the pre-comp period before the official World Cup training kicked off on Thursday.

“We achieved 10-11 days on snow with Britt and Matt working separate components of their turns and jumps while also merging them into whole runs,” Australian Moguls Head Coach Steve Desovich said.

“Both Britt and Matt have had some nice moments in training while also understanding that the whole package with all the skills is very much an on going process.

“Both skiers have engaged in their efforts in their physical preparation as well with John Marsden and Will Morgan (Physio) piloting those efforts on behalf of the program.

“We are also fortunate to have our performance psych Dr. Tom Hammond on hand to continue with his integration into our program operation with his curriculum,” Desovich said.

Joining Cox on the start line include fellow PyeongChang hopefuls Jakara Anthony (OWIA) and NSWIS athletes Sophie Ash, Claudia Gueli, Madii Himbury, Krystle Yin and Sochi Olympian Taylah O’Neill.

Alongside Graham in the men’s event will be his Aussie teammates Rohan Chapman-Davies, James Matheson and Cooper Woods-Topalovic.

Sochi Olympian Brodie Summers is missing from the start list as he continues to recover from a knee reconstruction earlier in the year. The world number six is still aiming to qualify for the PyeongChang Games, but will leave his run for a few more weeks to maximize his knee recovery.

"The course here in Ruka is always very challenging and therefore each skier needs to know their parameters and be able to produce on demand with little mystery,” Desovich said.

The event in Ruka marks the start of the five World Cup circuit where athletes will accumulate points to secure a quota for their country at next year’s Winter Olympics.

Qualification kicks off on Saturday night (AEDT) with both the men’s and women’s finals to take place early Sunday morning.

Geogia Thompson
olympics.com.au