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.

The OWIA Moguls team are now ensconced in Ruka, Finland ahead of their assault on the upcoming World Cup season, which is being touted as highly competitive.

Led by Matt Graham, who shocked the moguls world last season with his first career victory, and Britt Cox, Australia's first female World Cup medallist in mogul skiing, the Aussie team also includes OWIA skier Brodie Summers plus up-and-coming NSWIS athletes Rohan Chapman- Davies and Jimmy Matheson.

The 2016/17 FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup moguls campaign gets underway on December 10, 2016 in Ruka for the seventh consecutive year of the ‘Freestyle Opening Ruka’ season starter. 

Including Ruka, there are 11 moguls World Cup events (eight single moguls and three dual moguls) at eight venues scheduled for the 2016/17 season, with longstanding favourites like Deer Valley (USA), Calgary (CAN), and Lake Placid (USA) hosting competitions alongside newcomers like Thaiwoo (CHN) and the PyeongChang test event at Bokwang (KOR).

Bokwang and Thaiwoo are the freestyle skiing venues for next two Olympic Winter Games, with Bokwang Phoenix Park the site for the PyeongChang 2018, and Thaiwoo’s Genting Secret Garden resort lined up to be the host for the Beijing 2022 Games.  

FIS, the international governing body, said on its website that, “We have seen in the past that strong performances in Olympic test events have translated into strong performances come Games-time, and you can expect every athlete with 2018 and 2022 Olympic aspirations to be gunning hard for these events.”  

Renowned OWIA and multiple Olympic Champion coach Steve (Des) Desovich knows what needs to be done for his charges to reach the podium in the 21 to 23 second opportunity they face on the moguls’ course.

“The Canadians are very strong. Matt is second in the world and you have a good package that you can do on the day,” Des said.

“You have to be able to max out every aspect of the run and be consistent. You are taxed to the maximum of what is personally possible compared to what you can perform.”

The degree of difficulty continues to escalate in this exciting sport, which is why USA World Cup Aerialist and coach Jerry Grossi is an entrenched member of Des’ formidable coaching team going back as far as a camp in 2007.   

“Des has great insight. He could see (well before 2010) that moguls were leaning towards more aerial elements and was becoming way more structured,” Jerry explained. “Teams now have aerial elements, turns, skiing and jumps coached separately.”

Canada is dominant in moguls – and none more so than Mikael Kingsbury - the most decorated men’s mogul’s skier of all time as the dual moguls and Freestyle overall crystal globe winner for the fourth consecutive season in 2015/16.  
Matt Graham’s ability to impress has been recognised by FIS.

“A storyline to watch involves a crop of young skiers coming up who have shown to ability to challenge and, increasingly, beat the top-ranked Canadians. We saw this on the men’s side last season with impressive results by the likes of Matt Graham (AUS), Ben Cavet (FRA), and Jimi Salonen (FIN), who finished 2015/16 in second, third, and fifth respectively, overall.”  

Come December 10 in Finland, we will start to get some answers to the big questions of the 2016/17 FIS Freestyle Skiing moguls World Cup.

The season finishes at the Sierra Nevada 2017 Freestyle World Ski Championships in Spain in March 2017.
 

OWIA/NSWIS athlete Matt Graham has cemented a place in the the top-3 on the World Cup standings after finishing eighth in the Dual Moguls event in Tazawako, Japan.

After finishing second in yesterday’s Men’s Moguls final, Graham knew a solid performance today would see him remain in second place, behind leader Mikael Kingsbury.

With just one event remaining for the season, a Dual Moguls race in Moscow, Russia next weekend, Graham now leads Frenchman Benjamin Cavet by 80 points.

Cavet was able to make some ground after finishing third today.
​
Canadian Philippe Marquis has dropped from third to fourth in the standings, after finishing seventh.
 
World Cup Standings:

Men

1st Mikael Kingsbury CAN 605                  
2nd Matt Graham AUS 378                  
3rd Benjamin Cavet FRA 298     
4th Philippe Marquis CAN 288  

IMAGE: Matt Graham in action competing in Japan © FIS                          

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA)/New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete Matt Graham has continued his impressive recent form by finishing third in the first of two Mogul Skiing World Cup events in Tazawako, Japan.

Graham scored 83.05 in the six-man Super Final, to just finish behind runner-up, Canadian great Mikael Kingsbury, and winner Bradley Wilson, of the United States.

The result sees Graham remain in second place on the World Cup standings behind Kingsbury.

Following the final, Graham reflected on another great event.

“I am happy to come away with another podium; I felt like I skied really well today for the most part,” Graham said.

I made a slight error into the bottom air in my Super Final, so I am a little disappointed with that, because the rest of my run was really good and I could have been one or two steps higher, but you live and learn,” Graham added.

Head Coach Steve Desovich was full of praise for the 21 year old Sochi Olympian.

“Matt had a superb day going today, with a marked performance increase in this morning’s training and qualification runs,” Desovich said.

“Matt had an excellent performance going into the Super Final, but then encountered a mishap going into the bottom jump which prevented him from a complete performance.”
​
“With time and diligence, I foresee Matt ultimately mastering three consecutive competition runs. It is rewarding to see him reap the benefits of all his hard work,” Desovich added.

IMAGE: Men's podium on day one in Japan featuring Matt Graham (right) © FIS

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

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

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

Graham finished with a total score of 87.74.

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

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

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

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

After the presentations, Graham reflected on his great performance.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) Mogul Skiing program has made a strong start to their 2015-2016 Northern Hemisphere campaign, with Jakara Anthony and Rohan Chapman-Davies recording back-to-back podium performances in the US Selection events in Winter Park, Colorado, USA.

On day one, Jakara Anthony recorded her first ever FIS victory in the women’s event, an impressive achievement by the 17-year-old NSWIS athlete. Also competing in the women’s final was Team Buller athlete Claudia Gueli who finished in 13th place.

In the men’s event, NSWIS athletes Rohan Chapman-Davies and James Matheson both advanced through to the top-6 super final, with Rohan taking bronze and James just off the podium in fifth place.

In the second mogul event, both Jakara and Rohan backed up their podium performances on day one with more success.

The women’s event saw Jakara again produce another strong performance to finish in second place. Claudia Gueli made finals for the second straight time, again placing 13th.

Both Rohan and James advanced through to the top-6 super-final stage again on day two, with Rohan finishing in third, and James improving one place from his day one performance to finish in fourth. Also making his first US Selections final was Team Buller’s Angus Cronin-Guss, who finished in 16th place.

The final US Selection event takes place tomorrow, with the athletes competing in the dual mogul format.

RESULT SUMMARY
Day One – Single Moguls

Women
Jakara Anthony - 1st
Claudia Gueli - 13th
Sophie Ash - 18th
Roanna Humphries - 20th
Taylah O'Neill - 22nd
Krystle Yin - 26th
Madii Himbury - 33rd
Phoebe Tudhope - 44th

Men
Rohan Chapman-Davies - 3rd
James Matheson - 5th
Cooper Woods-Topalovic - 19th
William Martin - 20th
Angus Cronin-Guss - 33rd
Daniel Walker - 51st
Ethan Topalovic - DNF

Day Two – Single Moguls

Women
Jakara Anthony - 2nd
Claudia Gueli - 13th
Madii Himbury - 17th
Krystle Yin - 19th
Phoebe Tudhope - 38th
Roanna Humphries - 46th
Taylah O'Neill - 49th
Sophie Ash - DNF

Men
Rohan Chapman-Davies - 3rd
James Matheson - 4th
Angus Cronin-Guss - 16th
Cooper Woods-Topalovic - 25th
William Martin - 39th
Daniel Walker - 48th
Ethan Topalovic - 52nd

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

The 2015/16 Moguls World Cup season gets underway this weekend with the opening round to be held in Ruka, Finland on December 12th.
 
The OWIA team of Britt Cox, Matt Graham and Brodie Summers have been training in Ruka since November 22nd.
 
Head coach Steve Desovich has been pleased with the lead up and is looking forward to the season opener.
 
“Our training has been going well on a very challenging course, as we have engaged in both skill building and course specific preparations,” Desovich said.

The opening event will be a dual mogul competition, with a single round of qualification, followed by the top 32 in a head-to-head dual format, where speed is of prime importance.
 
“A dual mogul competition is extremely volatile and less predictable than the Olympic format of single moguls,” said Desovich.
 
The competition will be strong across the board from all nations, in particular from Canada, US, Japan and Russia.”
 
The opening event will also signify the return to competition of Brodie Summers, who missed the entire 2014/15 World Cup season due to injury.

December 12th is a date OWIA/NSWIS athlete Brodie Summers has had penned in his diary for a long time. It will signify his long-awaited return to competitive Mogul Skiing, at the season opening World Cup event in Ruka (Finland).

Summers missed the entire 2014/15 season due to a back injury, but following a lengthy rehabilitation program, he is raring to go.

“My pre-season has been very rewarding and I feel as though I have had some significant skill improvements, especially at our last two training camps in Zermatt (Switzerland),” Summers said.

Already in Ruka ahead of the December 12th season opener, Summers has his goals well and truly set for the season ahead.
​
“My main goal is to ensure a successful return to competition after a year off. From a results point of view, I expect to make finals consistently, with a view to moving up to a super final as a major milestone for me,” Summers said.

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.

Australian mogul skier Matt Graham produced arguably the best run of his career when he captured his first World Cup medal in front of a huge crowd under lights at the Deer Valley resort in the United States this afternoon, Australian time.

In finishing the day with the silver medal, the 20-year-old Olympic Winter Institute of Australia/NSW Institute of Sport athlete joined an exclusive club of just three other Australian men - Adrian Costa, Dale Begg-Smith and Michael Robertson -who have pocketed a World Cup medal in moguls.

Graham’s superb performance is the first World Cup male mogul skiing medal since Begg-Smith was second in Sierra Nevada in March 2010.

Canadian Mikael Kingsbury won today’s event while Patrick Deneen from the United States was third.

With just a little more than a week before the World Championships in Austria, Graham’s breakthrough result could not have come at a better time.

And while the day belonged to Graham, Britt Cox and Nicole Parks also added to a brilliant day for the Australian mogul team.

Cox, who had a delayed start to the season, finished the day in 6th place after qualifying through to the super-final and Parks again showed that this season is shaping as her best ever by placing 14th after also making the finals.

The women’s was won by American KC Oakley, with Canadians Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Cloe Dufour-Lapointe taking second and third.

Understandably, Graham was thrilled by today’s result and he said that he has been working towards today for some time.

“I have been waiting a while for it and I felt that this year was going to be the year that I would get on the podium,” Graham said.

“To do it in front of a massive crowd, I could not be happier. Right now I’m just super happy.”

It was not just winning a World Cup medal that provided Graham with satisfaction. It was the way he fought back from the first two World Cups this season which did not go to plan.

Graham finished in 22nd in the season opener in Ruka and 13th in Calgary at the start of the month.

He had to again call on his determination today to turn a dream into a reality.

He recorded a 14th place in the qualification session, which was just enough to put him into the first final.

During his run in the first final Graham had to dig deep and recover from a small mistake in the bottom section of the course.

However, it was at that stage that he hit his straps, finishing F1 in 4th place and earning his way into the medal round.

With a “go for it” attitude and a refusal to be overawed by his more experienced and fancied opponents, Graham decided to use a cork 1080 on his bottom jump in the super final – the first time he has used this difficult jump in World Cup competition. And it paid off in spades.

“After qualifying I knew I had to fight my way back if I wanted to get in the top six. Once I was in the top six, I also knew that I could not make any mistakes if I wanted to get on the podium. That’s what I was aiming for and I think I executed it quite well,” he said.

“Making no mistakes has been the objective for a while.”

However, Graham is far from resting on his laurels and believes there is immediate improvement that can be gained by tidying up a few aspects and getting a little faster.

Graham has been “knocking on the door” of the podium for the last two seasons and today was his opportunity to burst through.

Graham has worked hard with coaches Steve Desovich and Jerry Grossi to improve speed, turns and jumps.

“Today was a bit of a confidence booster for World Championships next week. Hopefully I can execute the same again next week and come out on the podium once more,” he said.

In other results with Australians, James Matheson was 48th and in the women’s Madi Himbury was 20th, Jakara Anthony was 33rd and Roanna Humphries was 39th.

Graham, Cox and Parks will join the other NSWIS athletes in Utah tomorrow for duals moguls before the trio head to Austria for the World Championships.

Results:
Women’s World Cup moguls skiing, Deer Valley, USA
1.    KC Oakley (USA), 2. Justine Dufour-Lapointe (CAN), 3. Chloe Dufour-Lapointe (CAN), 4. Nikola Sudova (CZE), 5. Maxime Dufour-Lapointe (CAN), 6.  Britt Cox (AUS), 14. Nicole Parks (AUS), 20. Madi Himbury (AUS, 33., Jakara Anthony (AUS), 39.  Roanna Humphries (AUS).

Women’s standings, World Cup moguls skiing
Chloe Dufour-Lapointe (CAN) 220, 2. Justine Dufour-Lappointe (CAN) 185, 3. Hannah Kearney (USA) 166, 4. KC Oakley (USA) 134, 5. Audrey Robichaud (CAN) 122, 6. Andi Naude (CAN) 114, 11. Britt Cox (AUS) 80, 18. Nicole Parks (AUS) 44, Madi Himbury (AUS) 11.

Men’s World Cup moguls skiing, Deer Valley, USA
Mikael Kingsbury (CAN), 2. Matt Graham (AUS), 3. Patrick Deneen (USA), 4. Jae-Woo Choi (KOR), 5. Sho Kashima (USA), 6. Philippe Marquis (CAN). , 48. James Matheson (AUS).

Men’s standings, World Cup moguls skiing
1.    Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) 229, 2. Sho Endo (JPN) 156, 3. Philippe Marquis (CAN) 140, 4. Simon Pouliot-Cavanagh (CAN) 128, 5. Anthony Benna (FRA) 127, 6. Alexandr Smyshlyaev (RUS) 127, 7. Matt Graham (AUS) 109,