Moguls skiiers on the podium in first World Cup for 2018

A gold and bronze respectively for NSWIS athletes Britt Cox and Matt Graham provided Australia with two appearances on the podium on Saturday following the first Ski 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.

“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,” said Cox.

“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.”

Image: Britt Cox & Matt Graham in training (Getty Images)

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,” said Graham.

“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!”