Graham holds on to narrow lead ahead of World Cup final

Matt Graham in a previous competition

MOGULS –

A silver medal for Central Coast local, Matt Graham, has maintained his first place status in the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) World Cup standings after achieving his career second World Championship medal in the Mens Dual Moguls.

Bouncing back from a disappointing result in the previous day’s single moguls, Graham went on to claim the silver medal in the duals in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Tuesday, March 9.

In a very close head to head race, Graham pushed Canadian competitor, Mikael Kingsbury, all the way, but had trouble landing his bottom jump and stumbled over the finish line to give Kingsbury the victory.

For Graham, the podium performance is the second World Championship medal of his career, having taken home silver at Deer Valley, USA, in 2017.

“It felt great to get some redemption after yesterday’s performance,” said Graham.

“I was very disappointed with my performance in the single mogul event, so I used that as a bit of motivation for duals.

“The course was very challenging today.

“The moguls were quite firm and big, so it was easy to make mistakes, especially when you are pushing the speed to the limit.

“I didn’t ski as well as I should have, but I knew my opponent was likely to be making mistakes as well, so I just had to grit my teeth through each round and make it to the finish line.”

The mogul skiers will remain in Almaty for the World Cup final which will take place on March 14.

Graham will be aiming to become the first Australian male to win the World Cup Crystal Globe title since the legendary Dale Begg-Smith in 2010.

“I will approach the World Cup Finals as I do every event,” continued Graham.

“I am currently leading the standings for the overall title and Crystal Globe, but the points are very tight in the top four and anyone can win.”

Graham now sits in first place on the standings with 289 points, followed by Frenchman Benjamin Cavet on 271 points, Ludavig Fjallstrom of Sweden with 258 points and Ikuma Horishima of Japan on 246 points.

Source:
Media Release, Mar 10
Olympic Winter Institute of Australia Media