SKIING:
Central Coast skier Matt Graham has taken a bronze medal in the opening event of the mogul skiing World Cup season in Ruka, Finland.
In the men’s event, the 2018 Olympic silver medallist bounced back strongly from his injury interrupted Olympic season, to record the 19th podium of his World Cup career
Joining Graham in finals were teammates Cooper Woods in 10th place, and rookie NSW Institute of Sport skier Jackson Harvey making finals in a very strong World Cup debut in 14th.
Graham score 80.12 points, to come in behind Canadian Mikael Kingsbury on 84.5 and Japan’s Ikuma Horishima on 80.48.
“I was over the moon to be back here skiing Ruka and competing again so to come away with third place is kind of nice,” Graham said.
“It’s been a long 12 months for me, getting injured before the Olympics, and then not having the best Olympic experience.
“During the off season (I spent) a lot of time rehabbing my collarbone which I broke last year, and not able to train as much as I would normally, so it’s nice to come here and know that I have still got it.”
In another win for Australia, 2022 Olympic Gold Medallist Jakara Anthony from Victoria took gold in the women’s super final to claim the fifth World Cup victory of her career.
The mogul skiing athletes will now head to the Swedish resort of Idre Fjäll for a double event next weekend on December 10-11.
Primary source:Media release, Dec 4, 2022, Olympic Winter Institute of Australia