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Skier Graham wins World Cup Globe

3 minute read

Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham has won the Crystal Globe as the top-ranked male mogul skier on the World Cup circuit, matching aerialist Laura Peel.

LAURA PEEL.
LAURA PEEL. Picture: Clive Rose/Getty Images

Australia's medal prospects at next year's Winter Olympics in China are looking bright after mogul skier Matt Graham joined aerialist Laura Peel in winning a World Cup Crystal Globe.

Peel claimed the world title last week in Kazakhstan and then topped it by winning the coveted Crystal Globe on Saturday as the top-ranked finisher on the World Cup circuit.

The Canberra veteran will be the one to beat in Beijing next February, after also bringing home the Globe in 2020.

Olympic silver medallist Graham had a mixed world championships, finishing second in the dual moguls while missing the finals in the singles.

But he became the first Australian male since Olympic gold medallist Dale Begg-Smith in 2010 to win the World Cup Globe.

Heading into the final event in Almaty, Kazakhstan, which hosted the world titles, Graham had an 18-point lead in the standings, but after a number of delays due to snow and bad visibility, event organisers were forced to cancel the competition and Graham was crowned the World Cup champion.

The 26-year-old from the NSW Central Coast finished the season with three World Cup medals - one of each colour - to top the standings ahead of Frenchman Benjamin Cavet and Sweden's Ludvig Fjallstrom.

Canada's Olympic champion Mikael Kingsbury missed the bulk of the season after fracturing his back but returned to win the world title.

"I am very excited and very happy to have earnt this. The Crystal Globe is one of those things I have always wanted competing in mogul skiing," Graham said.

"We arrived overseas in November not even sure if events would happen, we more or less came over with the intention to train as much as we can and if we got to compete that would be a bonus.

"Winning the globe would be the highlight of my season, it's been a bit of a rollercoaster, some events didn't necessarily go my way and I didn't ski that great, but I managed to hang in there and get enough results and a few podiums to be on top when it counted."

Graham's teammate Brodie Summers finished the season in fifth place on the standings, the highest end of season ranking of the 27-year-old's career, with Jakara Anthony the highest-ranked Australian female in 10th.

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