FREESTYLE SKIING: Australian teenager Matt Graham has narrowly missed a place on the podium at the 2013 FIS Freestyle World Championships in Voss, Norway, finishing fourth.

It was a promising meet for the young Australian moguls contingent, with all five competitors qualifying for the 18-strong men’s and women’s finals.

By the time things were all said and done we were left, quite fittingly, with a podium roll-call that read very much like an up-to-date print-out of the top of the World Cup moguls leaderboard.

Canadians Mikael Kingsbury and Alex Bilodeau won gold and silver respectively, and Patrick Deneen (USA) finished third. Exactly the same as the three men find themselves stacked up in the Cup rankings.

Australia’s world number 15, Graham was the real surprise packet of the competition. Having qualified for the final in tenth place, Graham stole a place in the 6-man super final and rocketed into fourth place. 

Just last month, the 18-year-old from the NSW central coast town of Gosford, posted a career-best seventh place in the World Cup mogul skiing and Olympic test event in Sochi. Graham has now proven his mettle against the best in the world.

In other promising Australian performances, Brodie Summers just missed out on a place in the 6-man super final after qualifying seventh, while Sam Hall finished 11th.

In the women’s competition, Vancouver 2010 Olympian Britt Cox (18) finished 10th and compatriot Nicole Parks (20) finished 18th.

The ladies’ top spots were also claimed by Canadians with Hannah Kearney and Justine Dufour-Lapointe winning gold and silver respectively. Heather McPhie (USA) finished third in another close replica of the World Cup standings.

And at the Aerials competition site all five Australians have progressed to the World Championship Finals. The four Aussie women (Danielle Scott, Laura Peel, Samantha Wells, Lydia Lassila) and Dale Morris to jump for medals in the 12-person finals with results known in the very early hours of Friday the 8th of March (AEST).

FIS and Olympics.com.au