Jindabyne cheers-on Winter Olympic gold medallist Cooper Woods

Winter Olympic fever has certainly hit the Snowy Mountains as hundreds packed the Jindabyne Bowling and Sports Club last night to watch Cooper Woods win Winter Olympic gold. Woods, who is the nephew of renowned moguls coach Peter Toplalovic, had the Jindabyne crowd on their feet as he delivered one Australia's greatest Winter Olympic performances. Woods is just the seventh Australian to win Winter Olympic gold. The Pambula product lit-up the super final with his gold medal run of 83.71. The 25-year-old equalled moguls legend Mikael Kingsbury effort, but the Australian was declared the winner due to his superior score through the turns. Woods impressed the Jindabyne crowd from his first run in qualifying where he progressed to the finals in 11th spot. From there he didn't leave the top of the leaderboard. The moguls finals had the Jindabyne crowd in a frenzy as Woods, Jackson Harvey and Matt Graham all progressed to the super final. In the Jindabyne crowd, there were a number of Winter Olympians cheering Woods to victory. Following his victory, Woods praised his family, coaches and friends for their unwavering support. “It’s something you dream of day in day out as a kid - through the hard days, through the good days. It’s an absolute journey,” Woods said, as reported by the Australian Olympic Committee. “I kept telling my coach up there: I’ve got nothing to lose. Let's get stuck into it. “There's something when there's so much pressure, where you can just kind of let it all go and just kind of embrace it.” Australian Team flag bearer and 2018 silver medallist Matt Graham (fifth) was the first to celebrate Woods's effort, lifting his teammate up high on his shoulders. “I've struggled with a lot of self-belief. I've had such a good year of training but not competing, and what a time to get it dialled and sorted, when the pressure is at its max,” Woods said. He finished with the same score as legendary Canadian Mikael Kingsbury, but Woods had the cleaner turns (48.4 to 47.7) to edge Kingsbury for gold. Another all-time great, Japan's Akuma Horishima rounded out the podium. Graham’s score of 80.88 put him in fifth. Jackson Harvey also reached the super final and finished in eighth with a score of 74.93. “It's not just my medal, it's a lot of other people's medal. My family, teammates, friends, staff. It's been an absolute journey,” Woods said. “To be skiing not just for myself, but for a lot of other people, brings a lot of pride.” . .

Jindabyne cheers-on Winter Olympic gold medallist Cooper Woods

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