Australia's gold medal prospects at the 2018 Winter Olympics have received a boost with women's moguls skier Britt Cox claiming a breakthrough victory at the season-opening meet in Finland.
Just over a year out from the Games in South Korea, Cox claimed her first win as teammate Matt Graham took second in the men's event.
It was the first time an Australian woman had won a World Cup event in the discipline and the best overall performance for the nation in capturing both gold and silver.
Cox only qualified in 11th but got better as the competition improved and moved through to the super final in top spot before taking out the event.
"I made a big mistake in my first qualification run so I knew I needed to execute a nice clean and tidy run in the second qualifications to get back in the game," said the 22-year-old who has already competed at two Winter Olympics.
Cox's final run score of 73.81 edged Perrine Laffont of France on 73.13 and Keaton McCargo (USA) on 71.78.
Graham, who enjoyed his first World Cup win last season, had his eyes on the main prize in Ruka but had to settle for second behind Mikael Kingsbury.
The Canadian, an all-time great of the sport, captured a remarkable 30th World Cup win.
In the end, Kingsbury won by more than four points with 84.26, followed by Graham on 80.30 just edging out Frenchman Ben Cavet, who scored 80.11.
The World Cup series moves to North America in the New Year, the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics taking place in February 2018.
