Matt Graham wants moguls world No 1 ranking after Olympic medal

Matt Graham is already plotting the downfall of Olympic champion Mikael Kingsbury.

Winter Olympians, from left: Jarryd Hughes, Lydia Lassila, Scotty James and Matt Graham at the team’s welcome home ceremony in Melbourne. Picture: AAP

It seems like yesterday that “Mogul” Matt Graham won Australia’s first medal at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics but he is already busily plotting the downfall of Canada’s Olympic champion Mikael Kingsbury over the next four years.

Australia’s premier skier, 23-year-old Graham had his best day on snow to win the Olympic silver medal over the bumps, and he is hungry for more.

“The Games and doing really well there (has) motivated me to get better,’’ Graham said.

“I have such a finite time when I am at the top of my game that I want to maximise that.’’

Graham finished his competition season with two World Cup events in Japan earlier this month and will be returning to water ramp training to work on some new tricks ­immediately after Easter.

“If you think about the Olympics coming at the end of the quad (four years), if you want to make drastic changes to your competition run you have to start now so they are bedded down,” he said.

He and his coaching team are already brainstorming ways to reach the standard Kingsbury has set in recent years.

“There’s a gap there but it can be closed,’’ Graham said. “To be really competitive, I need to improve my consistency.’’

“(Kingsbury’s) worst place this season was second, so I need to make sure I’m on the podium every week.

“We’re thinking about where we go for a competitive edge. Grabs (grabbing a ski during a jump) were getting scored really well this season so we might look at that for a little extra edge.’’

Graham and Kingsbury are good friends. The Canadian has stayed with Graham in his family home on NSW’s central coast after coming to the Australian snowfields for training camps. But Graham won’t be cutting him any slack.

Australia’s winter Olympic team, including medallists Graham, Scotty James and Jarryd Hughes, gathered for the last time as a group for a homecoming ceremony in Melbourne yesterday, where they were officially presented with framed pockets.

Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates also presented 2010 Olympic gold medallist Lydia Lassila, who is retiring, with a framed memento of her five Olympic Games.

Graham described the month since his Olympic triumph as “a bit of a whirlwind’’ given the enthusiastic celebration of his success in his local community. The Central Coast Stadium at Gosford, formerly Grahame Park, was temporarily renamed Graham Park in his honour.

“I am really happy that I came home just a few days after I won the medal and got to celebrate with them,’’ Graham said.

It was harder to get his head in the game for his final two World Cup events in Japan, where he finished outside the top 10.