CANBERRA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Australian ace freestyle skier Matt Graham has recently resumed practice a month after snapping his collarbone in a training crash to prepare for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
Earlier this week, on a day where Genting Snow Park, which hosts the Olympic moguls competition, hit a low of minus 19 degrees Celsius, Graham, the Olympic silver medalist, launched off the ramps into the pool in 30 degree Celsius Brisbane heat, according to the Australian Olympic Committee.
"I got surgery four days after the injury, it put a plate there with 13 screws, it's all bolted together, strong and sturdy which is good," said the 27-year-old.
"Today I put the shoulder through the paces, getting in the air again to regain that confidence.
"I went through the skills I'll perform in Beijing - I haven't been off the snow for too long, so today it was good to get the feelings and sensations back."
After clinching a silver medal in men's moguls competitions at PyeongChang 2018, Graham said the aim for his third Olympic Games in Beijing was to "go one better".
"I have high expectations of myself and what I want to achieve in Beijing," he said.
"Having this injury, it's not ideal but it works in my favour to have all of my experience from previous Games behind me."
The facility including ramps Graham used above the pool at the Winter Olympic Training Centre in Brisbane has already seen Australia's aerials and moguls teams hone their skills in the leadup to Beijing 2022 since its official opening in May 2021.
From the top of the 37-meter high facility, athletes can reach maximum speeds of over 70km/h and launch up to 17 meters above the water, trialling and perfecting aerial manoeuvres in the safety of the water-landing before transferring them to the snow, according to the Australian Olympic Committee.
According to the plan, Graham will fly to Finland this weekend to rejoin the Australian moguls team for final preparations on snow before the Games.
Australia has won 15 medals at Olympic Winter Games: 5-5-5 starting with a bronze in Lillehammer in 1994.
In PyeongChang, Australia grabbed two silver and a bronze medal. ■
