OWIA/VIS aerial skiers finished in two of the top six places and both qualified for the World Cup medal round super-final in the first World Cup in Lake Placid, USA.
Competing under lights and in minus 20 degrees Celsius, newly crowned World Champion Laura Peel, finished just outside a podium position in fourth.
The World Cup was won by Belarusian Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya, with Russian Veronika Korsunova picking up the silver medal ahead of Melissa Corbo from Canada.
The other Australian in the super-final was Renee McElduff, who finished the day in sixth overall.
It was the first time McElduff has won through to a World Cup super-final and in doing so she recorded a career best result.
Competition started strongly for the Australians who filled first and second places in the qualification session, thanks to impressive jumps by the third member of the OWIA/VIS squad, Danielle Scott, and Peel.
Scott’s double full full impressed the judges and attracted 91.65 points, placing her just ahead of Peel’s full full on 87.88 points.
McElduff qualified for the first final in 10th place also with a full full.
In the next round Scott was dealt a cruel blow by “Mother Nature”, which virtually snatched away any chance the OWIA/VIS athlete had of advancing to the super-final.
At the exact time of turning her skis in to start her approach to the kicker, the wind turned to a tail wind and significantly affected her decent speed, which made it extremely difficult to land her jump.
The result was a back slap on her landing, costing her a large number of points and the chance to compete for a medal in the super-final. Scott finished in 11th overall.
Coach Jeff Bean said there was nothing she could have done and quipped “she must have really upset Mother Nature”.
“At the end of the day Mother Nature decided it was not her day,” Bean said. “It was absolute plain bad luck.”
While Scott experienced difficulties, Peel nailed a back full full, giving her a 90.09, a score which was unbeaten in this round and was ranked number one heading into the super-final.
McElduff showed equal determination and, with the same jump as Peel, grabbed third place, recording her highest ever score with that jump, and her first appearance in a super-final in what was her brightest moment in this elite level.
Bean described the event as a “great day” for Peel and McElduff.
“It is due to consistency in training at the end of the day. In aerials, you kind of break through milestones. Renee has been doing doubles for a couple of years now and her landing percentage in general and consistency have increased.
“All of the pieces of the puzzles are coming together for Renee.
“It is the start of bigger and better things for Renee.”
Bean also praised the performance of Peel, who is ramping up the level of difficulty with her jumps, with a view to add regular World Cup medals to her World Championships gold.
Peel’s jump carried a higher degree of difficulty than the all other five athletes in the super-final.
“Laura will do her more difficult jumps even when it is not perfect weather,” Bean said.
“She touched her hand a little on landing and that was the difference between first and fourth.”
IMAGE: Danielle Scott, Renee McElduff and Laura Peel in Lake Placid © Ashley Merkur
Competing under lights and in minus 20 degrees Celsius, newly crowned World Champion Laura Peel, finished just outside a podium position in fourth.
The World Cup was won by Belarusian Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya, with Russian Veronika Korsunova picking up the silver medal ahead of Melissa Corbo from Canada.
The other Australian in the super-final was Renee McElduff, who finished the day in sixth overall.
It was the first time McElduff has won through to a World Cup super-final and in doing so she recorded a career best result.
Competition started strongly for the Australians who filled first and second places in the qualification session, thanks to impressive jumps by the third member of the OWIA/VIS squad, Danielle Scott, and Peel.
Scott’s double full full impressed the judges and attracted 91.65 points, placing her just ahead of Peel’s full full on 87.88 points.
McElduff qualified for the first final in 10th place also with a full full.
In the next round Scott was dealt a cruel blow by “Mother Nature”, which virtually snatched away any chance the OWIA/VIS athlete had of advancing to the super-final.
At the exact time of turning her skis in to start her approach to the kicker, the wind turned to a tail wind and significantly affected her decent speed, which made it extremely difficult to land her jump.
The result was a back slap on her landing, costing her a large number of points and the chance to compete for a medal in the super-final. Scott finished in 11th overall.
Coach Jeff Bean said there was nothing she could have done and quipped “she must have really upset Mother Nature”.
“At the end of the day Mother Nature decided it was not her day,” Bean said. “It was absolute plain bad luck.”
While Scott experienced difficulties, Peel nailed a back full full, giving her a 90.09, a score which was unbeaten in this round and was ranked number one heading into the super-final.
McElduff showed equal determination and, with the same jump as Peel, grabbed third place, recording her highest ever score with that jump, and her first appearance in a super-final in what was her brightest moment in this elite level.
Bean described the event as a “great day” for Peel and McElduff.
“It is due to consistency in training at the end of the day. In aerials, you kind of break through milestones. Renee has been doing doubles for a couple of years now and her landing percentage in general and consistency have increased.
“All of the pieces of the puzzles are coming together for Renee.
“It is the start of bigger and better things for Renee.”
Bean also praised the performance of Peel, who is ramping up the level of difficulty with her jumps, with a view to add regular World Cup medals to her World Championships gold.
Peel’s jump carried a higher degree of difficulty than the all other five athletes in the super-final.
“Laura will do her more difficult jumps even when it is not perfect weather,” Bean said.
“She touched her hand a little on landing and that was the difference between first and fourth.”
IMAGE: Danielle Scott, Renee McElduff and Laura Peel in Lake Placid © Ashley Merkur
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