David Morris rewrote wintersport record books today when he became the first Australian to win a men’s World Cup aerial skiing event and in doing so ended the season as the highest ranked Aussie male in the discipline’s history.

Competing in the last World Cup event of the year in the Ukrainian resort of Bukovel, Morris captured his debut victory after an 11th hour decision to compete in the event.

It was not until last Monday that the Australian aerial squad made a last minute call to enter the Australian Institute of Sport / Victorian Institute of Sport athlete in the Bokovel event, to chase a season ending ranking within the top three.

However, the decision to go to Bukovel delivered an even better result, with Morris finishing the year as the number two ranked aerial skier in the world.

The 28-year-old secured today’s gold medal ahead of second placed American Dylan Ferguson and Belarus’ Maxim Gustik in third.

Morris went into today’s event ranked fourth in the world, 11 points behind third, with hopes of achieving a pipe-dream victory.

Given that Morris had only once before stood on a World Cup podium, a third place this season, some of his opponents may have under estimated the newly found brilliance of the Australian and his ability to win.

Morris said that everything slotted into place today after qualifying in fifth to progress into the first final.

It was then that Morris hit a new high, earning top place in the final scoring an impressive 119.91 points, 0.44 of a point ahead of Switzerland’s Thomas Lambert.

In reaching the super final, the Australian landed a double full full full, to run away with the win by 7.36 points.

Not surprisingly, Morris said the win was the highlight of his career.

“It sounds pretty clichéd but when I woke up today, I said to myself ‘I’m going to win this thing today’”, Morris said.

“I knew that if I won I would go into second place overall.

“Training was pretty standard. I don’t usually train amazingly but it was OK. I landed one of the three jumps I did.

“My jump in the super final wasn’t spectacular but it was good enough and I landed it better than anybody else.

“I got to the bottom and I looked around and all my friends said ‘oh my goodness you did it’.

“It is very hard to explain what it means because there are so many things to how I got here. It is the most meaningful result I have ever had, no doubt.

“I needed it so badly to prove things to myself and everyone. I’m not just here in the background doing my thing. I’m quite capable of winning. It’s huge and so important.”

Australian aerial skier Laura Peel moved into third on the world rankings with the fourth podium finish of her career in the World Cup and test event of next year’s Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Russia tonight.

Peel won the silver medal and lifted her ranking from six in the world before this event.

Australia now has three places in the world’s top five rankings.

Peel sits one place below fellow Australian Institute of Sport / Victorian Institute of Sport athlete Lydia Lassila, the current Olympic champion and world number two, with another AIS / VIS skier Danielle Scott, who finished in fifth place tonight, ranked at five.

The event was won by China’s Mengtao Xu with Switzerland’s Tanja Schaerer in third.

Peel said she was thrilled by the result and is now looking forward even more than before to the World Championship in Voss, Norway, early next month.

“We didn’t have great training,” Peel said. “It’s been tough all week.

“The conditions were tough, especially in qualification earlier. It was a little easier tonight.”

Peel said that she is now looking towards a strong finish to her northern hemisphere commitments after a delayed start to the season as a result of off-season surgery to her shoulder.

“I didn’t have as much training as I would have liked so I’m just now starting to get my tricks right.”

Scott can also be pleased with her performance of qualifying in fifth place but she was unable to keep the momentum going in the first final, finishing in 6th place.

Teammates Sam Wells qualified for the final and finished 9th while Renee McElduff finished 21st, after missing the cut.

Lassila decided not to compete tonight, due to back soreness from training yesterday.

In the men’s draw, AIS / VIS athlete and world number four David Morris started the night brilliantly by qualifying as the second top athlete with a score of 123.90, just 0.44 of a point short of top place.

But unfortunately for the Australian, he was unable to equal the standard in the first final, missing the super final and finishing in 8th overall.

Chinese athletes, Qi Guangpu and Lui Zhongqing took the first two places with Denis Osipau from Belarus in third place.

Snowbasin ski resort, the North American home of the OWIA and the Australian Aerial Skiing program “The Flying Kangaroos”, recently honoured the team with a special poster signing day at the Utah resort.

“The Flying Kangaroos” team took signed posters all afternoon for the skiers and boarders at the popular resort, with great interest in the team.

Snowbasin has supported the Aerial Skiing athletes at their home resort in North America since 2003.

The resort’s main gondola features cabins named after legendy Olympic medallists in skiing, and includes a dedicated gondola to “Fling Kangaroo” Olympic Champions Alisa Camplin and Lydia Lassila.

The training available at Snowbasin is very important in the development of World Class athletes and their skills in preparation for competition at World Cups, World Championships and ultimately the Olympic Winter Games.

Australian skier, Laura Peel, has finished in second place in the World Cup aerials event in Deer Valley, USA..

Her fellow Australian Institute of Sport / Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder, Danielle Scott, finished in career best fourth place after making it all the way to the final round of four competitors.

In a mixed event for the Australians, 2010 Olympic champion Lydia Lassila had a tough day to place eighth. Sam Wells made it through to her first final 12 of the season but could go no further, finishing 12th.

In the men’s competition, David Morris finished 15th in his opening jump in the qualifying round missing finals.

The second placing was Peel’s first podium finish for the season.

She tried a new routine for her final jump – a full, double full (triple twisting double somersault) - but did not square up quickly enough on landing and lost valuable points.

Peel said after the event: “I was really pleased to land some clean jumps and do Full double Full in competition. It is only the fourth I have performed on snow, so to be second tonight, I am really happy.”

“It was great to have four of us (Australians) in the final 12 and even better to have both Dani and I in the last four.”

"I'm looking forward to the next round in Sochi on the 2014 Olympic site."

The season’s dominant aerialist, China’s Mengtao Xu, recorded her fourth win from five starts this season.