Australian aerial skier David Morris delivered the biggest jump of his life to catapult himself into a career-best sixth place in the World Cup second round in Beida Lake, China, today.

The result surpasses the previous World Cup best of ninth last year, and elevated Morris to a world ranking of eighth.

An elated Morris described his huge final jump as "like flying to the moon" and, when he landed it perfectly, nobody could take away his over-the-moon reaction.

The jump was one of the most spectacular for the day and drew tumultuous applause from the local crowd at the bottom of the course.

The event was also a day to remember for the Chinese team, which achieved a one-two finish with Guangpu Qi taking the gold and Zongyang Jia the silver. Swiss jumper Renato Ulrich stood on the podium's third step.

Buffeted by strong winds, although not as intense as the gales that forced a 24-hour postponement to competition, Morris qualified for the final with triple twisting triple somersault in 6th place.

Unlike Friday's opening World Cup, where Morris qualified fourth but dropped to 12th with his final jump, the AIS Scholarship holder was determined not to let his strong start slip away.

Morris decided to "go for it" with his final jump.
"It was the biggest jump I've ever done and when I landed it I was thrilled," Morris said.

Morris said that the jump was higher than any other jump in his career.

Today's result puts Morris on track to achieve his season goals of becoming a consistent finalist and finishing the year in the top 5 in the world, 10 places higher than his ranking last a season.

Australian aerial skier David Morris today received a harsh reminder of how Mother Nature can often be one of the toughest "opponents" in sport.

Sitting in a career best fourth place after the first jump at the World Cup season opener in Beida Lake, China, the AIS scholarship holder was poised to get his hands on a medal for the first time in his short World Cup career.

However, in a matter of a few minutes the wind and snow conditions changed dramatically causing the Mt Buller athlete to arrive at the take off ramp about four kilometres-per-hour slower than the speed required to correctly execute the jump and, in doing so, crashed out of podium contention.

The event was won by China's Zongyang Jia, Canadian Warren Shouldice finished in second place while China's Chao Wu made up the other position on the podium.

To add further to Morris' disappointment, a speed check was carried out just before attempting his final jump. It was the brief moment between the practice approach and the actual jump when Mother Nature's scorn was felt.

Attempting a quadruple twisting triple somersault as his second jump, Morris landed heavily on his side, a mistake that caused the Australian to slip from fourth to 12th place in the day's end results.

"The speed check two minutes before was fine but maybe the wind was a bit stronger and the snow became a little sticky or some other bizarre change of conditions occurred," Morris said.

"Whatever happened, it will make me go back and compete with even harder tomorrow."

Morris said that he was "shattered" by not landing the last jump but his fighting spirit was kept intact by the large number of positives from the day.

He goes into the World Cup second round at the Beida Lake ski resort tomorrow with the confidence that if he lands both jumps he can be up there with the best in the world, a big step for the man who finished his debut season last year ranked 15th.

Morris added that he had executed the same jump that he was attempting, the most difficult in his repertoire, perfectly in practice earlier in the day.

Minister for Sport Mark Arbib has announced Olympic aerial skiing champion Lydia Lassila as the 2010 Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Athlete of the Year at a gala presentation in Canberra.

Lassila was chosen from an impressive list of finalists for the award, including Australian Commonwealth Games stars Alicia Coutts (swimming), Matthew Cowdrey (Paralympic swimming), Jamie Dwyer (hockey), Anna Meares (cycling) and world No.1 Laser sailor Tom Slingsby.

Lassila's award caps off an outstanding year which saw her produce a memorable performance for Australia to win gold at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada.

Senator Arbib said Lassila's performance was inspiring for other sportspeople and the wider Australian community.

"Lydia has proven herself to be a world class champion both on and off the ski slopes," Senator Arbib said.

"Her gold medal performance in Vancouver captured the hearts of all Australians and stands as one of the truly great moments in Australian sport.

"The AIS continues to be an international leader, working with sports to develop elite talent like Lydia who excel on some of the world's toughest sporting stages."

Lassila becomes the 27th winner of the Institute's top award, joining some of Australia's best athletes.

Previous winners include walker Kerry Saxby-Junna (1986-89), swimming greats Michael Klim (1998 and 1999) and Petria Thomas (2001 and 2002) and gymnast Philippe Rizzo (2001 and 2006).

Story courtesy Australian Olympic Committee

The AIS Aerial Skiing program has been training in Ruka, Finland, for the past three weeks under the coaching of Cord Spero and Liz Gardner. As we approach the winter solstice, the days are getting shorter, with only 3 hours of light per day. The conditions have been clear and cold with little wind, making it a very consistent training venue.

It has been a productive camp so far for AIS athletes David Morris, Laura Peel, Danielle Scott, Samantha Wells, Jessica McIlwraith and VIS development athlete Renee McElduff. It is the first time Renee has jumped on snow. Over the weekend, Ski Sport Finland hosted a double Europa Cup event in Ruka. The competition was against a field including athletes from Great Britain, Belarus, Switzerland, Russia and the Ukraine.

Anton Kushnir of Belarus won both men's events, with David Morris placed fifth and seventh on respective days. Dave has recently started training triples on-snow again in the lead up to the opening World Cup events of this season, being held in Beida Lake, China, on December 17 and 18.

This event actually marked the first competition experience for Laura, Samantha and Renee in aerials. Samantha finished highest ranked of the girls in fourth position on Day 1, while Danielle was ranked highest in fifth position on Day 2.

Day 1 - December 4

Men
5 - MORRIS, David - 187.41 points

Women
4 - WELLS, Samantha - 115.85
6 - PEEL, Laura - 113.21
7 - MCILWRAITH, Jessica - 112.38
9 - SCOTT, Danielle - 109.97
13 - McELDUFF, Renee - 100.80

Day 2 - December 5

Men
7 - MORRIS, David - 170.63

Women
5 - SCOTT, Danielle - 120.53
8 - WELLS, Samantha - 112.78
10 - MCILWRAITH, Jessica - 110.61
12 - PEEL, Laura - 101.05
13 - McELDUFF, Renee - 80.60

The female athletes will remain in Finland until December 20 and then head over to train and compete in North America.