VIS Aerial Skiing Development athlete Sara Butko has won her first ever event, claiming gold on day two in the European Cup in Ruka, Finland, with teammate Miriana Perkins also on the podium with a bronze medal on day one.
 
The 17-year-old gymnast is the daughter of Australian Mogul Skiing Olympian Jane Butko (nee Sexton) who competed at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. Butko has also been supported by the team at the VIS, gymnastics coaches at Flyaway Gymnastics, Trampoline coaches from Omega Trampoline Sports Club and the Southern Sports Academy.
 
In the first day of competition in Ruka with the top six advancing to finals, Perkins was third in the final with a score of 57.60 for her back layout, with Butko making her aerial skiing competition debut in fourth on 56,60 performing a back tuck and fellow debutante Sian Francis in seventh on 55.80 points for her back pike.
 
On day two in just her second aerial competition start Butko claimed victory on 56 points for her back tuck, with Perkins sixth in the final scoring 36.34 for her back full. Francis was eighth on 52.80 for her back pike.

The second Aerial Skiing FIS World Cup of the season was held at the 2022 Olympic venue in Secret Garden, China, where Australia narrowly missed out on a medal despite an outstanding performance, with three VIS athletes reaching the top-six super final and an impressive fourth-place finish in the mixed team event.
 
In Saturday’s individual event qualification, Laura Peel (5th), Abbey Willcox (8th), and Danielle Scott (11th) all advanced to the finals.
 
During the first round of finals, all three Australian women progressed to the top-six medal round, led by Peel in third with a score of 86.19 for her lay-full-full triple back somersault. Scott followed in fourth with 85.05 for her full-full double back somersault, while Willcox secured sixth place with 83.16 performing the same jump.
 
In the medal round, Peel and Scott both raised their degree of difficulty. Peel executed a full-full-full triple twisting triple back somersault to finish fourth with a score of 90.58. Willcox performed a lay-full to place fifth on 73.08, while Scott attempted a double full-full but was unable to land cleanly, finishing sixth with 55.34.
 
China took the top three spots on the women’s podium with Fanyu Kong taking gold on 102.17 points, Meiting Chen earning silver with 97.45, and Mengtao Xu claiming bronze on 87.02.
 
Missing finals for Australis were Sidney Stephens in 15th place, Airleigh Frigo in 21st and Reilly Flanagan was 30th in the men’s event
 
Australia Fourth in Mixed Team Event
On Sunday the mixed team event took place, which combines the scores of three athletes, Australia was the only nation to field a team with two females, as male jumpers on average perform higher degree of difficulty with bigger scores, it makes the Australian performance even more impressive.
 
In the opening round, Australia advanced to the top four final in third place, with a combined score 273.60 points, lead by Peel with a huge score of 117.62 points for her full-full-full, with Scott scoring 94.11 for her double full-full, and Flanagan 79.06 for his full-full.
 
In the medal round, Australia finished fourth on 239.56, led by Peel again with a score of 83.71 for her full-full-full, Flanagan 82.53 for his full-full, and Scott 73.32 for her double full-full.
 
The top two places went to China, with China 1 scoring 315.35, China 2 308.49 and the Usa rounding out the podium in third with 267.41.
 
The World cup tour will move to North America in the New Year, with a double event in Lac-Beauport, Canada, on January 6 and 7.

The Aerial Skiing World Cup season commenced in Ruka, Finland, with VIS skier Airleigh Frigo the highest placed finisher of the Flying Kangaroos, advancing to the super-final and securing a sixth-place finish overall.
 
2025 VIS World Cup Champion Laura Peel made a strong start, winning the qualifying round with 89.46 points for her full-full double twisting back somersault. Frigo secured the final spot in the 12-woman final, scoring 74.97 with the same jump.
 
Just missing the cut were VIS teammates Danielle Scott and Abbey Willcox, finishing 13th and 14th respectively, both scoring 73.71, with Scott ranked higher on a tiebreak. Sidney Stephens placed 21st (60.90), while in the men’s event Reilly Flannegan finished 19th (120 points).

Unfortunately, Elise Coleiro sustained a knee injury during training and has returned to Australia for further assessment.
 
In the first round of finals, Frigo scored 76.54 for her full-full jump, advancing in sixth place to the super-final medal round. Peel increased her degree of difficulty with a triple back somersault but struggled on landing, scoring 60.42 for 10th place.

In her third career super-final, Frigo performed a lay-full single twisting double back somersault, scoring 51.62 points to secure sixth place overall.
 
China’s Mengtao Xu claimed victory with a score of 89.29 points, ahead of Canada’s Marion Thenault in second place with 82.48 points. Third place went to Meiting Chen of China, who finished with 75.31 points.
 
The next Aerial Skiing World Cup stop will be at Secret Garden, China, featuring an individual event on December 20 and a team competition on December 21.

IMAGE COPYRIGHT CHRIS HOCKING