Australian aerial skier Laura Peel has claimed a bronze medal at the 2019/2020 World Cup season opener at Shimao Lotus Mountain in China.
 
The VIS athlete performed her first ever triple back somersaults in competition with great success, scoring 87.92 points in the first round of finals with a lay-tuck-full, and 86.65 in the medal round with a full-tuck-full.
 
In taking bronze, the performance marks the tenth World Cup podium of the 30 year old athletes career (2 gold, 3 silver, 5 bronze).
 
“It’s an amazing start to the season. Competing with triples at a World Cup was a big milestone of mine, and to come away with a podium makes it even sweeter.”
 
“The conditions were really good. We all took a couple of days to adjust to a much steeper landing hill than what we had been training on in Finland, but the sun was out and there was minimal wind which made conditions great for jumping.”
 
Peel finished narrowly behind Belarus aerialist Aliaksandra Ramanousk 93.44 and China’s Mengtao Xu scoring 105.53 with the judges.
 
For Peel there’s a busy season ahead after a short Christmas break.
 
“After tomorrow, I’m looking forward to enjoying some R&R over Christmas. Then my team start training again in Switzerland in January ahead of the next World Cup in Moscow, Russia.”

Also in action for Australia was Abbey Willcox, who finished in 14th place, just missing the 12 woman final.

A second World Cup event also took place at Shimao Lotus Mountain, with a one jump competition being held on day two, before a team World Cup event that Australia did not feature in.

Peel landed another triple back somersault, a lay-tuck-full, narrowly missing the podium by less than a point in fourth place.

Abbey Willcox had a personal best World Cup finish of 12th.

The next event for Australia's aerial skiing athletes will be in Moscow, Russia, on January 25.

VIS Aerial Skier Laura Peel has won the second World Cup event of her career, after finishing on top in Shimao Lotus Mountain, China.

Her result was a well-deserved reward after a second place finish in Moscow just two weeks ago.

Peel qualified for the final in fourth place with a 84.42 point full-full jump, and used the same jump to progress to the top six super final.

In the super final, Peel stepped up her degree of difficulty, performing a 96.58 full-double full jump to easily take the victory, 14.8 points ahead of second place.

“I couldn’t be happier with how today went! We had some really tricky conditions with the temperature in double digits, and some swirling winds," Peel said of her second World Cup win.

"I'm very grateful to my coaches for getting my speed right on all my jumps and super stoked I was able to put all my jumps down.”

Peel placed 10th the following day during the second event, while teammate Abbey Willcox finished 15th in the first event and 14th in the second and first year VIC World Cup program athlete Brittany George placed 16th in the first and 13th in the second.

With China the final stop in the World Cup season, Peel has finished a personal best third in the world on the standings, improving on her previous best of fourth achieved in 2012 and 2013.

IMAGE - A happy Laura Peel with her gold medal in China © Laura Peel Instagram

olympics.com.au

VIS Aerial Skier Laura Peel has finished in 11th place at the World Cup event in Minsk, Belarus, maintaining her fourth place world ranking with one event left in the season.

The VIS skier made a strong start to the event, qualifying in second place for the final with a 88.20 full-full jump, but unfortunatley missed her landing in the final to finish in 11th place.

Peel said she was disappointed to not put down the jump she'd hoped for in the finals.

“I am a bit disappointed about the result. I jumped well in qualifications, but unfortunately had a bit of trouble landing in finals," she said.

Abbey Willcox recorded a personal best World Cup finish of 13th, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the 12-woman final after scoring 75.98 on her lay-full jump.

OWIA Apprentice Coach David Morris was satisfied with solid performances by the pair considering their preparation.

“Laura and Abbey both jumped very well given they had very little training leading into the competition day.

"As a coaching group we are very impressed they were able to perform so well after being sick leading into the event,” he said.

Also in Minsk, a syncro team event was held, with the team of Peel and Willcox finishing in third place after competing their lay-full jump at the same time off different jumps.

The Flying Kangaroos Australian Aerial Ski Team now head to China, for the final World Cup event of the year on March 2nd.

IMAGE - Laura Peel and Abbey Willcox (right) on the podum at the syncro team event in Minsk © Abbey Willcox Instagram

The Flying Kangaroos Australian Aerial Ski Team has competed in a number of warm-up events in Lake Placid, NY, USA, ahead of the World Championships in Deer Valley, UT, USA, on February 6th.

With only the one World Cup prior to the World Championships, a strong field was in attendance with all countries looking to get extra competition starts before the main event of the season.

In Lake Placid, the team competed in the US National Championships and in the first of two Nor-Am events.

In the US National Championships, VIS athlete Laura Peel scored an 81.78 to take second place, with team-mates Abbey Willcox 11th and Brittany George 21st. In the men’s event, Wesley Naylor finished 25th.

Britt George and Abbey Willcox where the only Australians competing in the Nor-Am. VIS skier George secured her first career Continental Cup victory finishing in first place, and Wilcox just missed finals in seventh.

The Flying Kangaroos will now head to Utah, USA, to prepare for the World Championships.

IMAGE - Laura Peel (left) on the podium in Lake Placid © Winter Vinecki Instagram

The opening World Cup of the 2018-2019 season has taken place in Lake Placid, NY, USA, with Laura Peel the top Australian performer in tenth place.

The VIS skier made made a strong start qualifying in sixth place with an 81.27 point full-full jump.

In the twelve woman final, Peel attempted the higher degree of difficulty full - double full jump, electing to go for higher risk in preparation for the World Championships. Unfortunately Peel was deep on her landing, and just missed the super final to finish in tenth.

Also competing for Australia was Britt George in 20th with Gabi Ash and Abbey Willcox making their World Cup debut's to finish in 22nd and 23rd.

The next event for the Flying Kangaroos Australian Aerial Ski Team is the World Championships in Park City, UT, USA.
IMAGE - Laura Peel sending one high in the night sky at Lake Placid © OWIA/Lachy Keevers

The Flying Kangaroos Australian Aerial Ski Team took part in a warm up Europa Cup event in Ruka, Finland, over the weekend, with the highlight being two athletes achieving podium performances.
 
On day one, Abbey Willcox finished in second place, which was the best Europa Cup performance of her career.
 
On day two VIS athletes Laura Peel and Britt George recovered from a disappointing day one performances, with Peel taking the win, George in fifth place and Wilcox tenth.
 
The Flying Kangaroos will continue training in Ruka thought to Christmas, before resuming in North America in January for the first World Cup of the season in Lake Placid, USA, on January 19.

IMAGE: Laura Peel (left) and Abbey Willcox (right), podium athletes in Ruka

OWIA/VIS athletes Laura Peel and Danielle Scott have started the season in great form, both recording victories in a warm up Europa Cup competition in Ruka, Finland.
 
With many of the world’s top athletes currently in Ruka preparing for the World Cup season, a strong field competed in two events.
 
On day one, Laura Peel jumped two well executed double back somersaults to take first place. Samantha Wells and Danielle Scott struggled with their landings finishing in 16th and 26th.
 
On day two, Danielle Scott rebounded strongly, competing two triple twisting double back somersaults to finish over 10 points clear in first place. Laura Peel claimed her second medal, finishing in third place, with Sam Wells also improving from day one to finish in tenth.
 
David Morris improved on his day one finish of 18th to place 12th on day two.
 
VIS development athletes also competed in the event, with Brittany George recording the highest place finish, with a 12th place day two performance. Abbey Willcox had her best result on day two finishing in 20th. The event was the first Aerial Skiing career starts for Gabi Ash and Alice Neill, with Gabi 15th on day one and Alice 19th on day two.
 
The first World Cup for the OWIA/VIS athletes will take place in Secret Garden, China, on December 16-17.

IMAGE: Daniel Scott (left) and Laure Peel (right), Europa Cup winners in Ruka, Finland.

Andrew Pattison
OWIA

With the first World Cup of the season two weeks away, Danielle Scott has showed she is well placed for a strong season following back-to-back Europa Cup victories in Ruka, Finland.
 
The wins were achieved on the back of four well-executed competition jumps, with her Day Two performance particularly impressive with a two jump score of 187.96, almost 20 points clear of second place.
 
Scott was joined on the podium on Day One by her Flying Kangaroos teammate and current World Champion, Laura Peel, who finished third in her first event since March 2015. In the second event Laura finished in sixth place.
 
Samantha Wells had two top ten results, with a fifth place Day Two performance being the highlight.
 
Olympic Silver Medallist David Morris elected not to compete, as he manages some minor injuries early in the season.
 
Flying Kangaroo development athletes Britt George, Abbey Willcox and Harrison Tulberg all made their competition debuts coached by Olympian and Victorian Institute of Sport Technical Coach Bree Munro. The three athletes all had near perfect scores in their back layout and back tuck single backflip jumps. Britt George was the highest placed with a 14th finish in the second event.
 
The opening World Cup event will take place in Beida Lake, China, on December 16-17.

PHOTO: Danielle Scott (middle) and Laura Peel (right) on the podium in Finland