Danielle Scott has won silver in Aerial Skiing, Australia’s sixth medal at an already historic Games for Australia. 

The 35-year-old brought her best form to Milano Cortina 2026. From qualifications through to finals, the flying Aussie looked the one to beat.  

​Article courtesy olympics.com.au / Images Copyright Chris Hocking

Scott executed an immaculate full-full-full in Final 1 to shoot straight into the Super Final with a score of 117.19 – the highest score of the day and a personal best result for Scott. 

In the one-jump Super Final, Scott’s full-full-full was beautiful in the air, but a deep landing saw her draw a score of 102.17 to take home silver.  

“To finally have this around my neck, I mean, it's taken four Olympics and it's been an incredible ride – a lot of highs, a lot of lows – but today I just put my heart out there, I left everything out there,” an emotional Scott said. 

“I jumped the way I wanted to, and I'm so grateful for my team around me for getting me to this point. This just means everything.” 

In a final where the top nine skiers were all performing triple jumps, it was the highest scoring women’s aerials final in history. 

Having not competed triples since 2023, Scott said she was thrilled to deliver a career-best performance on the world’s biggest stage. 

“Yeah, to see 117 on the scoreboard was pretty magic. I would like to have done that in the Super Final, but I can't get too greedy. I think today's been an awesome day.

“I hadn’t competed triples until now. You know, it’s been a rough ride, and I just kept believing the process was going to work. 

“It’s strategy as well — you’ve got to play the game sometimes, and my body has been through a lot. So I left [competing triples] to the right time and just believed that I've got the experience, I've done triples before and today was the day.” 

​Already a multiple World Cup winner, the Victorian Institute of Sport athlete’s previous best Olympic finish was 9th.  

Scott becomes Australia’s fourth Aerial Skiing medallist, exactly 24 years to the day after Alisa Camplin won Australia’s first gold medal in the sport.  

That moment sparked Scott’s Olympic dream and Camplin, Australia’s Winter Olympic Chef de Mission, was the first to congratulate Scott in Livigno.  

“It's been 12 years of coming in with the Olympic dream and now finally she just does the most beautiful jumps of her life, so I couldn't have been more happy for her,” Camplin said. 

“She's worked really hard for this, mentally and emotionally. Everyone could see that she has the most floaty, tightest, straightest, biggest, most gorgeous jumps. 

“I can’t tell you how much pressure is it is to be last in the start gate and to put that beautiful jump out there. She well and truly, over 12 years, over 12 months, over 12 hours, did everything possible to secure that performance and I couldn’t be more proud of her and the entire team behind her. 

“That was a next level female aerial final. The number of women doing full-full-fulls and landing them… it was one of the greatest competitions of all time, for her to be silver there was outstanding.” 

Abbey Willcox also qualified for final 1, finishing 10th overall with a textbook back full-double full in the 12-skier final, scoring 88.83. 

“It felt so good to be out there [in an Olympic final] and land my jumps as well. It’s a dream come true,” Willcox said. 

“As soon as I made the Olympic Team, it was like a weight off my shoulders, and then to go out and do this, it’s everything I really wanted to do so I feel really happy and proud of myself.” 

Fellow Aussie Olympic debutants Sidney Stephens and Airleigh Frigo placed 15th and 22nd respectively in the qualification round.  

Scott will have another shot at a medal in the Mixed Aerials Team event on Saturday 21 February. 

Danielle Scott has wrapped up the Olympic qualification period in style, delivering back-to-back podium finishes at the final Aerial Skiing World Cup events in Lake Placid, USA. After claiming gold yesterday, Scott added a bronze medal today, bringing her career tally to 27 World Cup podiums.
 
Despite challenging conditions with strong winds and falling snow, three VIS skiers advanced to the top-12 finals after performing the same full-full double twisting double back somersaults. Scott qualified second with 88.51 points, Laura Peel was close behind in third on 87.57, and Abbey Willcox secured sixth with 84.42.
 
In the opening round of finals, two Australians progressed to the six-athlete super-final. Peel impressed with 104.72 points for her lay-full-full double twisting triple back somersault to qualify second, while Scott advanced in sixth with 84.42 points for her full-full jump. Willcox narrowly missed the cut, finishing eighth on 75.60 points.
 
In the medal round, Scott claimed bronze with 85.65 points for her double full-full triple twisting double back somersault. Victory went to Kaila Kuhn of the USA on 105.60 points, with Mengtao Xu of China second on 105.17 points. Peel finished fourth after struggling to land her signature full-full-full triple twisting triple back somersault in the tough conditions, scoring 63.96.
 
“It’s been a slow start to the season for me, but these back-to-back podiums over the past few days are what I am looking for,” said the 35-year-old Scott from NSW, who trains in Brisbane at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre water jump facility.
 
“We’ve had tricky conditions, but I have done some nice jumps and I am looking forward to the next month’s training.
 
“The girls right now are doing some really big jumps, its super exciting. For the conditions out here today, I just played the game and put my jumps down, but I am super inspired by what the girls are doing and can’t wait to get out there and do it too.
 
“We’ll stay in Lake Placid for a few more days of training before heading to Switzerland to knuckle down and get everything we need in place ahead of the Olympics in Italy.“
 
Other VIS athletes in action missing finals included Sidney Stephens in 24th and Airleigh Frigo in 25th. In the men’s event, Reilly Flanagan finished 30th.
 
In the final World Cup standings for the season, three Australians finished inside the top 10, Laura Peel in fifth, Danielle Scott seventh, and Abbey Willcox tenth, with Airleigh Frigo just outside in eleventh place.

Danielle Scott in Lake Placid
© Chris Hocking

VIS aerial skier Danielle Scott has returned to the top of the podium, claiming her first World Cup victory since March 2023 in Lake Placid, USA. The win marks her first podium finish of the season and the seventh World Cup victory of her career.
 
In qualifying, three VIS skiers advanced to the top-12 finals, with all three performing the full-full double twisting double back somersault. Laura Peel qualified in first place, Danielle Scott was close behind in second on 86.62, and Airleigh Frigo was ninth with 80.01.
 
In the opening round of finals, two Australians made it through to the six-athlete super-final. Scott was second after scoring 87.25 points for her full-full jump, while Laura Peel squeezed into sixth place with 82.97 points for her lay-full-full double twisting double back somersault. Airleigh Frigo narrowly missed the cut, finishing seventh with 81.90 points.
 
Scott was impressive in difficult wind conditions in the super-final, scoring 95.88 points for her double full-full triple twisting double back somersault to take the victory. Mengtao Xu of China was runner up on 94.01 points, and Kaila Kuhn of the USA finished third on 92.29 points. Peel was sixth after struggling to land her signature full-full-full triple twisting triple back somersault.
 
Scott has been planning for triple back somersaults this northern hemisphere season and was aiming to compete them for the first time this season in Lake Placid, but windy conditions put that plan on hold.
 
“I’m just letting this sink in. I’ve had a rough run this season,” said the 35-year-old Scott from NSW, who trains in Brisbane at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre water jump facility.
 
“A lot of highs and lows, coming back to triples has been tricky. Today I just needed to go prove myself, and I did that, so I’m stoked.
 
“I was hoping to do triples, and we made some hard decisions and decided to keep it on the double. I think it paid off. I want to do them, so let’s get Mother Nature on our side.”
 
Other Australians in action missing finals included Abbey Willcox (15th) and Sidney Stephens (23rd). In the men’s event, Reilly Flanagan finished 28th.

IMAGE
The Australian team celebrate Danielle Scott's gold medal in Lake Placid © FIS

VIS aerial skiing double World Champion Laura Peel stormed back to form, securing her first World Cup victory of the season with an impressive performance at Lac-Beauport, Canada.
 
Peel bounced back from a 23rd-place finish on day one in Canada, delivering an excellent series of trademark triple back somersault to capture the 15th World Cup win of her career and her fourth victory at Lac-Beauport.
 
Peel qualified for the finals in eighth place with a double full-full double somersault scoring 81.78 points, joining VIS teammate Airleigh Frigo, who impressed with a career best score of 87.25 to advance in fourth. Making her first World Cup final was VIS second year World Cup competitor Sidney Stephens, in 12th scoring 76.85 points for her lay-full jump.
 
In the opening round of finals, Peel soared to the top-six super-final with a lay-full-full triple back somersault, earning 106.74 points. Frigo narrowly missed advancing in seventh place with 84.73 points, while Stephens achieved a personal best, finishing 11th on 72.29 points.
 
In the super-final, all three podium finishers performed the challenging full-full-full triple twisting back somersault. Peel led the way with a big score of 113.76 points, followed by American Winter Vinecki in second on 109.90, with China’s Xu Mengtao third on 97.02.
 
“I don’t know if we’ve had three full-full-fulls on the podium before,” said the 36-year-old Peel from Canberra.
 
“It’s epic to see women out there doing the big tricks, because we can. It’s great fun.
 
Also in action for Australia in Lac-Beauport was Abbey Willcox, who narrowly missed finals by one place in 13th and Danielle Scott was 20th, while in the men’s event, Reilly Flanagan also finished 20th.

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

Australia has finished with four medals at the 2025 FIS World Championships in St Mortiz, Switzerland, after Danielle Scott claimed a bronze medal in the aerial skiing event on the last day of competition. The medal performance is Scott’s fourth World Championship podium over her decorated career.
 
Competing in warm conditions at the iconic Swiss resort, three Australian women competed in the best of two jump opening round of finals and Danielle Scott landed two great jumps to advance to the top-six super final in second place from her best score of 98.34 for her double full-full triple twisting double somersault.
 
Current World Cup Champion and two-time World Champion Laura Peel was very unlucky to miss out on the super final in seventh place, after touching a hand on landing on both her triple somersault jumps. Peel’s highest score was on her full-full-full jump with 85.86 points putting her in sixth place on the bubble for the super final but was relegated to seventh on the last jump of the round by Chinese skier Xuezheng Chen. Airliegh Frigo, was behind Peel in eighth landing both jumps with a best score of 79.06 on her full-full.
 
In the super final, Scott again put down another great score on her double full-full triple twisting double somersault, scoring 96.93 points to finish in third place and fourth career World Championship medal.
 
Finish ahead of Scott was American Kaila Kuhn who claimed the first victory of her career scoring 105.13 with Mengtao Xu of China in second on 99.16.
 
“So happy, I literally did everything I could, every jump today was on the money” said the 35-year-old Scott from NSW, who trains in Brisbane at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre water jump facility.”
 
“Not doing triple somersaults, I was really focused on myself and maximising those points and it did pay off, so I am really excited for what’s ahead now.”
 
“It’s been a bit funny here with the weather, we have had everything, flat light, snow, head and tail winds, and then the wind came in right on our last training jump, but the coaching team handled it well. This season has been a special one, the team around us has really bonded and that strength is showing, there is a lot of confidence in that and for me it’s about getting the speeds right, so thanks to the team.”
 
“Bring it on, I am so excited for the next 12 months, it’s been a bit of a rough run for me, I did barely any training heading into this season, due to a couple of personal reasons, but my Dad’s fighting, he’s doing well now, I dedicate this medal to him.”
 
Australia’s World Championship campaign has finished with four medals in St Moritz, snowboard halfpipe gold to James, silver in snowboard cross mixed teams to Mia Clift and Cam Bolton, bronze to Matt Graham in the dual moguls and Scott in the aerials.

VIS aerial skier Laura Peel won the final World Cup event of the season with a stunning performance on the 2026 Olympic course in Livigno, Italy, her fifth victory of the season and the 14th of her impressive career. In doing so, Peel claimed her third FIS World Cup Crystal Globe as the number one ranked athlete at the end of World Cup circuit.

Australian female aerial skiers have amassed a total of 14 Crystal Globes over the past 33 years. Peel now has the second-highest total among Australians with three, trailing only the legendary Jacqui Cooper, who has five. Other winners include Kirstie Marshall, Alisa Camplin, Lydia Lassila, and Danielle Scott.

Heading into to the final event, Peel had a near unbeatable lead in the standings and only needed to finish 12th or better to secure the title, leading Chinese skier Mengtao Xu by 78 points. Peel made sure of that by qualifying for the 12-woman final in second place. Joining Peel in finals were VIS teammates Airleigh Frigo in fifth, Abbey Willcox seventh and Danielle Scott 10th. Just missing finals action by one place was Elise Coleiro in 13th and in the men’s event Reilly Flanagan was 17th.

Peel performed a lay-full-full double twisting triple back somersault in the first round of finals, to advance to the top six super-final in second place on 91.83 points. Just missing out on the medal round were Abbey Willcox in seventh, Airleigh Frigo ninth and Danielle Scott 11th.

In the super-final Peel upped her degree of difficulty scoring what was an unbeatable 112.90 points for her spectacular full-full-full triple twisting triple back somersault in one of her best jumps of the season. Second place went to Xu of China on 105.17 and her teammate Meiting Chen was third on 91.44.

“I am so stoked, honestly I couldn’t be happier, it’s globe number three, I don’t think it gets any easier,” said the 35-year-old Peel from Canberra.

“That’s day four on this site now. I’ve got to say I really like it. It’s been working well for me, I’ve been jumping well. That’s a relief and I’m so excited to come back here for the Olympics.”

Peel finished the season number one on 542 points, 98 clear of Xu on 444 and Scott was third on 368, it is the sixth time in her career Scott has placed in the top three on final season rankings. Willcox and Frigo both had the highest rankings of their careers in fifth and 10th places respectively.

The season will conclude at the FIS World Championships in St Moritz, Switzerland. First up will be the aerial teams event on March 27, to be followed by individual qualifications on March 29 and finals March 30.

Peel, Scott, Willcox and Frigo will represent Australia in the women’s event and Flanagan will be the lone Aussie in the men’s competition.

Peel is aiming for her third World Championship gold in Switzerland. She commented, “pretty much keep the same plan, what I have been doing I just want to repeat the same at the World Champs, it’s a long season, everyone is getting a bit tired, but we are super exited to head to St Moritz and it’s the peak of our season.”

VIS aerial skiers Laura Peel and Danielle Scott made it a double World Cup podium celebration in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where Peel claimed gold and Scott bronze.
 
The victory completed a terrific turnaround for Peel, after qualifying in last place in the 12-woman final, but then landed both triple back somersaults in the first final and then the medal round to record the 13th World Cup victory of her career.
 
Four VIS women qualified for finals with Scott in first, Airleigh Frigo seventh, Abbey Willcox eighth and Peel in 12th. First year World Cup athlete, Elise Coleiro was 13th to just miss the final and matching her career best finish.
 
In the first round of finals, Peel performed a lay-full-full triple somersault scoring 93.85 placing her third, Scott scored 91.66 for her full-full double somersault putting her in fourth and Willcox made it three Aussies in the super-final in sixth place, scoring 84.96 for her full-full jump. Missing out on the super-final was Frigo in 12th on 60.79 for her full-full.
 
In the medal round, Peel increased her difficult adding an extra twist jumping full-full-full to score a massive 115.91 points in first place and her fourth victory of the season. Mengtao Xu of China was second on 101.74, Scott was third and after increasing her difficulty performing a double full-full (triple twisting double somersault) which scored 87.06. Willcox finished sixth jumping a different triple twist variation but missing the landing to score 65.56.
 
“I feel great, really relieved. I think I got a little lucky, I snuck into the final, so I’m just happy to be jumping,” said Peel, the 35-year-old double World Champion from Canberra.
 
In the men’s competition Reilly Flanagan performed a lay full single twisting double somersault to finish 31st.
 
With one event remaining, Peel is on 442 points on top of the World Cup standings, increasing her lead to 78 points ahead of Xu, Scott is third 98 points behind Peel. Also in the top-10 for Australia are Willcox sixth and Frigo ninth.
 
The final World Cup of the season will take place at the 2026 Olympic venue in Livigno, Italy, on March 13.
 
Peel is in prime position to secure her third career World Cup crystal globe if she can finish 12th or better in Italy.
 
Peel said: “I’m in a good spot, but I don’t want to get too ahead of myself. One jump at a time, but I’m really happy.”

VIS aerial skier Danielle Scott has finished third at the World Cup event in Beidahu, China, her third podium of the season and 23rd of her career.
 
The back-to-back defending World Cup Champion qualified for finals in fourth place after scoring 831.6 points for her full-full double twisting double back somersault. Joining Scott in finals jumping the same jump were Flying Kangaroos teammates Abbey Willcox in sixth on 79.38, Laura Peel seventh with 78.75 and Airleigh Frigo in 11th on 74.97.
 
In the first round of finals, Scott performed the same jump again, this time improving to the second highest score of the round on 90.40 to secure a place in the top-six super-final medal round. Joining Scott in the super-final was Willcox on 83.79, but missing out was Frigo in seventh on 80.95 for her full-full, and Peel in eighth who had trouble with landing the difficult lay-full-full triple back somersault with two twists, scoring 79.35.
 
In the super-final medal round, Scott increased her difficulty adding an extra twist from her previous jumps, performing a double full-full triple twisting double back somersault, scoring 89.18 from the judges to finish in third.
 
Willcox finished in fifth place scoring 78.88 points for her lay-full single twisting double back somersault.
 
Mengtao Xu of China was the winner, the 2022 Olympic champion scored 114.19, with her teammate Meiting Chen in second on 109.04, both Chinese jumpers performed a very difficult full-full-full, triple back somersault with three twists.
 
“It was a tricky day with the wind changing a lot, so I am happy to put my jumps down the way I did, and use that experience out there” said the 34-year-old Scott from NSW, who trains in Brisbane at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre water jump facility.
 
“This year I am not jumping triples, so it’s all about maximising those points with my doubles.”
 
Narrowly missing the 12-woman final in a career best finish was rookie Elise Coleiro in 13th and in the men’s event Reilly Flanagan was 30th.
 
After five events Peel is ranked first on the World standings on 342 points, with Scott and Xu of China tied for second on 284. Also in the top-10 are Australians Willcox in seventh and Frigo in eighth.
 
Australia seventh in mixed team event
In the mixed team event Australia was represented by Danielle Scott, Laura Peel and Reilly Flanagan, finishing in seventh place with a total score of 238.91.
 
Scott opened for Australia scoring 80.01 for her double full-full, Peel jumped full-full-full receiving 77.70, and Flanagan scored 81.20 for his lay-full.
 
The next World Cup event will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on March 2, with the World Cup final on the future 2026 Olympic venue in Livigno, Italy, on March 13.

VIS aerial skiers have swept the first four places at the iconic World Cup event in Deer Valley, USA, the first time Australia has filled the FIS World Cup podium in any winter sport.
 
Leading the way was two-time World Champion Laua Peel who claimed her third straight victory and 12th win of her impressive career, ahead of two-time defending World Cup champion Danielle Scott in second, Abbey Willcox was third and Airleigh Frigo fourth.
 
Competing on the historic 2002 Olympic Course, athletes encountered challenging weather throughout the week. Warm conditions led to the cancellation of two training days, and heavy snowfall on the event day forced the qualification round to be rescheduled to the night final session.
 
In difficult conditions, Peel reduced her degree of difficulty to double somersaults, scoring 87.88 points for her full-full double twisting double somersault jump and advancing to the top-six super final in first place. Willcox, Scott, and Frigo also performed the same full-full jump, securing second, third, and fourth places with scores of 82.53, 79.38, and 78.12, respectively.
 
In the super-final, athletes were able to perform the same jump from the qualification round. All Australian athletes chose to compete with the full-full jump. Peel narrowly clinched the win with a score of 87.57, followed closely by Scott, on 86.31. Willcox earned the bronze medal on 81.58, and Frigo was fourth place on 69.30.

“I am really happy to have the yellow leads bib, we are halfway through the season now, and three back-to-back-wins is super exciting, and tonight was so special having an Aussie sweep of the podium and Airleigh as well in fourth place” said Peel, the 35-year-old from Canberra.
 
“It’s incredible, I am so happy, Deer Valley really is a special place for me, it’s my second home, and to take out the sweep with Laura an Abbey and Airleigh in fourth, we are making history, it’s really cool for Australia” said Scott, the 34-year-old Scott from NSW.

“Every World Cup podium I have had has been in Deer Valley, so it’s cool to continue that streak, and to share it with two other Aussies and make history with a clean sweep” said Willcox, the 28-year-old Willcox from Brisbane.
 
Missing out on finals were rookie VIS Flying Kangaroos Sidney Stephens in 14th place, Elise Coleiro 15th, and Reilly Flanagan 24th.
 
After four events, Peel has extended her position at the top of the World Cup standings with an impressive 310 points. Scott has moved into second place with 224 points, while Willcox and Frigo are in eighth and ninth places with 138 and 133 points, respectively.
 
The next World Cup aerial skiing event is in China on February 23 & 24 at Beidahu ski resort.

Laura Peel has capped an extraordinary weekend by securing back-to-back gold medals at the World Cup event in Lac-Beauport, Canada. The VIS aerial skier again successfully jumped her spectacular triple back somersaults to lead a double Aussie podium celebration on the second day of competition, when VIS teammate Airleigh Frigo achieved her first career podium finish in third place.
 
In difficult conditions, four Australian women qualified for top 12 finals, Danielle Scott in second, Peel fourth, Abbey Willcox tenth and Frigo 12th, the most of any nation in the women’s event.
 
In the first round of finals, Peel advanced to the super-final medal round in first place after scoring 94.65 points for her lay-full-full triple somersault jump. Joining Peel in her first super-final was 25-year-old Frigo from Brisbane in fifth after scoring 83.47 with a full-full double somersault. Unlucky to miss the super-final were both Abbey WIllcox in seventh on 80.95 and Danielle Scott, eighth on 80.50.
 
In the super-final, Peel increased her degree of difficult adding an extra twist in her triple, scoring 102.17 for her full-full-full jump to record her 11th career World Cup victory. American Karenna Elliott was a distant second on 87.42, and Frigo celebrated her first podium in third, scoring 76.85 for her lay-full double back somersault and smashing her previous best World Cup finish of 12th.
 
“I feel relieved. It’s been all kinds of weather and it’s hard to stay calm up there and trust yourself” said Peel, the 35-year-old double World Champion from Canberra.
 
“I had my plan from the beginning. I didn’t want to change it. I wanted to be able to execute those jumps in all conditions. The difficulty will ramp up going into the (Milan-Cortina 2026) Games, and I want to be ready.
 
“It’s been some really early mornings and long days. I’ll relax for a couple of days, get some good sleep, and get back to work.”
 
Missing out on finals were other VIS Flying Kangaroos Elise Coleiro in 21st place, Sidney Stephens 29th and Reilly Flanagan 31st.
 
After three events, Peel has surged into first place on the World Cup standings on 210 points. Mengtao Xu of China follows in second on 184 and Elliott of the USA is third with 160 Australia has two more athletes in the top-10, Scott in fifth place on 144 points and Frigo in tenth with 83 points.
 
The next aerial skiing World Cup event is on February 7 in Deer Valley, USA, on the iconic “White Owl” 2002 Olympic Winter Games jump site, where Alisa Camplin made history by winning Australia’s first-ever skiing gold medal.

VIS double World Champion Laura Peel claimed her first victory of the season and tenth of her career in the first of two World Cup events in Lac Beauport, Canada.
 
Peel carried on her outstanding form from the team event in Lake Placid the previous  weekend to land both her spectacular triple back somersaults in the final rounds in freezing -20 temperatures.
 
In the first round of finals Peel performed a lay-full-full, double twisting triple back somersault to advance to the six-woman super-final with a score of 104.32 points in first place.
 
For the final jump of the event, Peel increased her degree of difficulty adding an extra twist, with her full-full-full, triple twisting triple back somersault, scoring a huge 117.19, finishing ahead of Chinese skiers Meiting Chen on 102.31 in second and Mengtao Xu in third with 92.72.
 
“Today was a good day, I am really happy with my jumping, I have been working to build consistency, and today it was three-from-three, and I hope it will be the same tomorrow” said the 35-year-old from Canberra.
 
“I have been at this a long time, this is maybe my twelfth of thirteenth year on tour, so I am used to being cold, but when you have a job to do you just put it to the back of your mind. I have a few cues that I tell myself before every jump, I am just trying to stay calm and focus on the process.”
 
Also in action were VIS teammates, Danielle Scott made first round of finals in eighth place and in the qualifications Sidney Stephens was 15th, Airleigh Frigo 19th, Abbey Willcox 21st, Elsie Coleiro 25th and Reilly Flanagan 36th.

VIS aerial skier Danielle Scott has made a great start to the World Cup season with a silver medal performance at the first event of the year in Lake Placid, USA, claiming the 22nd World Cup medal of her career.
 
The back-to-back defending World Cup Champion performed well in all three stages of the competition, placing second in the opening qualifications, and then secured her spot in the medal round by leading the first round of finals with an impressive full-full double twisting double back somersault that scored 92.29 points.
 
In the super-final medal round, Scott increased her degree of difficult to perform a triple twisting double back somersault, scoring 95.17 points and agonisingly close to victory by the small margin of 0.35 points.

2022 Olympic Champion Mengtao Xu of China won the gold medal scoring 95.52. Rounding out the podium in third with a score of 90.94 was Canadian Marion Thenault.
 
“Pretty stoked, it was awesome to get back in the start gate again, this year has been a pretty big ride on a rollercoaster, so grateful to just be here,” said the 34-year-old Scott from NSW, who trains in Brisbane at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre water jump facility.
 
“Today had everything weather wise, head winds to tail winds to falling snow, to everything changing on us in such small windows, very grateful and happy for my coaches for getting all the attention to detail right and trusting everything out there.
 
“Experience definitely played a big role, it wasn’t my first time dealing with tricky weather, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t with wind gusts, so you have to take it as it comes, and I am grateful for that experience.
 
VIS teammate Abbey Willcox also qualified for the final in fifth place and went on to finish in eighth in the first round of finals.
 
Missing out on the final was Airliegh Frigo in 20th and double World Champion Laura Peel in 21st
 
Also competing for Australia in their World Cup debuts were VIS development skiers Sidney Stephens in 28th, Elise Coleiro 29th and Reilly Flanagan 29th.

VIS double aerial skiing World Champion Laura Peel has commenced the Northern Hemisphere winter with a double gold medal performance in the European Cup events in Ruka, Finland, with teammates Abbey Willcox also claiming medals on both days and Danielle Scott finishing third in her one start at the event.
 
The VIS program has been training in Finland for the past month, with Continental Cup team skiers Miriana Perkins and Elise Coleiro performing their first ever double back somersaults on snow.
 
Over the weekend, two European Cup events took place in Ruka, the first aerial skiing competitions of the norther winter.
 
On day one, Peel led an Australian clean sweep of the podium with 94.82 points for her triple twisting double back somersault, with Abbey Willcox in second after scoring 78.12 for her full-full jump, with Danielle Scott in third on 76.49 for her triple twisting double back somersault. VIS aerial skier Miriana Perkins also qualified for the final, finishing in sixth place.
 
On day two, Peel made it back-to-back victories, performing the same triple twisting double back somersault in the final scoring 90.24 points, to finish ahead of Canada Marion Thenault on 87.42, and Willcox in third with 77.12 points. Scott chose not to compete in the second event.
 
The first World Cup of the season will take place in Lake Placid, USA, on January 18-19,
 
Day One

Women
1st Laura Peel
2nd Abbey Willcox
3rd Danielle Scott
6th Miriana Perkins
10th Airleigh Frigo
11th Sidney Stephens
12th Elise Coleiro

Men
26th Reilly Flanagan
 
Day Two

Women
1st Laura Peel
3rd Abbey Willcox
7th Elise Coleiro
10th Airleigh Frigo
12th Miriana Perkins
13th Sidney Stephens
 
Men
25th Reilly Flanagan

VIS double World Champion Laura Peel has claimed the 23rd World Cup podium of her career after finishing in third place in Changchun, China.

In difficult conditions, the three-time Olympian was one of two female athletes to perform spectacular triple back somersaults in the finals, and qualified for the medal round in second place after scoring 96.08 for her lay-tuck-full-triple with VIS teammate and reigning World Cup champion Danielle Scott also advancing in sixth place with 85.05 for her full-full double twisting double jump.

In the super-final Peel stepped up her degree of difficulty to perform a lay-full-full jump, but lost points from the judges on her landing, scoring 80.96 points, to finish behind the winner Winter Vinecki of the USA on 94.25 and China’s Fanyu Kong second with 81.42.

Scott finished in sixth place after wind impacted her back double full-full jump, sending her much bigger than expected impacting her landing, scoring 71.20 points.

Airleigh Frigo finished in 15th place in qualifying, just missing out on the 12-woman final.

Peel commented after the event.

“We had a tough few days of training in China with freezing temps and quite a bit of wind.

“It always feels great to finish on the podium, but I gave away a lot of points on my landing, so I’m looking forward to bigger and better things when the competitions kick off again in the new year.”

The aerial skiers now have over a month until their next World Cup event, which will take place on February 2 at Deer Valley, USA.

Australia’s female wintersport athletes have made it a four medal weekend to open the World Cup season, with aerial skier Danielle Scott claiming a silver medal in Ruka, Finland, and snowboard cross rider Belle Brockhoff finishing with a bronze in Les Deux Alpes, France, overnight.

Earlier in the weekend mogul skier Jakara Anthony took gold in Ruka and Tess Coady silver in the snowboard big air in Beijing, China.

For aerial skier Scott, the podium performance was the 17th of her World Cup career, and a strong start to defending her World Cup title of last season.

Scott qualified for the super-final in first place, and in the medal round scored 88.47 points for her double-full full jump.

Taking the win was Canadian Marion Thenault who scored 99.05 points for her full-double full jump, with Zhanbota Aldabergenova of Kazakhstan in third with 77.43 after jumping a lay-full.

Two-time World Champion Laura Peel again jumped her spectacular triple back somersault in finals, just missing the podium in fourth place by half a point, scoring 76.93 for her super difficult lay-full-full jump.

“Very happy, would have been nice to make it three wins in a row but that ok” said the 33-year-old Scott from NSW, who trains in Brisbane at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre water jump facility.

“I have had a pretty tough week, my legs have been cramping like no other, so it’s been really weird, but to end up on the podium I am super happy.”

“This season is going to be pretty chill for me, just keeping the body healthy doing some nice jumps, just maximising points.”

Also in action for Australia was Abbey Willcox who made the final in 12th place in her first World Cup since January 2022, and Airleigh Frigo in 17th.

The aerial skiing World Cup circuit now heads to Changchun, China, for a competition next weekend on December 16.

The first event for the FIS Freestyle World Cup season takes place this weekend in Ruka, Finland, with the Australian Aerial and Mogul skiing teams based at the Finish resort for a number of weeks, training on the World Cup courses in the lead in to the first event.

First up will be the Mogul World Cup on Saturday December 2, and the following day on Sunday December 3 it will be aerial skiers turn to compete, with Danielle Scott looking to defend her 2023 World Cup title alongside two-time World Champion and 2023 World Cup runner up Laura Peel.

Airleigh Frigo is keen to continue building momentum after her first full World Cup season and Abbey Willcox is returning to competition after a 12 month break.

"Training in Ruka has been good although slower than normal due to some weird muscles spasms in my quads," said Scott.

"Brisbane has been vital in my winter preparations for years now and I’m super grateful to be based on home soil with our own training times. I was able to spend a lot more time at home in between training which is huge for mental recovery."

"After a pretty big year last year, I’m just looking forward to some nice clean jumps and keeping my body feeling healthy."

"Right now with the slow start I’m just focusing on a day by day mentality."

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A glorious Brisbane day greeted competitors for the final of the FIS Freestyle Ski Summer Grand Prix Series, with competitors from Australia, Switzerland and Ukraine taking part.

The Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre at Sleeman Sports Complex hosted the final round of the Series which launched earlier this year with the opening two rounds taking place in USA and Switzerland.

Australian Airleigh Frigo took out today’s Freestyle Ski Summer Grand Prix, with a score of 85.36. The 24 year old finished ahead of fellow Aussie team mate Abbey Willcox (79.69) and Ukraine’s Diana Yablonska (68.44).

With today’s competition the first time in almost 20 years the Aussies have had the chance to compete on home soil, Frigo couldn’t be happier.

“It felt amazing, it was the first win for me in an Aerials competition and it was great to do it on home soil,” said Frigo.
“I train here all year round so I really know the facility and I think that was a huge advantage.

“It’s a great place to train, the weather is always great… hopefully there are more [events] to come in the future.
“With this facility we are able to train more and more often and get our jumps really good so when the winter comes it’ll all carry through.

“I’ll now finish off the water ramping season and then head overseas to start competing in World Cups.  We’ll be overseas until about March,” she said.

Missing from today’s line up was triple Olympian Laura Peel, who sadly sustained a calf injury during yesterday’s training. Despite not lining up, Peel took second overall in the Series.

In the men’s it came down to Switzerland's Pirmin Werner and Noe Roth.  Roth was the last athlete on course and favored to win the day and the Series crown. But on his last run he lost a ski mid air and while the rules permitted a rerun, it wasn’t enough to secure the win over his teammate Werner.

Werner said: “It feels amazing, it’s always nice when you win. It’s my second time here in Australia. We were here last year for a training camp and then our winter season was pretty successful so we decided to come again.”

Hundreds of fans turned out to watch the showcase event, with Werner admitting it added to the festivities.
“It’s always nice when you have a crowd.  I would love to come next year to compete. It’s awesome here, we always have a good time and the weather is awesome, and we can do a lot of good and difficult jumps,” he said.

Today’s event capped off the inaugural FIS Freestyle Ski Summer Grand Prix Series, with competitors set to return to training and finalise preparations ahead of the World Cup season in the northern hemisphere. 

For full results from today’s competition - click here.

MEDALISTS I Brisbane Freestyle Ski Summer Grand Prix Series

Women
1.    Airleigh Frigo (AUS) 85.36
2.    Abbey Willcox (AUS) 79.69
3.    Diana Yablonska (UKR) 68.44

Men
1.    Pirmin Werner (SUI) 146.37
2.    Dmytro Kotovskyi (UKR) 122.62
3.    Oleksandr Okipniuk (UKR) 120.00

Article courtesy BTB/Lauren Ryan
Images - Rogue Gun Photography

Laura Peel with Geoff Henke and her coach Mich Roth

Brisbane is all set to host the final leg of the inaugural FIS Freestyle Ski Summer Grand Prix Series tomorrow Saturday 9 September, at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre at Sleeman Sports Complex.

Athletes got their first taste of the venue at a training session today, with teams from Australia, Ukraine and Switzerland set to go head to head. 

Among the lineup is Australia’s triple Olympian and World Champion Laura Peel, who currently leads the Series. 
World Cup medalist and Olympic hopefully Abbey Willcox will be one of the Aussies featured in the line up tomorrow. She’s hoping to take advantage of her home ground. 

“Training went really well, this facility is absolutely incredible, it’s such a privilege to train here. I’m just working on a few little basics at the moment and looking forward to putting it down in competition tomorrow. 

“I don’t think Australia has held an aerials competition here in close to 20 years, so to be here in the Sunshine State competing in aerials skiing is a really cool experience.”

Switzerland's Noé Roth, Current World Champion, said the Brisbane facility is looking great and he’s excited to be down under to cap off the new Series. 

“I love it here, it’s a super beautiful place to be, it’s always a good time [in Brisbane]. I’m excited to jump tomorrow. 
“It’s going to be a really good show [tomorrow]... we’ve also got the Ukraine team here as well as the Australians. It’s going to be really good,” he said. 

Snow Australia CEO Michael Kennedy, said he hopes Brisbane locals will come along to enjoy this unique event. 
“We are thrilled to have Brisbane as the final destination of this inaugural FIS Freestyle Ski Summer Grand Prix Series.
“We have made this event free to the public to encourage as many locals to come along and see world class freestyle skiers in action.”

The FIS Summer Grand Prix will be held on Saturday 9 September at Sleeman Sports Complex, Old Cleveland Rd &, Tilley Rd, Chandler, Brisbane.

Gates open from 12:30pm with finals starting 1:00pm.  While tickets are free, spectators must register their attendance here.

Top Image - Abbey Willcox in action during official training © Rogue Gun Photography & Media

Swiss team Noe Roth (left) with his father and coach Mich Roth, and teammate Primin Werner

Aerial skier Danielle Scott has opened the medal tally for Australia at the 2023 FIS World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia, taking home the third World Championship medal of her career, after claiming a silver medal in tricky weather conditions.
 
Snowfall and strong winds forced the final to be postponed 24 hours, with conditions improving enough for the event to go ahead, but still giving athletes great difficulty, especially for those jumping the spectacular triple back somersaults.
 
After qualifying in first place for finals competition two days earlier, Scott stepped up her degree of difficulty in the first round of finals to perform a lay-full-full double twist triple back somersault, but with fresh snow making speed difficult, had trouble with her landing scoring 82.97 points to take the final spot in the six-woman medal round.
 
Scott elected to stick with triple somersaults for the final jump, performing a lay-tuck-full, a single twist triple somersault scoring 83.84 points, again marked down for her landing, putting her in second place behind event winner Fanyu Kong of China with 85.30 points. Rounding out the podium in third place with Ukrainian Anastasiya with 82.84.
 
Two-time World Champion Laura Peel was unlucky not to make the final round, missing out by one place in seventh after scoring 80.29 on her full-tuck-full triple somersault.
 
“It feels incredible, but it doesn’t quite feel real yet,” said the 32-year from NSW, who now trains in Brisbane at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre Water Jump facility.
 
“It’s been the craziest week, I didn’t actually think we’d be here, but here we are. I’m super happy and yeah, I’ve just got to let it sink in.”
 
“We didn’t know what today was going to be like after cancelling yesterday, so you just have to stay in the game, but also not over think it, because that’s really easy to do.”
 
“I committed to jumping triples, we went for a lay-tuck-full and it was really good, it was so close to taking the World Championship, but got to be happy.”

Danielle Scott has produced the highest scoring jump of her career to win gold at the aerial skiing World Cup in Deer Valley, USA, making it three victories so far for Australia at the iconic event, joining mogul skiers Matt Graham and Jakara Anthony as winners from the previous day.
 
The two-time World Championship medallist competed triple back somersaults for the first time this season, scoring 88.66 points in the first round of finals with her lay-tuck-full-jump to advance to the super-final in third place.
 
Scott then increased her degree of difficulty in the medal round, performing a lay-full-full, double twisting triple back somersault to score a massive 115.20 points, the highest scoring women’s jump of the season and the best of her career to claim her second victory of the season and seventh in her career.
 
Second place went to Canadian Marion Thenault who scored 97.99 points, with Chinese skier Fanyu Kong rounding out the podium in third with 94.11 points.
 
“I am lost for words actually, I am so pumped” said the 32-year-old three-time Olympian from NSW, who now trains in Brisbane at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre water jump facility.
 
“Everything went to plan, and to finally be doing triples again, it just feels so awesome, and I can’t wait for more girls to be doing them.”
 
“I am looking forward to the World Championships, got to keep building, I have a bit more degree of difficulty in the bag, and have to keep doing jumps like this.”
 
Two-time World Champion Laura Peel earlier qualified for finals in second place, but unfortunately was unable to land her lay-full-full triple back somersault in the first round of finals finishing in eighth place.
 
Also in action for Australia was Airleigh Frigo, who finished in 17th place during the qualification round.
 
The victory sees Scott move into first place on the World Cup standings with two events remaining for the season in March. Scott leads with 282 points, seven points clear of Canadian Thenault on 275, with Peel in third place with 182.
 
The aerial skiing athletes will now set their sights to the FIS World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia, on February 21-22, with the mogul skiers back competing tomorrow in the dual moguls event in Deer Valley.

Laura Peel has produced the highest scoring jump of the season to win gold at the World Cup aerial skiing event in Le Relais, Canada.

The VIS double World Champion was again the only female competitor to jump spectacular triple back somersaults, scoring a huge 109.15 points with her lay-full-full, double twisting triple somersault to record her eighth World Cup career victory.

Second place went to American Ashley Caldwell on 93.06 points, with Ukrainian Anastasiya Novosad rounding out the podium in third with 90.59 points.

Peel’s VIS teammate Danielle Scott also had a strong event and was unlucky not to land on the podium in fourth place. Scott had the highest scoring jumps in both qualifications and the first round of finals, and in the super final medal round scored 89.18 after a deep landing on her triple twisting double back somersault to just miss the podium by 1.41 points.

“I am so happy and honestly a bit relieved” said Peel, the 33-year-old from Canberra.

“It was a really tough start to the season, I wasn’t jumping how I wanted to in the competition, but I had been training well, and today I was able to do my training jumps in the competition, and I am so happy and just really relieved as well.”

“The plan doesn’t really change, keep working hard and doing my jumps, building my degree of difficulty and I just want to keep executing jumps like that every day.”

Also in action for Australia was Airleigh Frigo, who qualified for her first ever World Cup final, and recorded a personal best finish of 12th.

After three events Scott is ranked second on the World Cup standings with 182 points, trailing Canadian Marion Thenault in first place by 13 points. With her first-place finish, Peel has moved up to fifth on the rankings with 150 points.

The aerial skiing athletes will next be competing in the prestigious Deer Valley World Cup, site of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, on February 3.

Danielle Scott has capped off an amazing start to the season for Australia’s winter sports athletes, recording the third World Cup victory of the weekend overnight at the aerial skiing event in Ruka, Finland.
 
Scott joins Olympic Champion mogul skier Jakara Anthony and teenager snowboard cross rider Josie Baff in claiming gold, with Matt Graham also on the mogul skiing podium taking home a bronze medal.
 
In an impressive performance, Scott led from start to finish over the three rounds of the event, leaving her best jump for last scoring 99.05 with a near perfect “double full-full” triple twisting double back somersault jump.
 
Behind Scott on the podium was Canadian Marion Thenault with a score of 90.59 in second place, with Zhanbota Aldabergenova of Kazakhstan in third with 80.04 points.
 
“I can’t stop smiling, it’s been a really good day” said the 32-year-old three time Olympian from NSW, who now trains in Brisbane at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre water jump facility.
 
“I actually made it through each round in number one, and that was kind of my goal, to just keep doing my best every jump.”
 
“It’s been absolutely beautiful out, so this is what we love, and I love to jump.”
 
Double World Champion Laura Peel qualified for finals in fourth place, and was the only female to perform the high degree of difficulty triple back somersaults in finals, but was unable to land her jump successfully, finishing in 11th place.
 
Also competing for Australia were developing athletes Wesley Naylor and Airleigh Frigo, who both recorded personal best World Cup performances finishing  in 16th place.
 
The aerial skiing athletes will continue training in Europe before the World Cup tour resumes in Le Relais, Canada, in mid January.

Australia has recorded an amazing double podium performance, with Danielle Scott and Laura Peel taking home gold and silver at the aerial skiing World Cup event in Ruka, Finland.
 
The last time Australia recorded a double podium was four years ago in Lake Placid, USA, when Lydia Lassila and Laura Peel won medals in back-to-back World Cup events.
 
In a one jump competition, Scott scored a near perfect 102.93 points for her double full-full jump, a triple twisting double back somersault, to record the fifth World Cup victory of her career.
 
2021 World and World Cup Champion Peel performed a full-tuck-full, double twisting triple back somersault, scoring 99.37 points to finish in second place.
 
Rounding out the podium in third place was Mengtao Xu of China with a score of 98.28 points.
 
“Walking away with the gold today feels pretty amazing” said Scott, the 31-year-old double World Championship medallist.
 
“It’s been a bit of a slow, but good build to the season, I started doing triple back somersaults last week, but decided to compete double somersaults today.
 
“I have cracked the 100 point mark before on a triple twisting double, so I thought that would be my goal for today and ended up walking away with the win, which I am so incredible happy with.
 
“To have a teammate on the podium is pretty special, we have a pretty awesome team dynamic right now, and it’s even sweeter I guess.
 
“I spent lots of hours training at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre water jump at Brisbane’s Sleeman Sports Centre, which I am super grateful for, so it’s nice when hard work pays off. “
 
Also in action for Australia was Abbey Willcox, who recorded her best result of the season, finishing in 11th, with Airleigh Frigo in a personal best 19th place and Gabi Ash in 34th.
 
After four events, Danielle Scott is sitting in fourth place on the World Cup standings, with Laura Peel in fifth.
 
The aerial skiing World Cup tour will resume in the new year, with the next event taking place in Le Relais, Canada, on January 5.