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.

It was a tough night for the Aussies on the aerial hill at the Zhangjiakou Genting Snow Park, with intermittent light tail winds and the thermometer dropping below -30 degrees.

Training before the final saw almost all athletes struggle to find their feet, but on home territory the clear standout was Xu Mengtao who consistently landed her triple-twisting triple-back to eventually claim the gold.

Laura Peel and Danielle Scott both qualified for finals. Danielle was unable land either of her jumps in the finals, ending her Olympic campaign in tenth position. Laura scraped in a landing on her second jump to qualify for the super final in fourth position with 100.02 points. In the super final she crashed, ending the night in fifth position.

The debutant Gabi Ash, whose degree of difficult was the only thing stopping her from qualifying, performed strongly and has put herself in a great position for the future.

Laura, having performed strongly in the lead up to these Games, was extremely disappointed with her performance.

"Yep, I was pretty disappointed, and I know I can jump better than I did tonight," Laura said.

"I wish I would have done that.

"I don't really think that I have any excuses, I knew it was a big jump I had to stretch a little bit earlier. I waited until the last flip and that was a little bit too late and I couldn't put it to my feet.

"That jump is well with in my range, I can do it really nicely. At the last comp I scored 118 points on it, so I can do it a lot better than I did it tonight."

Danielle was equally disappointed. She pushed it really hard but was unable to find her feet on the night.

"It's brutal out here. I tried to give it my everything, but it's a lot of pressure. I really tried to put it all on the line but I was just feeling a little off, I guess you know it was just not what I wanted."

When talking about her future she spoke about being able to train at home and the convenience of Brisbane's Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre.

"With the water ramp in Australia now it makes our life a lot easier. We can now actually spend some time on home soil."

23-year-old Gabi Ash put down two solid jumps in qualifying, but didn't make it into the finals due to having a lower degree of difficult than the rest of the field.

"[I was] pretty excited I got two jumps to my feet, and they were clean so I'm really happy. I could have done the first one a bit better but all in all, I'm pretty happy," Gabi said.

"The main thing that I've learned through this experience is just to enjoy the sport that I'm doing here. Everyone has been great, so supportive and helpful. It's just been a really fun experience all around."

She is also looking forward to getting home and training in Brisbane.

"It's awesome to have a training facility that is on home soil that we can easily get too and maybe be able to study, see family and friends. There's a lot more of a work-life balance."

olympics.com.au
Jonathan Sweet

Laura Peel and Danielle Scott are currently ranked third and fourth in the world respectively, yesterday they wasted no time pulling out big tricks and establishing strong foundations as they build up to the aerials competition.
 
Laura completed a triple twisting triple backflip (or full, full, full) in training yesterday, while Danielle got up to speed and is poised to move onto the triple kicker jump tomorrow.

Gabi Ash is building and continues to increase her degree of difficulty towards the competition.

Laura took some time out to talk about her first day jumping triples on the Beijing site.

"I felt good. First day on the triples today so just building up," she said.

"Really stoked with my training session and we will come out and do more tomorrow."

Laura spoke about getting up to speed with triples relatively early in her training program.

"I think you've got to show people what you've got at this point in time. I think if you want to be as successful as you can be, it's best to stay focused on yourself and just get your jumps done."

Danielle is finding her rhythm on the new site and beginning to dial in some strong foundations as she moves through to her bigger tricks.

"Yeah, day two on the site today so it's still a bit of an adjustment phase getting used to a new site," Danielle said.

"But I'm happy with the way my jumps are going."

"I'll start doing triples tomorrow, [I was] just dialling in the doubles today and yesterday. Each day is a new day to figure out what we are doing."

Danielle was hopeful when asked if she will perform the triple twisting, triple backflip she showed at Deer Valley, USA.

"Yeah that's the plan. Depending on all the conditions here, things can change pretty quickly here but yeah, that is the plan."

Gabi, making her Olympic debut, felt comfortable with the state-of-the-art jump site at Genting Snow Park.

"It's day two, so still getting used to the site a bit but the site is really great with the wind wall. The jumps are the same we've had all season, so just getting used to it.

"[Training] was pretty easy, that was not my degree of difficulty. It's kind of more getting used to it and I'll probably do my degree of difficulty tomorrow."

Gabi's sister Sophie Ash competed in the women's moguls on Sunday night and was proud of her sister's achievements.

"It was nice to go out and watch her event, she did three really nice runs. I think she should be proud."

The women's aerial skiing qualifying will get the girls underway on Sunday 13 February at 10pm AEDT.

olympics.com.au
Jonathan Sweet

Laura Peel has produced one of the highest scoring jumps of all time to win gold at the World Cup aerial skiing event in Deer Valley, USA.
 
Peel scored an amazing 118.05 points with her full-full-full, triple twisting triple back somersault, to record the seventh World Cup victory of her career and winning by almost 35 points. Peel’s score was so impressive, it would have put her on the podium in the men’s event.
 
Second place went to China’s Kong Fanyu who scored 84.58 points, with Hanna Huskova rounding out the podium in third with 82.65 points.
 
Danielle Scott almost made it a double podium for Australia, finishing in fourth place after attempting her first ever full-full-full in competition, which scored 80.27 points after having trouble with her landing. Scott had earlier won the qualification round and then qualified for the super final in first place with her full-tuck-full, double twisting triple somersault scoring 103.74 points.
 
“Obviously a great day today, I feel like I have been working for a long time to put down a jump like this” said Peel, the 32-year-old from Canberra.
 
“To do it right ahead of the Olympic Games is amazing.”
 
“I’ve been putting the work on the triple for a few seasons now, and I’m always very grateful for the experience I have when things get tough.”
 
“So many people have helped me get to this point in my career and continue to help me chase my dreams everyday, but when I started working with my coach Mich Roth three years ago things started to click, we make a great team.”
 
Just missing out on the 12-woman final was Gabi Ash in 13th, with Abbey Willcox in 22nd. In the men’s event Wesley Naylor finished in 35th place.
 
After six events this season, Peel has now moved into third place on the World Cup standings with Scott one spot behind in fourth.
 
The aerial skiing athletes will now head to Le Relais, Canada, for a training camp to prepare for the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.

Danielle Scott has made a strong start to 2022, narrowly missed the podium in fourth place at the World Cup event in Le Relais, Canada, moving her up to third place on the World Cup standings.
 
Scott had a number of impressive jumps on the day, qualifying for finals in second place with her double full-full scoring  90.94 points.
 
In the first round of finals, Scott increased her degree of difficulty jumping triple back somersaults, performing a lay-tuck-full which scored 97.57 points to advance to the super final in second place.
 
Scott added an extra twist to her triple back somersault jump in the super final, performing a full-tuck-full, but unfortunately was marked down on her landing to score 79.89 points, putting her in fourth position.
 
Taking the win was Chinese jumper Mengtao Xu who scored 103.92 points, with Canadian Marion Thenault in second with 93.41 and anther Chinese athlete Fanyu Kong rounding out the podium in third place with a score of 92.70.
 
“So close to the podium today”, said the 31-year-old double World Championship medallist.
 
“Next stop Deer Valley and triple (somersault) hungry.”
 
Also in action for Australia was Abbey Willcox in 15th, Laura Peel 16th and Gabi Ash 17th. In the men’s event Wesley Naylor placed a personal best 24th.
 
The World Cup tour will now head to Deer Valley, Utah, USA, for a competition on January 12, this will be the final event before the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

IMAGE: Laura Peel in action in Le Relais

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.

Danielle Scott has continued her strong start to the 2021-2022 World Cup season, finishing in equal fifth place overnight in Ruka, Finland.
 
Improving on her eighth place finish in the first day of competition yesterday, Scott performed her double full-full, triple twisting double back somersault, scoring 89.18 points in the one jump competition.
 
The 31-year-old relocated to Queensland in order to train at the brand new Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre water jump facility at Brisbane’s Sleeman Sports Centre and will look to increase her degree of difficulty in her jumps as the season progresses.
 
“It’s been a pretty good start to the season, just slowly building” said the double World Championship medallist.
 
“It’s crazy, we are finally in the fourth year of the Olympic quad, it feels like a long time coming, just with COVID and everything being so different, but I feel ready, and we have to keep building, it’s only December.”
 
2021 World Cup and World Champion Laura Peel again jumped the highest degree of difficulty in the women’s field, with her full-full-full triples twisting triple back somersault scoring 76.84 points after having trouble with her landing, giving her a final ranking of 13th.
 
“I am getting up there with degree of difficulty, so I am putting in the work for what’s ahead in the season” said the two-time winter Olympian from Canberra.
 
China took the top two places on the podium, with Mengtao Xu in first place with a score of 99.49 points, with her teammate Fanyu Kong in second with a score of 95.52. Rounding out the podium was Hanna Huskova of Belarus in third place with a score of 94.60.
 
Also competing for Australia in the women’s event were Gabi Ash in 26th place, Abbey Willcox in 31st and Airleigh Frigo in 37th. In the men’s event, Wesley Naylor finished in 43rd place.
 
Australia also competed in the mixed aerials team event in Ruka, with the team of Danielle Scott, Laura Peel and Wesley Naylor finishing in seventh place out of ten nations. The mixed aerials team competition will make its debut at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games.
 
The aerial skiing athletes will remain in Ruka for one more week, with more World Cup events scheduled to take place in the Finish resort next weekend.

The aerial skiing World Cup season has commenced with a double event overnight in Ruka, Finland, with Laura Peel narrowly missing out on the podium in fourth place.
 
The 2021 World and World Cup Champion from Canberra was the only female athlete to jump triple back somersaults in finals and had the highest scoring jump of the day, scoring 97.38 points with her full-tuck-full, double twisting triple back somersault to advance to the top-six medal round in first place.
 
In the medal round, Peel was performing the difficult full-full-full triple twisting triple back somersault jump, but unfortunately had trouble on landing to score 77.70 points to just fall short of the podium.
 
While disappointed to miss the podium, Peel showed her class as the only triple jumper in a positive sign for the upcoming season.
 
Two-time Olympian and multiple World Championship medallist Danielle Scott qualified strongly in second place, and in finals just missed out on the medal round by less than two points, after scoring 79.38 points with her double full-full, triple twisting double back somersault.
 
Fanyu Kong from China took the win with a score of 89.53 points, with a tie for second place with Zhanbota Aldabergenova of Kazakhstan and Qi Shao of China both scoring 80.04 points.
 
Abbey Willcox made a strong return to competition after missing last season due to injury, just missing the 12-woman final in 14th place, with Gabi Ash in 27th and Airleigh Frigo 32nd in her World Cup debut.
 
Also making his World Cup debut in the men’s event was Wesley Naylor, who finished in 28th place.
 
The aerial skiing athletes will be back in action tonight in Ruka, with a single round World Cup and mixed team event to take place.

Laura Peel has added another title to her impressive season, securing back-to-back aerial skiing World Cup Crystal Globes after finishing sixth overnight in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The 31-year-old double World Champion from Canberra now joins legends of the sport Jacqui Cooper and Alisa Camplin as multiple World Cup champions.

Peel was again the dominant athlete of the season performing the most difficult triple back somersaults at each event, recording four World Cup podium performances and the second World Championship gold medal of her career earlier in the week in Almaty.

Joining Peel in the super final was VIS teammate Danielle Scott who also jumped a number of triple back somersaults in finals.

Unfortunately in the super-final medal round both Scott and Peel had trouble landing their triple back somersaults finishing in in fifth and sixth place respectively.

Gabi Ash finished in ninth after earlier qualifying for finals in a personal best fourth place.

“It’s been a massive week, but honestly I could not have asked for more, I started the season with the yellow leaders bib and to finish with the yellow bib and a World Championship win is the dream ending really”, said Peel after receiving her Crystal Globe.

“It’s been nine months now that I have been on the road so looking forward to heading home.”

Peel finished the season on top of the World Cup standings with 450 points, followed by American Winter Vinecki with 343 points with Marion Thenault of Canada in third with 312 points.

Australian aerial skier Laura Peel has won gold at the FIS World Championships, performing a number of spectacular triple back somersaults to claim victory in Almaty, Kazakhstan, overnight.
 
The 31-year-old from Canberra is now the first ever Australian aerial skier to win two World Championship gold medals, having first won gold in Kreischberg, Austria, in 2015.
 
In the super final, Peel competed one of the most difficult jumps ever performed by a female competitor, full-full-full, a triple twisting triple back somersault scoring a huge 106.46 points to take the win.
 
Behind Peel on the podium was American Ashley Caldwell who also jumped a full-full-full with 101.74 points and Russian Liubov Nikitina on 94.47 points.
 
Narrowly missing the medals in fourth place was Australian teammate Danielle Scott who also performed high scoring triple somersaults throughout the day and won the earlier qualification round in only her second competition start since the Olympic final in 2018.
 
Behind Peel on the podium was American Ashley Caldwell with 101.74 points and Russian Liubov Nikitina in third place on 94.47 points.
 
“Honestly the second time feels even better”, said Peel after stepping off the podium.
 
“My qualification jumps were not my best, but I saved my best for the final, it’s only the second time I have competed that jump, I am so happy to put it down.”
 
The aerial skiers will remain in Almaty for the World Cup final which will take place on March 13, when Peel will be aiming to make it back to back World Cup titles.
 
Peel is currently in first place on the standings with 410 points, 67 points clear of the next ranked skier, Winter Vinecki of the USA. Peel needs to finish in seventh place or better to secure the title and season champion Crystal Globe.
 

VIS aerial skier Danielle Scott has returned to competition in the best possible way, taking the gold medal in Deer Valley, USA, her first event since the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
 
The 30-year-old dual World Championship medallist scored 90.59 points with her back double full-full (a triple twisting double back somersault), to record the fourth victory and eleventh podium performance of her World Cup career.
 
Scott made great progress in her return to sport training at the new world class Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre Water Ramp facility located at Brisbane’s Sleeman Sports Centre.
 
World number one Laura Peel won both of the earlier rounds and was the only female in the super final to jump triple back somersaults. Peel had issues with her speed on her final jump with the snow conditions constantly changing in the sun and was unable to complete her nominated jump and received no score from the judges to put her in sixth place.
 
“I am beside myself, this is crazy, it’s been a long time since competing and I love this sport and this is probably the best welcome back ever”, Scott said.
 
“Today was good, it was interesting with the conditions, but I started off training really well, put down a good qualifying jump, continued on with training and finals and put down everything I needed to.
 
“This is a good confidence boost for the World Championships next month, this is obviously my first competition back so I needed that and I am really excited for what’s ahead.”
 
Rounding out the podium was American Winter Vinecki in second place with her teammate Kaila Kuhn in third.
 
Scott and Peel's VIS teammate Gabi Ash also had a successful first event of her season in Deer Valley, with a personal best seventh place finish, giving Australia three top ten performances.
 
With one World Cup remaining for the season, Peel maintains her lead as the number one aerial skier in the world with 410 points, with Winter Vinecki the only possible challenger for the Crystal Globe, trailing on the standings by 67 points.

The aerial skiing athletes will head to Almaty, Kazakhstan, for the World Championships on March 10 and World Cup final at the same location on March 13.
 
IMAGE: Dani Scott standing on the winner dais at Deer Valley  © US Ski Team

Australia’s world number one aerial skier Laura Peel has won her fourth World Cup medal of the season, taking silver under lights at the Raubichi (Minsk) jump site in Belarus.

The 31-year-old World Champion from Canberra placed fourth in the qualification round before stepping it up in the first round of finals jumping her signature triple back somersaults to advance to the medal round in first place.

Peel was one of two female jumpers to perform a triple somersault in the medal round, scoring 89.04 points with her full-tuck-full jump narrowly missing out on victory by the small margin of 0.84 points.

Taking the win was Megan Nick of the USA with 89.88 points, with her American teammate Winter Vinecki in third place with 88.12 points.

"Happy to take silver after a tough week of training", Peel posted after the event.

In the aerial skiing World Cup standings, Peel has increased her lead as number one in the world with 370 points after five competitions. Winter Vinecki is in second place with 263 points Megan Nick in third place with 238 points.

The aerial skiing World Cup tour will now head to Deer Valley, UT, USA, for the next round of competition on the prestigious 2002 Olympic course.

It was another successful event  for VIS world number one Laura Peel at the World Cup aerial skiing event in Moscow, Russia, narrowly missing the win with a silver medal under lights for her third medal of the season.
 
The 31-year-old World Champion from Canberra placed first in both the qualification and first round of finals at the spectacular scaffold venue.
 
Peel was the only female to perform triple somersault in the medal round, scoring 92.72 points with her newest triple twisting triple somersault (Full-Full-Full) jump which was extremely unlucky not to score higher.
 
Taking the win was American Winter Vinecki with 94.11 points, with Marion Thenault of Canada in third place with 90.59
 
“I am making progress, very happy to have landed my first Full-Full-Full in competition”, Peel said after the event.
 
In the aerial skiing World Cup standings Peel maintained the world number one yellow leader’s bib on top of the field with a 290 points after four competitions. With her victory in Moscow, Winter Vinecki moves into second place with 203 points, with her American teammate Ashley Caldwell in third place with 190 points.
 
Peel will be back in action next weekend competing in another night time city event in Minsk, Belarus, on January 30.
 
IMAGE: Laura Peel soaring high above Moscow © FIS

It was another golden performance for Australia’s Laura Peel overnight at the World Cup aerial skiing event in Yaroslavl, Russia, under lights taking victory for the second consecutive time this season.
 
The 31 year old World Champion from Canberra was the only female to perform triple somersault in the medal round, scoring 96.59 points with her full-tuck-full jump.
 
“I competed in my first ever World Cup 10 years ago today and celebrated the occasion with a win in Yaroslavl today”, Peel said after claiming the sixth World Cup victory of her career.
 
“It has been one hell of a ride, and we get to do it all again tomorrow.”
Behind Peel on the podium was American Ashley Caldwell (96.23) in second and Liubov Nikitina of Russia (93.41) in third.
 
Peels teammate Abbey Willcox qualified for finals in eighth place but was unable to take part after crashing her last jump in finals training and injuring her knee.
 
In the aerial skiing World Cup standings Peel maintained the world number one yellow leader’s bib on top of the field with a perfect 200 points after two competitions. Emma Weiss of Germany sits in second place with 109 points, with Ashley Caldwell in third place with 100 points.
 
Peel will be back in action tomorrow competing in the second World Cup event in Yaroslavl.

It was a golden World Cup opener for Australia’s Laura Peel at the FIS Aerial Skiing event in Ruka, Finland, this morning (Australia time).
 
The 2019-2020 World Cup Champion and world number one from Canberra had an impressive day, finishing in first place in each stage of the competition, and was the only female competitor to jump triple somersaults.
 
Peel qualified for finals in first place scoring 88.51 points with a full-full, double twisting double back somersault.
 
In the first round of finals, Peel increased her degree of difficulty to jump a lay-tuck-full, single twisting triple back somersault scoring a huge 101.28 points, her highest score of the day.
 
In the super final medal round, Peel added an extra twist to her triple back somersault, performing a full-tuck-full jump scoring 83.87 points to record victory ahead of German Emma Weiss with a score of 80.95 with Russian Anastasiia Prytkova rounding out the podium with 71.53 points.
 
“It’s amazing to be back on snow competing”, commented Peel after stepping off the podium.
 
“We’ve had so many question marks surrounding whether or not the season would go ahead, so we’re all stoked to be back out there jumping. Starting the season off with a win is a dream.”
 
“I didn’t nail the landing on my final jump, but I was pushing the DD and tonight that paid off. I know I can’t rely on that though, so I’m motivated to keep working out all the details in training.”
 
“Last season we started working on my triples with the goal of Beijing 2022 in mind, that’s still the goal and I’m just focusing on doing my best jumps to be as best prepared as I can be when the Olympics roll around.”
 
“I’m really happy with the work that I’ve done on the triple over the last year. I’m also excited to have a bit more time on snow and bring over some of the work from my summer training.”
 
“I am definitely excited to hold on to the leaders bib, any day in yellow is a good day.”
 
The performance marks the fifth World Cup victory of the 31 year old athletes career (5 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze).
 
The next stop currently scheduled on the World Cup tour for the aerial skiing athletes will take place in Yaroslavl, Russia, on January 16-17.

The Aerial Skiing program completed training camps at the Snow Australia water ramp facility in Victoria’s Yarra Ranges throughout May and June, before travelling to Mt Buller to train at the Olympic Training Centre facilities at the start of July.
 
The program relocated to NSW in mid-July following COVID restrictions being implemented in Victoria. The athletes and staff remained in Jindabyne throughout the domestic winter training on snow at Thredbo and utilising the acrobatic facilities onsite at Jindabyne Sport and Recreation Centre (JS&RC).
 
The highlight of the year was no doubt the opening of the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre at Brisbane’s Sleeman Sports Centre. Australia’s freestyle skiers finally have a world class water jump in our own backyard.
 
Danielle Scott, Abbey Wilcox, Gabi Ash and Aerleigh Frigo commenced training at the new Henke Centre facility in late September, under the guidance of Olympic Silver Medalist and coach David Morris. The athletes plan to transfer the jumps from water to snow during the northern hemisphere winter.
 
Current World Cup Champion Laura Peel relocated to Switzerland at the start of July, completing a full summer of water ramp training, and then an on snow jumping block on the glacier in Saas Fee.
 
Peel will be the only Australian aerial skier in action in the opening World Cup of the season this weekend in Ruka, Finland, with her teammates continuing to train at the Henke Centre in Brisbane.

In the lead-up to the 2020/21 FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup season we'll be interviewing some of last season's crystal globe winners to find out what they've been up to in the off-season, what they're looking forward as we head into winter, and hopefully a little bit more about what it's like behind the scenes for some of snowboarding's top riders. Today we're catching up with 2019/20 aerials crystal globe winner Laura Peel of Australia…

At the final event of the 2019/20 season in Krasnoyarsk (RUS) Peel grabbed her second victory of the campaign to put the icing on the cake of the most successful season of her career, as the 30-year-old member of the “Flying Kangaroos” team clinched her first aerials World Cup crystal globe. It took Peel almost 10 years of competing on the World Cup tour to finally finish the season on the number one spot. In almost a decade on tour the Aussie skier managed to reach some very impressive milestones including 13 World Cup podiums and four victories, as well as the 2015 FIS World Championships gold medal from Kreischberg (AUT).

FIS - You have worked very hard to earn your first crystal globe this past season. What did this victory mean to you? Also what was going on inside your head when you won the final event in Krasnoyarsk and clinched the World Cup title?
Laura Peel - Winning a crystal globe had been a goal of mine for almost a decade and it came down to the very last event of the 19/20 season. Putting that final jump to my feet in Krasnoyarsk and walking away with a World Cup win and the globe was a combination of relief and pure bliss. 

FIS - What made this past campaign so special and what was the decisive factor that drove you to the top of the World Cup ranking?
LP - The 19/20 season was pretty special for me for a couple of reasons. Obviously, I won the globe which has been a career goal for a long time, but I also competed triples for the first time. Hitting the biggest jump is a milestone in any aerialist’s career, being able to compete them at every World Cup event throughout the season and pushing both my physical and mental limits is something that I’m very proud of, and ultimately it paid off! 

FIS - Your first start at World Cup was back in 2011. What is the most memorable moment for you in what has been almost 10 years on tour now?
LP - After almost a decade on the World Cup circuit I’ve been lucky enough to reach some pretty cool milestones and create a lot of memories with a lot of great people. Of course, the Olympics will always be special, and my 2015 World Championship win but so far my 19/20 season tops the list, I was jumping the way I had wanted to jump for a long time and will hopefully be able to carry that forward into this season as well!

FIS - Obviously it was an off-season unlike any we’ve ever seen before, with the pandemic going on. What did you do to stay level and stay focused even with everything going on in the world?
LP - Things were definitely very different this off-season. We were lucky enough to squeeze-in our last World Cup event in March before everything got shut down, but after that things looked very different. I went home to Australia where I trained at home while I waited for international borders to open up again, that never really happened, but fortunately I was able to get over to Switzerland to start training with my coach in July. It hasn’t been easy being away from home for so long, but I just try to focus on the bigger picture and keep perspective - we’re very fortunate that we’re able to train and compete this season! 

FIS - Going into a new season with World Championships in February, what are your main focus points? Will another crystal globe be on the list of goals? World Championships medal?
LP - Of course going into this season I’d love to walk away with another globe and a World Champs medal, but early on in the season I’m just trying to focus on the process. I hoping to do a new jump this season, so really want to dial in the basics so I can start pushing my DD (Degree of Difficulty). 

FIS - What is it that you love most about aerial skiing?
LP - I love that aerial skiing pushes me to my absolute limit, it’s pretty cool to see how far you can go, and usually it’s a lot further than you think. I also love being outside in nature and traveling to some really interesting and amazing places.

ARTICLE COURTESY OF FIS

Crystal Globes winners, snowboarder Scotty James and aerial skier Laura Peel, were today named the joint winners of the Olympic Athlete of the Year title for the 2020 Snow Australia Awards.
 
After an outstanding Northern winter that saw them both finish the season ranked number one in the World, the pair once again have been named joint winners of the award, previously sharing the title in 2015. 
 
Triple Olympian James now becomes the first person in history of the Snow Australia Awards to win the Athlete of the Year Award four times.
 
It was an extraordinary season for both athletes, with dual Olympian Peel claiming her career first Crystal Globe, and James becoming the overall season champion for the third time.
 
Peel finished the season with two gold, one silver and one bronze medal, in her first year jumping triple back somersaults.
 
The 30-year-old Canberra local said that this season far exceeded the expectations she had set for herself before it commenced.
 
“It was a great season - was pretty magic for me,” Peel said.
 
“I went in doing triples and completing triples for the first time - so the goal wasn’t to win the Crystal Globe, it was to gain some experience doing triples.
 
“But that (winning the Crystal Globe) has been a dream of mine pretty much since I started the sport so this was a really amazing season,” she said.
 
James successfully defended his X-Games titles and won the Dew Tour event in Copper Mountain. He qualified first in every World Cup event, before going on to finish the season with three golds and one silver World Cup medals.
 
James echoed Peel’s sentiments, adding that he feels extremely honoured to be named Athlete of the Year amongst some great talent in his fellow finalists.
 
“It’s getting harder every year to win this award, so each year brings a different excitement,” James said.
 
“I’m very happy to be the winner of this award, alongside Laura again. She’s been amazing and I’ve been watching from afar. As winter athletes we don’t get to be together that often so it’s been good to watch and support each other from afar.”
 
Snow Australia Chief Executive Officer Michael Kennedy said he couldn’t think of two more deserving winners for the title of Athlete of the Year (Olympic Disciplines) than Scotty and Laura.
 
“Scotty and Laura had fantastic seasons. They are both pushing themselves and their sport to the next level,” Kennedy said.
 
“Scotty’s consistent results made him unstoppable this season and it’s great to see him once again be crowned our Athlete of the Year,” he said.
 
“As for Laura, she now joins Aerials royalty in becoming World Cup Champion joining the greats of our sport in Kirstie Marshall, Jacqui Cooper, Alisa Camplin and Lydia Lassila in that honour.
 
The Athlete of the Year award caps off what has been a fantastic celebration of Australia’s snowsports athletes as part of the 2020 Snow Australia Awards online.
 
For a full list of Award winners - click here.
 

Australian aerial skier Laura Peel has won gold overnight at the Siberian resort of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, securing her first ever FIS World Cup champion title.
 
The World Cup title is the tenth “crystal globe” won by Australian aerial skiers, with Peel joining legends of the sport Kirstie Marshall, Jacqui Cooper, Alisa Camplin and Lydia Lassila as World Cup champions.
 
Before the competition Peel was sitting just 44 points ahead of China’s Xu Mengtao in the women’s World Cup ranking, with the final jumps of the season deciding who would take home the overall season title.
 
When Xu failed to land her jump cleanly in the first round of finals and missed the cut into the top six final round, it was clear that Peel would be victorious. Despite having secured the crystal globe in the middle of the competition, Peel still stepped it up on her final attempt on the day. As the last athlete in the women’s competition, the 2015 World Champion from Canberra executed her most difficult full-tuck-full triple somersault perfectly to win the competition with a final score of 96.99 points.
 
“It’s hard to put it into words at the moment,” said Peel, “I honestly couldn’t be happier right now.
 
“It’s my first globe and it’s been almost 10 years working towards it. I have a great team around me and I’m super stoked with the result today.”
 
Behind Peel on the podium was China's Xu Sicun with a score of 95.86 in second place and American Ashley Caldwell in third with 88.83 points.
 
In winning gold, the performance marks the 13th World Cup podium of the 30 year old athletes career (4 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze).
 
Peel’s teammate Abbey Willcox also reached the top six super final finishing in fifth place, ending the season ranked a personal best seventh place on the World Cup standings.

VIS Aerial Skier Laura Peel has moved into number one on the World Cup standings with one event remaining, after finishing fourth in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Peel qualified for finals in first place, and went through to the medal final also in first, but unfortunately missed her landing on her Full-Tuck-Full triple back somersault, just missing the podium by one place.

Taking the win was Nadiya Mokhnatska of the Ukraine, with American Megan Nick in second, and local skier Zhanbota Aldabergenova of Kazakhstan in third.

Ahead of the final event, Peel sits in first in place on the World Cup standings with 369 points, with Mengtao Xu of China in second with 325 points, and Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya from Belarus third with 260 points.

Abbey Willcox finished in 14th place, and currently sits 12th on the standings.

The final event of the season will take place in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, on March 8th.

Australian aerial skier Laura Peel has claimed victory overnight at the FIS World Cup event at the Raubichi ski resort in Minsk, Belarus, recording her first gold medal and third podium performance of the season.
 
The 2015 World Champion from Canberra achieved the highest jump score of her career to win gold, scoring a huge 106.53 points with her full-tuck-full, double twisting, triple backflip somersault.  
 
Rounding out the podium was Mengtao Xu of China, and her teammate Sicun Xu in third.
 
“It’s an amazing feeling”, an excited Peel commented after the event.
 
“I’ve definitely been wanting to crack the 100 point mark for a while, I came pretty close last week. But to put down my best jumps when it matters is awesome, all the hard work is coming together.”
 
“It was tough out there, last week we weren’t sure if the event would even be able to go ahead but everyone put in a lot of work so we could jump tonight. We didn’t get a lot of training jumps and today we had some wind and rain, but I think it’s those kind of moments where my experience really pays off.”
 
“We’ve got two events left and I want to keep doing my best jumps and gain more and more experience on the triple.”
 
The performance marks the third World Cup victory of the VIS athletes career (3 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze).
 
Following the victory, Peel has now moved up into second place on the FIS World Cup standings with two events remaining in the season. Peel is on 319 points, just 6 points behind World Cup leader Mengtao Xu of China.

Unfortunately VIS teammate Abbey Willcox was unable to compete after sustaining an injury during training.

The next stop on the World Cup tour for the aerial skiing athletes will take place next weekend in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

VIS aerial skier Laura Peel has claimed a silver medal in a spectacular city venue located in downtown Moscow, Russia, her second World Cup podium performance of the season.
 
The 2015 World Champion from Canberra performed one of the best triple back somersaults of her career in the first round of finals, with her lay-tuck-full jump scoring 98.68 points to advance to the super final in first place.
 
In the super final medal round, Peel increased her degree of difficulty, adding an extra twist to her triple, competing a full-tuck-full jump. Peel scored 91.42 points to finish in second place, with Belarusian Hannah Huskova taking the win and Russian Sofia Alekseeva rounding out the podium in third place.
 
“I’m really happy with how my season is going,” Peel commented after the event.
 
“The plan going in was to qualify for finals with my triple twisting doubles and keep them at a high standard and then compete triples for finals. It’s my first year on the triple and I’m getting a lot of awesome experience, and I’m excited for what’s to come.”
 
“It was an awesome set up jumping in the city. There was a big crowd and fireworks, they really made it a show which was a lot of fun.”
 
“We had six women jumping triple backflips in the final and that’s really cool to see. The women’s field is continuing to push and that’s exciting for the sport. “
 
In taking silver, the performance marks the 11th World Cup podium of the 30 year old athletes career (2 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze).
 
With two events remaining in the season, Laura Peel is currently ranked third on the FIS World Cup standings, with teammate Abbey Willcox in seventh, after finishing 14th in Moscow.
 
The next stop on the World Cup tour for the aerial skiing athletes will take place next weekend in Raubichi, Belarus. 

Abbey Willcox has had a breakthrough performance to claim the first World Cup medal of her career, winning bronze under lights in Deer Valley, USA.
 
The 23 year old VIS athlete qualified for finals in fourth place, and finished in fifth place in the first round of finals to advance to the top six super final.
 
Willcox landed her lay-full double back somersault in the super final, to give her 81.78 points and the bronze medal, with 2019 World Champion Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya of Belarus taking victory with a big score of 106.74, and American Megan Nick in second place with 83.89 points.
 
“It feels absolutely unreal and to be doing it in Deer Valley with this crowd is amazing,” an excited Willcox said after the event.
 
“A lot of nerve’s, a lot of adrenaline, a lot of excitement.”
 
“It was my first time in the finals and on the podium so I had all sorts of emotions going on.”
 
“We has a couple of tricky days training, it was snowing a lot and I knew I could jump during the snow, during the wind because we’ve had a lot of practice for that in the past, so I just took it jump by jump.”
 
“I’m really excited for the next four world cups and the season and I can’t wait.”
 
2015 Australian World Champion Laura Peel qualified for finals in third place, but unfortunately fell on her triple back somersault in the first round of finals, finishing in ninth place.

Also competing for Australian in her second World Cup was VIS athlete Gabi Ash, who finished in 20th position.
 
After three events, Laura Peel is currently ranked third in the world, with Willcox moving up to sixth on the FIS World Cup standings.
 
The next stop on the World Cup tour for the aerial skiing athletes will take place in Moscow, Russia, with a spectacular city event, with the aerial site made out of scaffolding and snow trucked in.

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

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