​Just prior to the first official training session of the Australian Aerials Team, it was announced that Laura Peel had made the difficult decision to pull out of what would have been her fourth Olympic Games.

Peel ruptured the ACL in her right knee at a pre-Olympic training camp in Airolo, Switzerland on 3 February and had been working with medical staff and strength and conditioning professionals to see if she could make it back in time to still compete at the Games. 

Article courtesy olympics.com.au

However aerial skiing is a high impact sport that requires the utmost leg strength and stability. For Peel to make it back, it was always going to be an uphill battle and unfortunately, she was unable to make it.  

Australian aerial skiing has a rich heritage and there is a significant pipeline of talented young skiers ready to fly high if they get the call. Over the last six Olympic Games, Australia has won five medals in aerial skiing giving the sport’s significant exposure across the country.  

Key to that is the AIS Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Facility in Brisbane - a water jump that has been crucial to Australia's Moguls and Aerials success. 

Just prior to the Olympics, our World Cup Team secured four places to the Games. With Peel, out a spot on the team opened up and there was always going to be a young Australian waiting to fill some very large shoes.  

Enter Sidney Stephens, a Western Australian elite gymnast and World Cup rookie who was excited to find out that she was heading to the Games when she answered the call.  

“Yeah, super excited. I think it was that yesterday morning that I found out and then got over here,” she said. Stephen had returned to Europe to ski after her last World Cup in Lake Placid in the USA.  

The Snow Australia and Victorian Institute of Sport athlete comes to Milano Cortina conscious of what Peel has been through to create this opportunity.  

“I think it is pretty mixed emotions at the same time, obviously, it was pretty hard to hear that Laura wasn't going to be able to compete here,” said Stephens. “I think everyone was really, rooting for her. 

“So, it is pretty, tough, but yeah, also exciting to be here.” 

Stephens is still very early in her aerial skiing career. Her World Cup debut only a little over 12 months ago at Lake Placid in the USA. She is still building up her degree of difficulty and will be jumping doubles at these Games, rather than Peel’s triples.  

Speaking to her after training on the Livigno aerial hill where she had the chance to test out some of her skills, she talked about what she planned to put down at the Games.  

“Today, I just did some lay-tucks [double somersault] and lay falls [double somersault with a single twist]. So pretty much the skills I'll be putting down in the competition.” 

While the 23-year-old hasn’t got the degree of difficulty of Peel and is unlikely to be in the medals at these Games it will be a valuable learning experience for her. 

Milano Cortina 2026 will form an experience that will arm Stephens with vital knowledge she can take forward in her career, understanding what it takes to perform on the world’s biggest stage. 

“I think I'm just really excited to be honest, trying to soak it all in,” she said. 

Stephens is on an AIS Athlete Education Scholarship to study at Griffith University.

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

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 aerial skiing athletes Miriana Perkins, Sidney Stephens and Reilly Flanagan have all took part in their first ever Junior World Championships, competing in Obertauern, Austria.

In the best of two jumps qualification round, Perkins advanced through to the top-six final with a best score off 55.35 for her back layout single somersault. Just missing out behind Perkins in seventh place was Sidney Stephens with her back layout scoring 54.94.

In the one jump final, Perkins elected to jump her back layout again, this time scoring 54.53, which was enough to put her in fourth place.

In the men's event, Flanagan was 18th after scoring 59.65 on his back layout.

The three athletes also competed in the mixed team event, finishing in sixth place.