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.

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.