Australian aerial skier David Morris delivered the biggest jump of his life to catapult himself into a career-best sixth place in the World Cup second round in Beida Lake, China, today.
The result surpasses the previous World Cup best of ninth last year, and elevated Morris to a world ranking of eighth.
An elated Morris described his huge final jump as "like flying to the moon" and, when he landed it perfectly, nobody could take away his over-the-moon reaction.
The jump was one of the most spectacular for the day and drew tumultuous applause from the local crowd at the bottom of the course.
The event was also a day to remember for the Chinese team, which achieved a one-two finish with Guangpu Qi taking the gold and Zongyang Jia the silver. Swiss jumper Renato Ulrich stood on the podium's third step.
Buffeted by strong winds, although not as intense as the gales that forced a 24-hour postponement to competition, Morris qualified for the final with triple twisting triple somersault in 6th place.
Unlike Friday's opening World Cup, where Morris qualified fourth but dropped to 12th with his final jump, the AIS Scholarship holder was determined not to let his strong start slip away.
Morris decided to "go for it" with his final jump.
"It was the biggest jump I've ever done and when I landed it I was thrilled," Morris said.
Morris said that the jump was higher than any other jump in his career.
Today's result puts Morris on track to achieve his season goals of becoming a consistent finalist and finishing the year in the top 5 in the world, 10 places higher than his ranking last a season.
The result surpasses the previous World Cup best of ninth last year, and elevated Morris to a world ranking of eighth.
An elated Morris described his huge final jump as "like flying to the moon" and, when he landed it perfectly, nobody could take away his over-the-moon reaction.
The jump was one of the most spectacular for the day and drew tumultuous applause from the local crowd at the bottom of the course.
The event was also a day to remember for the Chinese team, which achieved a one-two finish with Guangpu Qi taking the gold and Zongyang Jia the silver. Swiss jumper Renato Ulrich stood on the podium's third step.
Buffeted by strong winds, although not as intense as the gales that forced a 24-hour postponement to competition, Morris qualified for the final with triple twisting triple somersault in 6th place.
Unlike Friday's opening World Cup, where Morris qualified fourth but dropped to 12th with his final jump, the AIS Scholarship holder was determined not to let his strong start slip away.
Morris decided to "go for it" with his final jump.
"It was the biggest jump I've ever done and when I landed it I was thrilled," Morris said.
Morris said that the jump was higher than any other jump in his career.
Today's result puts Morris on track to achieve his season goals of becoming a consistent finalist and finishing the year in the top 5 in the world, 10 places higher than his ranking last a season.
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