Australian Laura Peel wins another World Cup aerials
Australian aerial skiing superstar Laura Peel and her fast-improving compatriot Airleigh Frigo have finished first and third at the World Cup event in Lac-Beauport, Canada.
Peel claimed back-to-back wins at the Canadian resort, capping another remarkable weekend of success for Australia's winter athletes, 12 months out from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
After dominating the opening round of finals on Sunday (Monday AEDT), the 35-year-old Peel upped the degree of difficulty in the super-final, scoring 102.17 points for her full-full-full jump to record her 11th career World Cup victory.
"I feel relieved. It's been all kinds of weather and it's hard to stay calm up there and trust yourself," said double world champion Peel, who has now surged past China's Mengtao Xu into top spot on the overall standings.
"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) 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."
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.
Until this weekend, the 25-year-old Frigo had never finished higher than 12th at a World Cup event.
Australian winter sport athletes combined for an impressive six medals at the weekend.
Scotty James won gold in the X-Games snowboard halfpipe, while there were also World Cup silvers for Bree Walker (monobob) and Matt Graham (dual moguls).
The next round of the aerial skiing World Cup is on February 7 at Deer Valley, the site of Alisa Camplin's historic-making Olympic gold in 2002.
