Laura Peel cemented her position as Australian aerial skiing legend overnight at the FIS World Cup in Krasnoyarsk in Russia, taking gold in the final event of the season and clinching the 2019/2020 FIS Freestyle Ski Aerials World Cup title, a.k.a the ‘crystal globe’.
Peel went into the event with a gold, silver and bronze already under her belt and China’s Mengtao Xu a mere 44 points behind her on the leaderboard.
The 30 year old from Canberra qualified second and took the lead in the first final with a back lay tuck full and a score of 94.97, making the second final six. At this point the crystal globe was hers as Xu failed to make the big final.
To celebrate, Peel stepped it up again with a back full tuck full and 96.99 from the judges to take the second gold of her season and the fourth of her career.
The two time Olympian from Canberra has been competing for close to a decade at FIS World Cup level, with four golds, four silvers and five bronze now in her trophy cabinet. This is the first season she has introduced triples to her program.
“It’s hard to put it into words at the moment” said Peel, a two time Olympian, after the FIS event.
“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.”
China’s Sicun Xu took second with 95.86 and USA’s Ashley Caldwell third with 88.83.
