Aerial skier Danielle Scott won her first World Cup gold medal in Moscow this morning (Australian time), adding more strength to an outstanding season by Australian winter sport athletes.
Competing under lights in the middle of the Russian capital with thousands of Moscovites attending one of the biggest aerial skiing events of the year, Scott captured Australia’s 10th medal in World Cup and World Championships events this season.
Scott’s victory means that all three members of Australia’s aerial skiing squad, which also includes Laura Peel and Renee McElduff, have stood on the top step of the podium this season.
The win has put Scott within reach of finishing the season as the top aerial skier in the world, which would also see her bag the coveted Crystal Globe award, the highest distinction in aerial World Cup competition.
American Ashley Caldwell finished second today while her compatriot Kiley McKinnon picked up the bronze.
The final World Cup next week in Minsk, Belarus, will see a three way tussle with points leader McKinnon and China’s Mengtao Xu, who is currently sitting in third place on the standings list, 15 points behind Scott, fighting for the season’s biggest award.
Sharing the highs of such a successful day in Russia were fellow OWIA/VIS skiers Peel and McElduff who combined to give Australia three places in the top nine in Moscow.
Reigning World Champion Peel finished in sixth, after leading each of the previous rounds of the competition going into the super final.
Peel had the final jump of the night and a slight error on landing dropped her off the podium.
McElduff, who captured her maiden World Cup win in the previous event and currently sits in fifth place on the standings list, was ninth today.
But the day belonged to the 24-year-old Scott who joins Kirstie Marshall, Jacqui Cooper, Alisa Camplin, Lydia Lassila, Peel and McElduff as the only Australian female aerial skiers to have won a World Cup event.
She powered through the super final with an impeccable double full full, attracting 94.82 points from the judges, with what was her best jump of the night.
Scott showed real grit in the six woman super final after qualifying for the finals in fourth place and ending the first final in fifth.
Not surprisingly, Scott was thrilled by her performance and proud of the way she fought hard to record her best World Cup result.
“I am so incredibly pumped to be taking home my first World Cup win,” a jubilant Scott said.
“The event was huge and such an awesome place to perform at.
“I have been jumping well all season but ran into a little bad luck in the competitions so it feels good to finally have all the hard work pay off on the day today.
“Mother Nature seemed to take my side today. The temperatures were very warm and tricky snow conditions, but at least I didn’t get caught in the wind like the last two events.
“Looking ahead, I am pretty excited to be competing both triple twisting, double somersaults now and I hope to finish off the season strong.”
Coach Jeff Bean was equally animated by today’s results.
“Dani came off a great training camp in Lake Placid, where she was able to practice many of the jumps she did in competition in Moscow and it showed,” Bean said.
“The conditions were a little difficult with warm weather and she did a great job adjusting to them to get her first win.”
