Aerial skier David Morris loves to perform while others love to compete. It’s no surprise he chooses this term when referring to competition days, follow the Sochi silver medalist’s social media and you’ll be entertained with comedic videos of his behind the scenes pursuits on the World Cup circuit.
The gymnast turned aerial skier is the only male on our aerial team and now, our lone medal hope after the women battled high winds in both the qualifiers (Lassila, Peel, Wells and Scott) and finals (Peel and Scott). Team Australia’s World Cup winning women aerialists failed to make an Olympic podium for the first time since 1998 and it hurt, them to experience and us to watch, as the intensity of four years of training and competing exploded.
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- David Morris of Australia takes his first jump in the Men’s Freestyle Aerials qualifier at Phoenix Snow Park, during the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, in PyeongChang, South Korea, Saturday, February 17, 2018. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
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- David Morris of Australia takes his second jump in the Men’s Freestyle Aerials qualifier at Phoenix Snow Park, during the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, in PyeongChang, South Korea, Saturday, February 17, 2018. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
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- David Morris of Australia takes a practice jump ahead of the Men’s Freestyle Aerials qualifier at Phoenix Snow Park, during the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, in PyeongChang, South Korea, Saturday, February 17, 2018. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
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- David Morris of Australia takes his first jump in the Men’s Freestyle Aerials qualifier at Phoenix Snow Park, during the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, in PyeongChang, South Korea, Saturday, February 17, 2018. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
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- David Morris of Australia reacts following his second jump in the Men’s Freestyle Aerials qualifier at Phoenix Snow Park, during the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, in PyeongChang, South Korea, Saturday, February 17, 2018. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Morris, the oldest skier in tonight’s event, faces a top notch field of 12 competitors in the final. All of the qualifiers scored higher than the second highest score of any round for any athlete in Sochi. He finished second in the second qualifier and fifth overall to secure his chance for a second Olympic medal under lights at Phoenix Snow Park this evening.
“It was a huge relief to make it through qualifications” Morris said after last night’s event. “I will be honest, I watched the scores before my second run and I thought I don’t have a chance. If I lose to fantastic jumps like that, then I would be totally fine with that.”
Morris went into the Winter Olympics having not qualified for a final in the last four World Cup events. He is, however, traditionally an athlete who steps up when it counts, as he did in Sochi. This Olympics, however, he is here to complete a jump he has been working on for over a year, five twists and three flips.
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“I am not after a medal, I know some people won’t like that, but if I land 5 twists then I would hopefully get a medal anyway” said Morris who intends to trial the jump at today’s practice. Wind has played havoc at PyeongChang with some events cancelled, others postponed and a women’s snowboard Slopestyle final that had many injured and others publicly criticizing the event.
The wind will determine whether Morris gets his chance to become the first Australian to land the jump and one of a handful internationally.
“I would not do five twists in that wind, too dangerous, I am not willing to risk my life, I could die doing that” revealed Morris. “If it’s safe I’ll do it. I’m setting up for five and hope the weather is good to get me there.”
