AERIALS: Wind gusts and below freezing temperatures made for a tricky day for Australia’s aerial skiers at the first FIS World Cup of the season at Secret Garden, China.
Sochi Olympian Samantha Wells said that the conditions on the morning of the competition had been “the worst possible” for an aerials event but managed to place sixth overall after progressing through to the Super Final.
“It was minus 22 on the thermometer with wind gusts in all different directions, so we had swirling wind on the in runs which makes it really difficult to get the consistent speed that we want,” she said.
The 27-year-old managed to “scrape through” the morning’s qualification round placing eighth “because not many people were landing”.
“Then [we] came out this afternoon to much warmer conditions – and by warmer I mean it was a bit more sunny and a little less wind maybe, but still pretty gusty,” she said.
“I had really great training so I was able to put a number of jumps to my feet and really build my confidence heading into the first round of finals and I felt really relaxed going into it.
Wells had a smooth jump and nice landing which saw her head into the Super Final in fifth place.
“In the Super Final I pushed up my DD to try and get some mileage on the tricks that I plan on performing in PyeongChang and I didn’t land which put me into sixth place but I’m really happy to have been able to get the mileage on that trick in preparation for PyeongChang.”
Despite the wind gusts, Wells said that her failure to land came down to “personal error” but she takes it all in her stride.
“Got to claim it, you’ve got to own it and I can own that crash because it’s a step in the right direction even though it was a mistake,” she said.
“I’ve learnt from it and can carry that into my next World Cup events.”
‘Real Deal’ Laura Peel ranked eighth in the women’s qualification and finished the day in ninth place while Danielle Scott ranked 22nd.
After qualifying second and making his way into the finals, David Morris placed 11th overall and said that he was “really pleased with a solid start to the season”.
“In tricky conditions, it was a good challenge to do one of my harder skills (quadruple-twisting triple-flip),” he said.
“But PyeongChang was very windy so to get some practice in less comfortable conditions is vital.
“Really great result for our team today, with three of us into finals and Sam shining after a good summer of training.”
Tomorrow sees the team competition at Secret Garden where Morris hopes to see “some good results” and “have some fun in a slightly less stressful contest”.
“It is day two tomorrow, [I’m feeling] much more confident after today’s training and I managed to put the jumps to my feet which was the key for me today, getting the rotation right and landing and I feel pretty relaxed about tomorrow,” Wells added.
Dave Barden
OWIA
