The 2004 Alpine Exposure World Aerials marks the seventh time that the World Cup freestyle skiing season has commenced at Mt Buller, and once again it is a key event on the Australian sports calendar.
The 2004 Alpine Exposure World Aerials marks the seventh time that the World Cup freestyle skiing season has commenced at Mt Buller, and once again it is a key event on the Australian sports calendar.
As Australia’s summer athletes end the battle for medals in Athens, the country’s best winter sports stars will be starting the journey to Torino, the Mt Buller event marking the first step in the selection process for the 2006 Winter Games.
Adding extra significance will be the comeback of Jacqui Cooper to World Cup competition, two and half years after the injury that robbed her of a chance to compete at Salt Lake 2002.
And while our summer athletes face soaring temperatures in the northern hemisphere, massive snowfalls on Australian resorts have guaranteed a brilliant base for this year’s Alpine Exposure World Aerials.
With Alisa Camplin taking a well-deserved break from competition to re-charge her energies for the world championships at the end of the 20044/5 season - and the Olympics beyond - the mantle of the world’s best aerials skier falls on another Australian.
Lydia Ierodiaconou, number two behind Camplin for the past two seasons, was a winner in Mt Buller last year, and has her chance to step up to become the fourth Australian woman to win the World Cup crystal globe.
In all, six Australian women are set to compete in the Alpine Exposure World Aerials, with world number eight Liz Gardner, Lainie Cole, Shannon Leotta and Bree Munro joining Ierodiaconou and Cooper.
More than 40 athletes from eleven nations will also take part. Nine of the top ten men and six of the top ten women have elected to make the journey downunder.
The men’s field is remarkable, containing five skiers who between them have won two Olympic gold medals (Eric Bergoust of the U.S. and Ales Valenta of the Czech Republic), three world championships (Bergoust, Alexei Grichin of Belarus and Dmitri Arkhipov of Russia), and four World Cup titles Bergoust (twice), Arkhipov and Steve Omischl of Canada.
Leading the international assault on Australia’s pre-eminent position at the top of the women’s world rankings will be world number four Anna Zukal of Russia, world number five, Nina Li, of China and leading Canadians Veronika Bauer and Deidra Dionne.
For the Australians, the quest for a place in the 2006 Olympic team starts at Mt Buller, with a top 20 per cent result in any of this season’s events qualifying them for nomination to the Torino team.
The two-event World Aerials will run on both Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th, with the finals scheduled to commence at 1:00pm each day. The Seven Network, the long-term host network of the event, will screen two two-hour programs on the event at 1pm on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th.
As Australia’s summer athletes end the battle for medals in Athens, the country’s best winter sports stars will be starting the journey to Torino, the Mt Buller event marking the first step in the selection process for the 2006 Winter Games.
Adding extra significance will be the comeback of Jacqui Cooper to World Cup competition, two and half years after the injury that robbed her of a chance to compete at Salt Lake 2002.
And while our summer athletes face soaring temperatures in the northern hemisphere, massive snowfalls on Australian resorts have guaranteed a brilliant base for this year’s Alpine Exposure World Aerials.
With Alisa Camplin taking a well-deserved break from competition to re-charge her energies for the world championships at the end of the 20044/5 season - and the Olympics beyond - the mantle of the world’s best aerials skier falls on another Australian.
Lydia Ierodiaconou, number two behind Camplin for the past two seasons, was a winner in Mt Buller last year, and has her chance to step up to become the fourth Australian woman to win the World Cup crystal globe.
In all, six Australian women are set to compete in the Alpine Exposure World Aerials, with world number eight Liz Gardner, Lainie Cole, Shannon Leotta and Bree Munro joining Ierodiaconou and Cooper.
More than 40 athletes from eleven nations will also take part. Nine of the top ten men and six of the top ten women have elected to make the journey downunder.
The men’s field is remarkable, containing five skiers who between them have won two Olympic gold medals (Eric Bergoust of the U.S. and Ales Valenta of the Czech Republic), three world championships (Bergoust, Alexei Grichin of Belarus and Dmitri Arkhipov of Russia), and four World Cup titles Bergoust (twice), Arkhipov and Steve Omischl of Canada.
Leading the international assault on Australia’s pre-eminent position at the top of the women’s world rankings will be world number four Anna Zukal of Russia, world number five, Nina Li, of China and leading Canadians Veronika Bauer and Deidra Dionne.
For the Australians, the quest for a place in the 2006 Olympic team starts at Mt Buller, with a top 20 per cent result in any of this season’s events qualifying them for nomination to the Torino team.
The two-event World Aerials will run on both Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th, with the finals scheduled to commence at 1:00pm each day. The Seven Network, the long-term host network of the event, will screen two two-hour programs on the event at 1pm on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th.
