AERIALS: Reigning Olympic gold medallist Lydia Lassila headlined a highly successful day for Australian aerial skiers in Val St Come, Canada, Wednesday morning (AEDT) by claiming her first World Cup win since returning to the sport 12 months ago.

Adding to the high praise for the Australians was a third place by David Morris, who had his first podium finish for the season, and with a career best result and her first Super-Final appearance, Samantha Wells finished fourth.

Renee McElduff capped of the day for the Aussies by jumping into her first final of the season, ending the day in eighth, meaning that every member of Australia’s aerial squad competing advanced to the finals.

Lassila said today was “brilliant” and she was “rapted” to be back in first place.She said that the full, full full used today was only the third time ever, in competition and training, that she has attempted jump.

Lassila unsuccessfully attempted the jump in Beijing in December but today everything came together.

“Triples have been building and getting better and better,” she said. “I really wanted a good result today so it was great.

“I had a few podiums last year but it was nice to have a win again. 

“It’s nice to put hard tricks down when it really matters and that’s all leading into Sochi.

“It was nice to win but, don’t get me wrong, World Cup is not the focus this year.

“It’s great building confidence and the tricks that I’m doing.”

Lassila finished ahead of two Chinese skiers, world number two Nina Li who picked up the silver medal, and top ranked Xin Zhang, who was third.

Lassila’s dominance in the event was apparent from the first of two finals. After qualifying for Final one in fifth place, Lassila hit top form by breezing into the Super-Final by finishing 17.19 points ahead of Li, her nearest rival.

Again in the Super-Final Lassila delivered an assertive performance, earning the right to stand on the podium’s top step with a full, full, full – a triple twisting triple somersault – which attracted 100.84 points, 9.55 points better than Li.

It is the 12th time in Lassila’s glittering career that she has won a World Cup and in doing so she has pushed her ranking back to number three in the world.

Morris started the day by moving into the first final in 11th place after the qualification session but then started to apply the pressure with a fourth place and the right to jump in the medal round.

Morris said that making the Super-Final came as somewhat as a surprise.

In fact he was skiing down the hill with his gear after the end of the first final thinking that he would finish fifth overall, only to be told that he had made the four-man Super-Final.

“I was just counting how many people I thought were in front of me. I thought I was done for and our coach Cord Spero said ‘no you’re not done, get back up there’.”

Morris seized the opportunity in his first Super-Final of the season with a lay double full, full – a triple somersault with triple twists – enabling him to reach the podium for the third time in his World Cup career. The gold was won by Liu of China with American Mac Bohonnon claiming the silver.

Wells said she was thrilled to appear in her first Super-Final and believes that today was the highlight of her career to date.

“I had trouble in the pre-season and the first couple of competitions putting my jumps to my feet,” Wells said.

“I been working with my coaches and mentors and it has paid off.”

McElduff said that circumstances prevented her from undergoing a normal pre-season and after four World Cup events, she is getting into full stride.

“I have been building since the beginning of the season,” she said. “I didn’t have any pre-season training. The competitions were my training.”

In combination, Australians occupied three of the eight positions in the women’s and men’s Super-Finals and two of the six podium places on offer.

The remaining two athletes in Australia’s six member aerial squad – Laura Peel and Danielle Scott – were rested.

The squad now moves to Lake Placid, USA for the last World Cup of the season taking place Sunday (AEDT).

Morris said he is looking forward to returning to Lake Placid, the scene of his first career World Cup podium last year.

“I’m pretty excited to jump there,” he said.

Morris said that competing at Lake Placid was the perfect way to finish the World Cup season and move onto the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, in February.