Australia’s winter sports athletes have claimed two medals overnight, Dale Begg-Smith taking his season tally of victories to three, and Lydia Lassila winning silver to become the number two aerial skier in the world behind Jacqui Cooper.
Australia’s winter sports athletes have claimed two medals overnight, Dale Begg-Smith taking his season tally of victories to three, and Lydia Lassila winning silver to become the number two aerial skier in the world behind Jacqui Cooper.
Begg-Smith stretched his lead over the rest of the field in his quest to win a third consecutive mogul skiing World Cup title, moving 91 points clear of nearest rival Guilbaut Colas of France, with just two events of the season to come.
In the final aerial skiing event of the year in the Swiss resort of Davos, Lassila’s silver moved her past Chinese skier Nina Li and Belarussian Alla Tsuper, completing a one-two season result for Australia.
Cooper, with the World Cup title already in the bag, did not compete after taking a heavy fall in training prior to the competition.
Cooper sustained a bump to the head and minor concussion, and was ruled out of jumping in the season finale.
Lassila posted 198.62 points for her two triple twisting double somersaults, going down to home-town hero and reigning Olympic champion Evelyne Leu on 207.14 points.
Olympic Winter Institute team-mate Liz Gardner finished in sixth place on 155.77 points.
Cooper ended the season on 642 points, with Lassila in second place on 460, seven points clear of Tsuper.
Gardner finished in eighth place on 263 points.
It is the third time that Lassila has been part of an Australian quinella for the season title, the 26-year-old Mt Buller skier finishing second to Alisa Camplin in 2003 and 2004.
In the mogul skiing World Cup in Are, Sweden, Begg-Smith proved his class once again, conquering difficult snow conditions to take the 15th victory of his career.
Begg-Smith earned 25.94 points from the judges, just .06 points ahead of US skier Nathan Roberts on 25.88. Kazakhstan rookie Dmitriy Reiherd was third with 25.47 points.
The Australian now sits on 539 points, while Colas has 448 and the third placed skier, Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau, is on 355 points.
Begg-Smith has the opportunity to clinch the title tonight in a second event at the Swedish resort, this time a dual moguls competition.
The World Cup final for mogul skiing is scheduled for next weekend.
