There may be two events to go in the 2008 aerial skiing World Cup season, but Jacqui Cooper has effectively ended it, winning her fifth event from seven starts this year to claim the fifth title of her career.

Competing in the Japanese resort of Inawashiro, the venue where she began her World Cup career almost 16 years ago, Cooper scored a total of 205.46 points to defeat Belarussian Alla Tsuper by 1.73 points.

Chinese skier Nina Li, the reigning World Champion and Cooper’s nearest rival for the title, was in third place on 192.28 points, more than 13 points behind the Australian gold medallist.

Cooper’s 24th career victory carried her to a total of 620 points, 215 ahead of Li on 403, wrapping up the crystal globe as the World Cup champion.

Cooper’s 2008 season has been, by any measure, the best of her career.

The 35-year-old veteran has won five of the seven events, taken silver in another and placed sixth in her remaining outing.

She has also been scored above 100 points for eight of her 13 jumps.

In a symmetry that may come into her thinking as she weighs up the decision to go on to Vancouver 2010, Inawashiro was the resort where she made her World Cup debut, back on March 1, 1992.

She finished 15th in that event, totalling 100.51 points for her two jumps, more than seven points short of the score she received for her opening jump today.

Last season, Cooper had become the first woman to win four World Cup titles, and this fifth victory only emphasises her pre-eminent status in the sport.

“The conditions today were very tough,” Cooper said. “This morning it was snowing as heavy as we had it in the Olympic semi-final in Torino where it got postponed, so that was difficult.”

“Then by the afternoon it was sunny. The sun was melting the fresh snow and it was constantly changing so it felt like a full winter this morning and then this afternoon was like a spring day with a lot of wind so, difficult conditions, but I handled it really well.”

“I’m very excited about today’s win as it meant that I won my fifth World Cup title and for me it’s special – there’s not too many people in any sport around the world who have been a five-time number one so to be in an elite category like that and also to be an Australian and from a country that usually dominates summer sport, to dominate in a winter sport - it’s an amazing thing for me and for the sport.”

“Obviously the pressure is off now but I’d like to continue my winning streak. There’s still quite a bit for me to do. I’m going to continue on (to Moscow and Davos) and hopefully win at the pace that I’ve been winning so far this year.”

“Given that this is a World Championship venue for next year, I was also very excited to win on the course where they are going to be staging a major event.

“And last week too, winning on the course where they are going to be staging the Olympic Games is also good. So I feel like I’ve got to know and understand two really important jump sites for me in the coming years.”

“It was especially special today because Mario (her fiancé) was here and he’s only seen me jump on snow maybe four times – that was at the Olympics, in Davos, and in Buller - so for him to see me win and to see the whole event unfold, it was exciting.”

“He came for five days and it worked out wonderfully well, to win today and to secure the World Cup title.”

For the other Australians in the field, the day was not as enjoyable.

Lydia Lassila failed to land her opening jump, scoring 61.88 points from the judges and missing a place in the final, finishing in 18th place overall.

The third member of the Olympic Winter Institute team, Liz Gardner, was lying in fourth place after the opening round of jumps, but dragged her hands on landing her second round jump to slip back to ninth place on a total of 152.72 points.

Lassila retains her third place on the World Cup standings on 354 points, but is now 49 points behind the second placed Li.

Tsuper is also closing on the Australian, now just 11 points behind on 343 points.

The eighth event of the season will take place on March 1 in Moscow, under lights, on a specially-constructed jump site in the centre of the city. 

Development News:
In the final Nor-Am aerial skiing event of the season, David Morris registered the first victory of his career, with a narrow win over Canadian pair Olivier Rochon and Travis Gerrits, at Apex, BC, Canada.

OWI-AIS scholarship athlete Morris, scored a career best 175.76 for his two jumps, to Rochon’s 175.16.

Morris, 23, finished his first season in competition ranked fourth on the Nor-Am standings, which was won by Rochon.