Thanks to Torah Bright’s halfpipe gold and Dale Begg-Smith’s silver, Australia’s aerial skiers can go into an Olympic competition for the first time without the pressure of needing to deliver a medal for the nation.

And that’s a good thing, because there will be quite enough pressure there already, much of it applied by the team from China.

The Chinese currently hold the top three places on the World Cup standings, and only Lydia Lassila has prevented them filling all places from one to five.

Three of them – Li Nina, Guo Xinxin and Xu Mengtao – have won this season, Nina is the reigning World Champion and Mengtao has performed the triple twisting triple that Lydia Lassila first landed in competition in Deer Valley in January.

They are a formidable group, but so are the Australians.

Lydia has won twice this season, and that Deer Valley event saw her post a new world record score of 220.91 points, thanks in part to her new jump – a lay double-full full - that incorporates a double twist in the second flip.

She is also the defending World Cup champion.

Jacqui Cooper, making her record breaking fifth trip to the Olympics, also has the armory to medal, with a triple twisting and a double twisting somersault at her disposal.

Liz Gardner has also been in strong form in the lead-up to the Games, just missing the podium in the last World Cup event in Mont Gabriel. Throw in young gun Bree Munro and Australia's four competitors are indeed formidable.

The Chinese and the Australians are not the only medal chances of course.

Torino Olympic champion Evelyne Leu of Switzerland and Belarussian Assoli Slivets have also been on the podium this season.

If all the leading players perform to their best – and that may be difficult on the weather-affected Cypress Mountain jump site - it will be an enthralling competition.

Barry White
AOC-Cypress Mountain