Jacqui Cooper has become the first Australian aerial skier to win three World Championship skiing medals, collecting bronze at the 2009 FIS Freestyle Championships in Inawashiro, Japan.

The 36-year-old AIS skier added the latest medal to the gold she won in Meiringen, Switzerland, ten years ago, and the bronze she earned at the biennial event in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, in February 2007.

The performance surpasses the achievement of aerial skiing team-mate Kirstie Marshall who won the 1997 world title in Nagano after jumping to bronze at the 1995 championships.

It was a remarkable effort from Cooper, who opted not to attempt her most difficult maneuver, a triple twisting triple somersault, after crashing a landing on the jump in training a day earlier.

In the first round of the final she opened with a single twisting triple somersault, finishing back in fifth place on 89.25 points, more than ten points behind Chinese defending champion Li Nina.

But with the pressure on in the second round, she pulled out one the best performances of her 16 year career, landing the highest scoring jump of the competition on 105.07 points.

That proved enough to lift her onto the podium, with a total score of 194.32 points.

Li went on to win the title with 203.21 points. Cooper’s OWI team-mate Bree Munro also made the top ten, finishing in ninth position on a total score of 152.27 points.

Reigning World Cup champion Lydia Lassila, eliminated in qualifying, finished in 13th position.

The fourth member of the OWI/AIS team, Liz Gardner, finished in 20th place, while David Morris, making his debut at World Championship level, placed 18th in the men’s competition.