AERIALS: The women's aerials competition is an event Australia has always done exceptionally well in. Since Alisa Camplin won gold at Salt Lake 2002, Australia has won an aerials Olympic medal at each Games since. There is plenty of talent amongst our Australian Team in 2018 to try and keep that run going but they will have plenty of competition in PyeongChang.
The Australian contingent
Australia has one of the deepest teams in the PyeongChang field. Lydia Lassila is a two-time Olympic medallist that is off to her fifth Olympic Games at PyeongChang. The 36-year-old mother of two recently won back-to-back podiums in the final World Cup before the Games to prove she has what it takes to add a third Olympic medal to her illustrious tally.
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Joining her on the Lake Placid podiums was 2015 World Champion Laura Peel. The Canberran finished eighth at the 2017 World Championships but has what it takes to trouble the field at her second Games. Teammate Danielle Scott won the silver medal at last year's World Championships before topping the podium at the Secret Garden World Cup in late 2017. She heads into her second Games following a sixth place finish at the final World Cup event. Sochi 2014 Olympian Sam Wells has two World Cup podiums to her name and has made the final six at two World Cup events this season.
Ashley Caldwell (USA)
Caldwell is off to her third Olympic Games at PyeongChang and will be pushing for an Olympic gold medal to go with her 2017 World Championships title. The 24-year-old already has six World Cup gold medals to her name but had an inconsistent 2017/18 season making the super final only once when she won bronze in Secret Garden, China. With two tenth place finishes at the Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 Games, Caldwell is primed to push for a PyeongChang podium.
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Mengtao Xu (China)
The Sochi 2014 silver medallist is one of the most dominant athletes women's aerials has ever seen. Xu won the overall World Cup title in the 2016/17 season and heads into PyeongChang as the current world number 1. In five World Cup events this season Xu has won two gold medals, two silver medals and a fifth. Having taken out the Olympic Test Event in early 2017, she will no doubt be the one of the favourites at her second Games in Korea.
Hanna Huskova (Belarus)
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The Belarusian 26-year-old took out the opening event of the 2017/18 World Cup season and is currently ranked second in the world. Showing her consistency in six World Cup events where her worst result has been a seventh place finish. The 26-year-old is on the rise and will be primed to beat her debut Olympic performance, 21st, from the Sochi 2014 Games.
Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au
