AERIAL SKIING: With just 12 months of elite competition to her name, Danielle Scott became the latest athlete to contribute to Australia’s rich history in aerial skiing by winning the bronze medal at the World Freestyle Ski Championships in Voss, Norway, today.

The third place in the season’s biggest event means that Scott, who turns 23 today, has two big reasons to celebrate.

Scott’s podium finish headlined an outstanding day for all five Australian Institute of Sport / Victorian Institute of Sport athletes competing in the World Championships.

Four Aussie women were among the top eight places while Australia’s only male aerial athlete finished fifth, meaning that all five athletes competing at the biennial World Championships qualified for the finals.

Scott’s third place in the event, which is only surpassed by the Winter Olympic Games, ends a highly successful northern hemisphere aerial season that saw an Australian athlete on the podium in every event of the season.

Four different AIS/VIS aerial skiers achieved a podium during the season, indicating that the current depth of talent will only boost Australia’s chances of another aerial skiing medal at next year’s Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Among the contenders will be current Olympic champion Lydia Lassila, fifth today, Samantha Wells, who was sixth and Laura Peel, eighth.

David Morris, who recorded his debut World Cup win in the Ukraine two weeks ago, was fifth in Voss after qualifying for the final in second place.

But the day belonged to the birthday girl who is predictably ecstatic about her biggest achievement to date and a performance that caps off a season which has progressively grown in strength.

“What an awesome birthday present. This morning when I woke up I said to myself ‘this is the day to do it, bring it on’,” Scott said.

“I definitely considered a medal today was within reach. I have been so close the entire the season and I have been wanting it so bad.

“I’m now really looking forward to what is ahead. At the risk of sounding clichéd, this means the world to me.”

While China’s Mengtao Xu may have won today’s women’s title and Russia’s Veronika Korsunova was second, Scott, who was presented with the Federation of International Skiing rookie of the year award last season, was arguably the athlete who received the most attention during the medal ceremony.

“When they were announcing the final podium, a lot of the teams and the crowd started to sing happy birthday, which was something very special.

“One of the Swiss girls started, and the Canadians and the Chinese joined in.

“Mengtao gave me a birthday present. I felt really loved out there.”

Scott said she is particularly proud to have won Australia’s seventh World Championships aerial skiing medal and to now be part of a success story that includes greats such as Kirstie Marshall, Jacqui Cooper, Alisa Camplin and Lydia Lassila.

Cooper, Australia’s most successful aerial skier in World Championships, was instrumental in recruiting Scott into the aerial skiing program and has continued to contribute to her development.

Scott continues to regard Cooper as her role model and in fact the two exchanged emails before today’s championships.

“Jacqui has been alongside of me the whole time,” Scott said.

“I haven’t spoken to her yet but I sent her an email this morning. She sent me a couple of emails before the event and wished me luck.

“The main advice she gave me was before Sochi (last month’s Olympic test event) and she gave me a few pointers that really helped me.”

In other World Championship results, NSW Institute of Sport skier Brodie Summers has continued his giant killing form by finishing the dual moguls qualification session in fourth place, backing up his seventh place overall in the yesterday’s moguls event.

AIS / NSWIS athlete Sam Hall also continued his strong run of good form to qualify for tomorrow’s finals in eighth while Matt Graham, who finished fourth yesterday, unfortunately missed the finals cut.

In the women’s event AIS/NSWIS athletes Britt Cox and Nicole Parks qualified in 13th and 16th place respectively.

Results – World Championships women’s aerial skiing, Voss, Norway
1.    Mengtao Xu (CHN), 2. Veronika Korsunova (RUS), 3. Danielle Scott (AUS), 4. Sicun Xu (CHN), 5. Lydia Lassila (AUS), 6. Samantha Wells (AUS), 8. Laura Peel (AUS)

Results – World Championships men’s aerial skiing, Voss, Norway
1.    Guangpu Qi (CHN), 2. Travis Gerrits (CAN), 3. Zongyang Jia (CHN), 4. Zhongqing Liu (CHN), 5. David Morris (AUS), 6. Oleksandr Abramenko (UKR).

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA)