Danielle Scott

Fast Facts

Sport: Freestyle Skiing
Event: Aerials
Olympic History: Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022
Highlights: 3x Olympian, 2x World Cup Tour 2nd overall
Coach: David Morris
Year Born: 1990
State Born: NSW

About Danielle

Born in 1990 and raised on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Danielle Scott was the youngest Australian gymnast to receive an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship at seven. After retiring from gymnastics at 13, she sampled other sports before Olympian Jacqui Cooper introduced her to aerial skiing. Remarkably, Danielle had never skied before, but she learned fast, debuting on the World Cup circuit in 2011–12 and earning International Ski Federation Rookie of the Year honours the same season.  

Danielle’s rapid rise continued with bronze at the 2013 World Championships in Voss, Norway, her first major medal on the world stage. At her Olympic debut in Sochi in 2014 she missed the final eight on countback, officially ninth. Over the next seasons she won a maiden World Cup in Moscow in 2015, placed third overall that year, then finished second overall in both 2016 and 2017, adding a silver medal at the 2017 World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain.  

A second Olympic appearance followed at PyeongChang in 2018 (12th). After a short break, she suffered a knee injury on return to training in 2019 which ruled her out of the 2019–20 season. The comeback was emphatic: in January 2021 she won Deer Valley with 90.59 points and, later that season, took triple back somersaults to snow for the first time, finishing fourth at the 2021 World Championships. In the Olympic year she opened with a near‑perfect 102.93 in Ruka and qualified strongly for Beijing 2022, ultimately placing 10th. 

The 2022–23 season became a career benchmark. Danielle won World Cups at Ruka, Deer Valley and Engadin, including a career‑best 115.20 for a double‑twisting triple back somersault at Deer Valley. She then added World Championship silver in Bakuriani before clinching her first Aerials Crystal Globe as the top-ranked athlete of the season. 

In 2023–24 she defended the Crystal Globe, mastering a season of relentless consistency. In a fog‑marred Almaty finale, the jury cancelled finals and used qualification results, with Danielle’s second place on the day securing back‑to‑back titles. The double confirmed her place among Australia’s aerials greats, alongside Kirstie Marshall, Jacqui Cooper, Alisa Camplin, Lydia Lassila and Laura Peel. 

One year out from Milano‑Cortina 2026, Danielle again featured at the sharp end of the 2024–25 winter. Australia created history with an all‑Aussie podium sweep at Deer Valley, where Danielle took silver behind Laura Peel; she also claimed bronze in Almaty and added another podium in China as the season progressed. She finished third overall in the 2024–25 World Cup standings. Then, at the Engadin-St Moritz 2025 World Championships, Danielle delivered under pressure again, winning bronze in the individual event and helping Australia to fourth in the team aerials. These results took her World Championship medal tally to four: bronze (2013), silver (2017), silver (2023) and bronze (2025). 

Away from the snow, Danielle has pursued tertiary study, completing a Bachelor of Communications, majoring in public relations and screen studies, and enjoys surfing and the outdoors when she is not training. The Brisbane‑based Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre has been a key training platform for Dani to continue to develop her high‑difficulty acrobatic manoeuvres.