Former gymnasts ready to fly at FIS Aerials Junior World Championships
Published Fri 24 Mar 2023
Snow Australia is excited to have a three person team represent Australia at the 2023 FIS Aerials Junior World Championships, that will provide valuable international competition for the next generation of talent coming through the sport.
Miriana Perkins (VIC), Sidney Stephens (VIC) and Reilly Flanagan (VIC) transitioned to aerial skiing from a high performance gymnastics background less than two years ago. Their adaptable physical attributes combined with their tenacity and drive has taken them to one of the biggest events in the sport.
The athletes share a similar background and progression to that which took Lydia Lasilla all the way to Olympic gold. What makes this trio’s journey more unique, is that despite Australia’s overwhelming success in the discipline over more than 30 years, they will be the first-ever Australian aerials skiers to compete at the Junior World Championships.
Perkins, Stephens and Flanagan have been training in Europe for four months with coach Renee McElduff saying it has afforded them great experience coming into this prestigious event.
“All three athletes were high-performing gymnasts and given their talent we anticipate they will transition well to aerial skiing,” said McElduff.
“Although their degree of difficulty is not competitive with the rest of the field, the pressure and environment mimics that of a World Championships or Olympic Games, both of which they have the potential to represent Australia at in the next three years.
“It’s about building international competition experience and also building travel resilience - these athletes haven't been in Australia since 15 November 2022.”
The trio have European Cup and Nor-Am Cup experience from the past few months as they move from a training to competition environment.
With seven World Cup top 10s including a victory at Lake Placid in 2015, McElduff knows the building blocks required to reach the top of the sport. It is why she is targeting execution as the main aim of her athletes when they hit the kicker in Obertauern, Austria next week.
“Our biggest goal we are chasing is a raw score,” said McElduff. “The athletes’ degree of difficulty is significantly lower than the rest of the field, however we hope to have the highest execution out of the event.”
2023 FIS Aerial Skiing Junior World Championships
29-30 March 2023
Obertauern AUT
Australian Team
Men - Reilly Flanagan
Women - Miriana Perkins, Sidney Stephens