Heartbreak hill: Aussie aerial team endure difficult night
Published Mon 14 Feb 2022
FREESTYLE SKIING: It was a tough night for the Aussies on the aerial hill at the Zhangjiakou Genting Snow Park, with intermittent light tail winds and the thermometer dropping below -30 degrees.
Training before the final saw almost all athletes struggle to find their feet, but on home territory the clear standout was Xu Mengtao who consistently landed her triple-twisting triple-back to eventually claim the gold.
Laura Peel and Danielle Scott both qualified for finals. Danielle was unable land either of her jumps in the finals, ending her Olympic campaign in tenth position. Laura scraped in a landing on her second jump to qualify for the super final in fourth position with 100.02 points. In the super final she crashed, ending the night in fifth position.
The debutant Gabi Ash, whose degree of difficult was the only thing stopping her from qualifying, performed strongly and has put herself in a great position for the future.