Scott claims silver and yellow jersey in Canada

Courtesy OWIA & FIS

Australian aerial skier Danielle Scott has finished in second place at the World Cup event in Canada, with the third podium of her season taking her into first place on the overall standings.

In difficult conditions featuring rain and sticky snow at Lac-Beauport in Quebec, Scott qualified for finals in second place scoring 86.62 points for her full-full double twisting double back somersault. In the first round of finals Scott performed the same jump, this time scoring 83.47 points which was good enough for third place to advance to the Super Final.

Scott increased her degree of difficulty in the medal round, with a double full-full triple twisting double back somersault. She had the best form in the air of all jumps in the medal round, but unfortunately had trouble on the landing. Her 84.24 points, was still good enough for the silver medal, with the three-time Olympian earning the 19th podium of her career.

Finishing 4.94 points ahead of Scott in first place with American Kareena Elliott, with Marion Thenault of Canada third (83.19pts).

“Super excited, the yellow bib was obviously the most important thing, and I am super happy with that,” said the 33-year-old Scott from NSW, who trains in Brisbane at the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre water jump facility.

“It’s been a really tricky day. I think everyone struggled at the beginning, the jump shape changed, so we had to make that quick adjustment. But I got my jumps done and I am pretty happy with them and still have room for improvement, so let’s hope we can bring that out tomorrow.”

Also in action for Australia was Abbey Willcox, who reached the top-six in back-to-back weeks, the first time the 27-year-old has done so in her career. Wilcox finished in fifth place and moved her World Cup ranking up to eighth, a career best for the Brisbane based skier.

With two World Cups remaining, Scott is on top of the standings on 280 points, narrowly leading American Winter Vinecki by 28 points, with Thenault of Canada further back in third on 182.

A second World Cup takes places in Lac Beauport tomorrow morning, with the final event of the season in Kazakhstan on March 10.