Snow Australia announces 2021 Aerials and Moguls World Championships team

Snow Australia has named nine athletes to the Australian team that will participate in the 2021 FIS Moguls and Aerials World Championships. Current FIS World Cup leaders aerialist Laura Peel and mogul skier Matt Graham will headline the team of five women and four men who will compete in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 8-11 March. The live streaming of the event will be available to the Australian audience online at www.snow.org.au/live.

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia CEO, Geoff Lipshut, said the Australian team will look to build on their recent success and have a strong showing at the World Championships, as they continue to work towards the Olympic Winter Games next year.

"Our skiers have produced some remarkable results this year, despite a very challenging Northern Winter season. We're confident they will continue to deliver excellent efforts in Almaty," Lipshut said.

The Australian team has a wealth of experience with the top athletes having competed at 13 Olympic Games and 25 World Championships between them. The moguls team will be the first in the start gate with the first event getting the World Championships underway on 8 March.

Twenty-six year old Matt Graham heads into the Championships after a strong season that saw him take the World Cup leader's yellow bib after three podium results, including a win in dual moguls at Idre Fjäll, Sweden in December. Graham and 22-year-old teammate Jakara Anthony won silver medals in their respective events at the 2019 Freestyle World Championships and both have ambitions to go one better this time.

Three-time Olympian and 2017 Moguls World Champion Britt Cox will no doubt have some experience to share with the rest of the team as she takes part in the event for the sixth time, after making her debut in 2011 at Deer Valley, USA. At the opposite end of the experience spectrum, 20-year-old Cooper Woods-Topalovic is taking part in a major international event for the first time after finishing in the top 20 in World Cup events this season. Olympians James Matheson and Brodie Summers round up the moguls team, with the latter already able to challenge for the World Cup podium multiple times this year and win a silver medal in Idre Fjäll, his first World Cup podium since February 2017.

The three athletes on the Aerials team are also coming into the World Championships full of confidence, off the back of an impressive team result at the World Cup event in Deer Valley. In the USA, Danielle Scott won gold in her return to competition after being sidelined for almost two years due to injury. 2019/20 World Cup Champion Laura Peel was sixth in Deer Valley, a result that helped her consolidate her World Cup lead in a season where her triple somersaults have already earned her two golds and two silvers. Nineteen-year old talent Gabi Ash was seventh in Deer Valley and will be making her debut at a World Championships in Almaty. 

"We're heading to the World Championships with Laura Peel and Matt Graham wearing the World Cup leader's yellow bibs and that will be an extra motivation for everybody on the team to give their absolute best," Lipshut said.

"Laura and Matt have been remarkably consistent this season and both are in a great position to produce more good performances at the season ending major event.

"In Gabi Ash and Cooper Woods-Topalovic we also have two athletes who will participate in a major international event for the first time. They are lucky to train and compete alongside such a high calibre and experienced group of athletes. This will no doubt be very beneficial for their development heading towards the Games next year," he said.

The World Championships kick off Monday 8 March at 8pm AEDT with the Men's Moguls. Fans can follow the action live from Almaty at www.snow.org.au/live.

Australian team for the 2021 FIS Moguls and Aerials World Championships:
 
Aerials:

•  Gabi ASH
• Laura PEEL
• Danielle SCOTT

 
Moguls:
 

• Jakara ANTHONY
• Britteny COX
• Matt GRAHAM
• James MATHESON
• Brodie SUMMERS
• Cooper WOODS-TOPALOVIC