Aerial Skiing
Australian aerial skiers have finished the season with an incredible back-to-back double podium performance for the second week in a row, with Laura Peel and Danielle Scott taking home gold and silver at the World Cup competition overnight in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The podium performance for Scott was her fourth for the season and gave her enough points to secure her first-ever Crystal Globe title as the number one ranked aerial skier in the world, joining Australian legends Kirstie Marshall, Jacqui Cooper, Alisa Camplin, Lydia Lassila and Peel as World Cup champions.
This is the second consecutive event the pair have taken the first two spots on the podium. At the previous World Cup in Engadin, Switzerland a week ago, places were reversed with a win to Scott and Peel second.
In sunny conditions, Peel was the only female to jump spectacular triple back somersaults in finals, putting down a big score of 110.36 with her lay-full-full jump on the last jump of the day to give her the eighth World Cup victory of her career.
Scott also had an impressive day, qualifying for final in first, and moving into the super-final in second with her high-quality double somersault jumps. In the super-final, Scott performed a double full-full jump scoring 97.99 points to claim the silver medal.
Shooting
Australia's Penny Smith won the gold medal in the women's trap shotgun event at the ISSF World Cup in Doha, Qatar.
Penny's nerves of steel got her through a tough competition to win her third individual World Cup gold medal against some of the world’s best.
he shot 23 out of 25 targets in her semi-final to progress to the four-women medal match. With fourth place and the bronze medal decided, Penny was up against Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Zuzana Stefecekova from Slovakia to battle it out for the gold and silver medals.
They could not be split in regulation during the medal match with both women equal on 28 targets. A sudden death shoot-off was required to determine who was taking home the gold, with Penny outlasting Stefecekova.
"I shot a really good semi for a 23 and probably the medal match was a little bit rough but it's never over until the last shot's fired." Penny said.
"It was a little bit nerve-racking out there I guess and the nerves were rising but I just had to keep my composure and keep my routine and that’s what I did."
Read MORE | Shooting Australia
Para Triathlon
Australia’s band of para triathletes have survived all “four seasons in one day” to dominate the 2023 World Triathlon Para Series opener in Devonport today.
The Series heralds the beginning of the road to Paris for many of them and next year’s Paralympics – the third time the sport has been included on the program that debuted in Rio in 2016 and saw the Aussies again line up in Tokyo 2020.
And today’s racing started out in overcast conditions, with a wetsuit swim in the cool Tasmanian surf, before drizzling rain caused some havoc with crashes on the bike and run legs before the sun started to break through during mid-morning.
David Bryant and emerging star Jack Howell provided a 1-2 finish for Australia in the PTS5 category with Bryant saying how special it was to race in Devonport, where it all began for him five years ago.
Maggie Sandles with guide Felicity Cradick win Gold on Sandles World Triathlon debut, Justin Godfrey and Jeremy Peacock continue their 2022 form with another series Gold, Nic Beveridge comes away with a World Para Series Bronze, and Glen Jarvis Bronze in the PTS2.
Read MORE | Triathlon Australia
Taekwondo
Stacey Hymer won bronze at the Belgian Open over the weekend.
"Four fights in the bag at Belgium Open, I’m very happy with my performance and result," she said.
"Body felt the best in the state of flow."
Athletics
It was a weekend full of Olympic qualifiers for Australia's 20km race walkers in Nomi. The list of qualifiers included VIS athletes; Declan Tingay, Kyle Swan, Rhydian Cowley, Jemima Montag, and Rebecca Henderson.
Tingay (men's) and Montag (women's) also took out the race.
Cycling - Mountain Bike
Australia and New Zealand shared the spoils of three titles each at the 2023 Oceania Cycling Confederation Mountain Bike Championships in hot and humid conditions in Brisbane.
In the junior men it would be a clean sweep for the green and gold with Cohen Jessen, Harry Doye and Levi Dougherty on the podium.
Netball
The Melbourne Vixens have suffered a narrow loss to West Coast Fever (62-61) at RAC Arena on Whadjuk Noongar country.
The stage was set for a fierce Round 1 battle for the Vixens, starting off the season with a grand final rematch against reigning champs Fever.
The Numbers
Co-captains Kate Moloney and Liz Watson were workhorses in the midcourt all night, Lizzy finishing the match with 33 feeds and 17 goal assists and Kate racking up three deflections and 21 feeds. Cool and composed under the post, MJ registered 92.5% shooting accuracy for her 40 shots on goal. An intensely physical game with no love lost between the two sides, the Vixens will be left with plenty of positives to take into the rest of the 2023 season - including a debutant to celebrate, with Gab becoming Vixen #61.
Next Up
The Vixens return home for the first Victorian Derby of the season, taking on the Magpies away at John Cain Arena on Sunday 26 March. Tickets are available now via Ticketek.
