Peel claimed her third FIS World Cup Crystal Globe as the number one ranked athlete at the end of this World Cup circuit, with less than a year until the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games.
Sharing the podium was previous Crystal Globe winner and fellow VIS athlete, Danielle Scott, who finished the World Cup season in bronze place.
Australian female aerial skiers have now amassed a total of 14 Crystal Globes over the past 33 years. Peel now has the second-highest total among Australians with three, trailing only the legendary Jacqui Cooper, who has five. Other winners include Kirstie Marshall, Alisa Camplin, Lydia Lassila, and Danielle Scott.
Heading into today, Peel had a near unbeatable lead in the standings and only needed to finish 12th or better to secure the title, leading Chinese skier Mengtao Xu by 78 points. Peel made sure of that by qualifying for the 12-woman final in second place.
Joining Peel in finals was Airleigh Frigo in fifth, Abbey Willcox seventh and Danielle Scott in 10th. Just missing by one place was Elise Coleiro in 13th and in the men’s event Reilly Flanagan was 17th.
Peel then performed a lay-full-full double twisting triple back somersault in the first round of finals, to advance to the top six super-final in second place on 91.83 points. Just missing out on the medal round was Abbey Willcox in seventh, Airleigh Frigo ninth and Danielle Scott 11th.
Photo: Laura Peel in flight (credit: Chris Hocking, OWIA)
In the super-final Peel upped her degree of difficulty scoring an impressive 112.90 points for her spectacular full-full-full triple twisting triple back somersault in one of her best jumps of the season. Second place went to Xu of China on 105.17 and her teammate Meiting Chen was third on 91.44.
“I am so stoked, honestly I couldn’t be happier, it’s globe number three, I don’t think it gets any easier,” said the 35-year-old Peel.
“That’s day four on this site now. I’ve got to say I really like it. It’s been working well for me, I’ve been jumping well. That’s a relief and I’m so excited to come back here for the Olympics,” she said.
Peel finished the season first with 542 points, 98 clear of Xu on 444 and Scott was third on 368, it is the sixth time Scott has placed in the top three on final season rankings. Willcox and Frigo both had the highest rankings of their careers in fifth and 10th places respectively.
The season will now conclude with the prestigious FIS World Championships in St Moritz, Switzerland, aerial skiing qualifications are on March 29 and finals March 30.
Peel is aiming for her third World Championship gold in St Moritz.
She commented, “pretty much keep the same plan, what I have been doing I just want to repeat the same at the World Champs, it’s a long season, everyone is getting a bit tired, but we are super exited to head to St Moritz and it’s the peak of our season.”
Photo: Australian aerial skiing team and support staff with Laura Peel holding her Crystal Globe trophy (credit: Chris Hocking, OWIA)
Credit: Olympic Winter Institute Australia
