KREISCHBERG, AUSTRIA (FEB 17TH) - It was a big day for two young aerialists in Austria, as both Scoty Bahrke (USA) and Laura Peel (AUS) overcame strong winds and strong fields to claim their respective first World Cup aerials wins.
Bahrke was able to battle his way into the finals with a 9th place showing in the qualifiers. In the finals he threw down a solid jump to move himself into the super final in 1st place on the score card and 4th position in the jumping order, an advantage that he used to its full potential when it came time for him drop in for his final attempt.
"I did a full double full full, because it was the largest trick I had in my bag," Bahrke explained of his last jump, "I knew I needed to do that if I wanted to win. I landed myself in the top position going into Super Finals I was able to watch what everyone else did and just ended up having a clean jump."
Bahrke's win, the second World Cup podium of his career, moves him into 10th place on the FIS aerials leaderboard.
The men's top 3 was rounded out by Maxim Gustik (BLR) in 2nd and and Bahrke's teammate from the American squad Dylan Ferguson in 3rd. For Gustik, it was the first World Cup podium of his career, while for Ferguson it was the second podium appearance in the last three events.
In the women's event Laura Peel joined the elite club of Australian skiers to have won a World Cup aerials event, beating out Ukranian Olga Volkova and Yu Yang of China to claim the top of the podium. It was the second podium of Peel's season, the second of her career, and the first win for Australia since Lydia Lassila took gold at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
"It's going to take a while for this to sink in,' Peel said after the event, "I wouldn't have dreamed this at the start of the season."
FULL MEN'S RESULTS CAN BE FOUND HERE.
FULL WOMEN'S RESULTS CAN BE FOUND HERE.
