Australia's Laura Peel returns to form with commanding World Cup victory in Canada

With nearly a year until the Winter Olympics, Australian dual aerial skiing world champion Laura Peel has made a strong comeback, winning gold at the World Cup event in Canada. Meanwhile, veteran Matt Graham also secured a silver medal in the dual moguls World Cup event in Waterville, USA, marking his first medal of the season.

The Australian team collected a total of four medals this weekend, following Scotty James' gold in the X-Games halfpipe and Bree Walker's silver in the skeleton World Cup. Peel was disappointed with her 21st-place finish in the first World Cup event in Lake Placid last weekend, but achieved a personal best score of 118.48 in the team event, helping Australia secure a bronze medal.

In the second event of the season, 35-year-old Peel delivered a strong performance in Lac-Beauport on Saturday, again executing a near-perfect triple backflip, earning a score of 117.19. China's Chen Meiting finished second with 102.31 points, while last week's winner and current Olympic champion Xu Mengtao took third with 92.72 points. This is Peel's first World Cup victory since winning in Almaty in March 2023, signaling her as a strong contender for the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy, on February 6 next year. Peel finished fifth at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics after a landing error.

"It was great today, I was very happy with my jumps, I’ve been working on consistency and I nailed all three today," the Canberra athlete said at the Quebec resort. "Now I need to rest up and get ready for tomorrow (in the team event)." Australian teammate Danielle Scott, in her first event of the season, won a silver medal but missed the super final, finishing eighth, with Sydnee Stephens 15th, Abbey Willcox 21st, and Elise Collier 25th. Youngster Riley Flanagan finished 36th in the men’s event, which was won by China’s Qi Guangpu.

With superstar Jakara Anthony still sidelined after a collarbone fracture, 2018 Olympic bronze medalist Graham stepped up despite battling the flu leading up to the event. The 30-year-old fought his way through the knockout rounds to challenge moguls legend Mikael Kingsbury in the final, but ultimately lost to the home hero 21-14. Graham missed the super final in the individual event the day before, finishing eighth, while 32-year-old Kingsbury won again, extending his record to 94 World Cup wins. “It’s good to get on the podium for the first time this season,” said Graham, from the Central Coast of New South Wales. “I feel like all the pieces are there, but not quite clicking, I’ve made some mistakes in previous comps, so it’s good to put together a solid performance.”

France’s Perrine Laffont won both the women's individual and dual events, while Australian junior Charlotte Wilson impressed, finishing fifth in the individual event in only her third World Cup appearance.