Aussie Peel wins gold at skiing worlds

Canberra's Laura Peel has won the aerials at the freestyle skiing world championships in Austria.

Laura Peel during the FIS Snowboard World Championships

Australian Laura Peel has won the aerials at the freestyle skiing world championships in Austria. (AAP)

No Lydia Lassila, no problem.

The production line of aerial skiing greats has continued for Australia at the world championships in Austria with Canberra's Laura Peel winning a surprise gold.

Peel earned 88.47 points to edge Kiley McKinnon of the United States by 0.35 with defending champion Xu Mengtao (86.84) of China winning bronze.

Xu, the Olympic silver medallist, led the competition until landing on her back with her last effort in the six-woman decider.

With Lassila (Olympic gold and bronze) and David Morris (silver) out of competition and pondering their futures there were concerns that Australia's remarkable run in the sport over the last 25 years may be about to dry up.

But Peel laid such thoughts to rest for now with a nerveless triple twisting double somersault to take the win.

The result was something of a surprise for the 25 year-old who qualified second for the final and was seventh at the Winter Olympics last year.

She'd won just a single World Cup in four years on the circuit, albeit also in Kreischberg, and finished ninth and 13th in her two World Cup events this season in China.

But she said much of her preparation was geared towards the big picture of achieving something special at the world championships.

"There were a lot of great jumpers out there but I just tried to focus on myself and not pay attention to those around me," she said from Kreischberg.

"I definitely did that tonight. I landed four of four jumps in this competition and everything just came together."

Peel paid credit to her forbears such as Lassila and the three other Australian world champions Alisa Camplin (2003), Jacqui Cooper (1999) and the sport's matriarch Kirstie Marshall (1997).

"She's an amazing athlete, she is so tough," she said of Lassila who defied severe back problems to snatch a bronze at the Sochi Games.

"My first year I came into the sport I saw Lydia and Jacqui jumping. They are both such incredible athletes and to be alongside them when you start out you really see what it takes to make a champion."

Teammate Danielle Scott, who had qualified first for the finals, finished fifth.

In other results from Kreischberg, Australian snowboard cross athlete Alex Pullin qualified first for the final.

The two-time defending champion will be aiming to put the disappointment of finishing 13th at the Winter Olympics behind him to become the first snowboard cross athlete to win three world championships in a row.

Cam Bolton, Jarryd Hughes and Belle Brockhoff also qualified for Saturday's (AEDT) final.


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Source: AAP


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