A successful weekend for Australia's winter sports stars has ended with two more World Cup medals, for aerials star Danielle Scott and snowboard cross racer Belle Brockhoff.
After Jakara Anthony had opened the weekend in Ruka, Finland, with an emphatic triumph in the opening World Cup moguls of the season, her 33-year-old colleague Scott, the reigning aerials champ, had looked set to follow suit at the same venue near the Arctic Circle.
Sydneysider Scott led after the first run, well clear of Marion Thenault but the Canadian delivered a superb jump in the final to score 99.05, earning her a convincing victory over her Aussie rival (88.93).
Kazakhstan's Zhanbota Aldabergenova (85.36) earned the bronze, with Scott's 34-year-old Canberra teammate Laura Peel, the double world champion, having to settle for fourth (76.93).
Peel had won the season’s final meeting of last season in Kazakhstan, with the two Australians, known affectionately within the sport as the "Flying Kangaroos", hoping to challenge for another crystal globe as the season's top aerials performer in 2023-24.
In the snowboard cross event in the French alpine resort of Les Deux Alpes, Brockhoff, the 30-year-old from Victoria who earned a mixed team world gold two years ago, reached the Big Final of the women's event.
But she had to settle for the bronze behind French gold medallist Chloe Trespeuch and second-placed Italian Michela Moioli.
Brockhoff burst out the gate fastest but was always playing catch up behind the leading pair, eventually finishing 0.23 seconds behind Trespeuch.
In the small final, Brockhoff's Aussie teammate Josie Baff finished third, for a seventh place finish overall.
