Australian skiers have completed a remarkable clean sweep of the podium at the FIS aerials World Cup event in Deer Valley, USA.
Laura Peel, Danielle Scott and Abbey Willcox won gold, silver and bronze in tough, snowy conditions at the Utah resort.
It is the first time in history that Australian skiers have swept the podium in a FIS Freestyle World Cup skiing event.
It is the first time any nation has swept a World Cup aerials podium since China's Xu Mengtao, Shao Qi and Xu Nuo did at Lake Placid in 2019.
Peel completed her third World Cup victory in a row following her double last week at Lac Beauport to extend her lead at the top of the overall World Cup standings.
Incredibly, another Australian, 25-year-old Airleigh Frigo, finished fourth, making it an unprecedented night for the Flying Kangaroos.
"It's been a bit of a weird feeling today," three-time Olympian Peel told FIS TV.
"We only had one practice session … the weather didn't really cooperate.
"Now we've got a sweep. One to four is crazy.
"I was saying to Dani, we've been around for a while but we still get firsts, and this is pretty cool."
As heavy, wet snow fell throughout the event, leading to the afternoon's qualifying session being cancelled, Australia's aerials stars stood tall with just under a year to go before the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
With six skiers represented in the 18-strong field, Australia was expecting a strong performance, and the elite skiers did not disappoint.
Australia's four leading skiers qualified in the top four positions to progress straight into the super final, with Sidney Stephens and Elise Coleiro finishing 14th and 15th respectively.
In that six-person super final, the first two skiers Tasia Tanner and Anhelina Brykina both fell hard on their landings, putting the Aussies into a great position to claim all three medals.
Sixth-ranked Tanner (USA) seriously under-rotated on her back lay-full and face-planted onto the snow, worryingly sliding down the slope motionless, only to get up at the bottom of the slope with some assistance to the relief of the large crowd at the popular resort.
The 22-year-old American's score of 20.01 made her a non-factor in the podium, while a similar fate befell 20-year-old Ukrainian Brykina, who failed to land her back full-full to register a score of 51.34.
Frigo, who recorded her first World Cup podium in last week's competition in Lac Beauport, Quebec, was the first athlete of the super final to land her jump, a back full-full to earn her 69.30.
Two-time defending World Cup champion Scott then landed an enormous back full-full to set a big score of 86.31 and put herself into the lead.
Willcox also landed her back full-full without alarm, just slipping slightly on the landing to finish behind Scott with a 81.58 and secure the 28-year-old a third career podium.
The trying conditions robbed Peel of being able to safely complete her signature triples, but the 35-year-old two-time World Champion was still just about perfect with her back full-full, earning the World Cup leader a third victory of the season, extending her lead at the top of the overall standings.
Scott, who claimed the last two crystal globes as overall World Cup winner, moved into second place in the standings.
Australia has always had a rich history of success in aerials skiing.
Of the 19 medals Australia has won at the Winter Olympics, five have been won by aerials skiers, including two of the six gold medals (Alisa Camplin 2002 and Lydia Lassila 2010).
In World Cup competitions Australia has won a spectacular 88 gold medals, the fourth-most of any nation behind Canada, China and the United States.
Australia has five world champions in the event, also fourth-most of any nation, with two silvers and five bronzes too.
Peel and Scott have now occupied the top two places on the podium at World Cup events a record-equalling four times.
Scott also once finished in the top two with 2010 Olympic champion Lydia Lassila, who also finished 1-2 in World Cups, and Jacqui Cooper and Alisa Camplin four times each.
