Aerials & Moguls - 2024/25 Season Wrap

Australia’s Aerials and Moguls athletes continued their incredible recent form, consistently earning podium performances. While some established stars took their Olympic preparations up a level on the countdown to Milano-Cortina, a new crop of athletes emerged including a FIS Rookie of the Year and a male aerialist who landed on the World Cup podium almost immediately.

MOGULS
After 14 wins and 15 podiums from 16 events last season it was always going to be difficult for Jakara Anthony to match her feats from 2023/24 however she did start the season in ominous form. The 2022 Olympic gold medallist finished second in the season opener before her 23rd career win in Sweden. However, that is where Anthony’s season ended with a shoulder injury putting her campaign on ice.

In her absence, Charlotte Wilson began to make waves in her debut World Cup season. In just her third event she scored a top five finish at Waterville and then another fifth place result at Val St Come, however better things were still to come. At the Olympic Test Event in Livigno, Wilson was named FIS Rookie of the Year. She celebrated by taking down three of the top four skiers on the World Cup standings in head-to-head competition to win the Dual Moguls event in Livigno and put the world on notice.

Emma Bosco scored a top 10 finish at the World University Games in Italy in a season highlighted by making her World Cup debut in January and competing at her first World Championships in March. Xanthia Coote, Lucy Pernice and Lottie Lodge also made their first World Cup appearances in North America, with Lodge going on to score 10th at the Junior World Championships.

As always, Matt Graham led the men’s charge this season in a highly-competitive field. The PyeongChang silver medallist finished inside the top 10 in 14 of the 15 World Cups he contested, scoring his 26th and 27th career podiums along the way. Recovering from heavy crashes at the final World Cup and the World Championships, Graham also scored his fifth World Champs medal with Dual Moguls bronze.

Graham finished fourth on the overall World Cup Moguls standings, with Cooper Woods 13th. Woods scored two top ten finishes at the World Championships and five top 10 results.

Edward Hill made his World Cup debut on the North American swing this year, George Murphy and Ollie Logan each competed at more than 10 World Cups while Jackson Harvey made a late-season return to competition after suffering an injury before Christmas.

AERIALS
Australia’s status as a global leader in women’s Aerials continued across the northern winter with Laura Peel dominating the World Cup and Danielle Scott again proving she is one of the best in the sport.

While Scott had won the last two Crystal Globes, Peel scored five wins from seven starts to claim her third overall World Cup title. Scott finished third overall, with the pair having now taken out the Women’s Aerials Crystal Globe in five of the past six seasons.

Peel now sits behind only Xu Mengtao (six) and Jacqui Cooper (five) on the all-time list of overall World Cup winners.

Scott’s season of consistency started with victory at the Brisbane Grand Prix before taking four World Cup podiums and a bronze medal at the World Championships. Scott has never finished outside the top five at any World Championships since debuting in 2013, and this was the fourth time she lifted herself onto the podium.

Abbey Willcox finished fifth overall - her best ever season result - on the back of six top 10s including a third place finish at Deer Valley.

That podium result was part of a historic 1-2-3-4 result for Peel, Scott, Willcox and Airleigh Frigo in Australia’s first-ever World Cup podium sweep.

Frigo also had her best World Cup season finishing 10th overall, gaining her maiden World Cup podium at Lac-Beauport in January.

Rising stars Elise Coleiro and Sidney Stephens both made their World Cup debuts this season, with the pair also taking a 1-2 at the Nor-Am Cup event at Utah Olympic Park.

Reilly Flanagan made his World Cup debut in Lake Placid in the individual event, but his young career was highlighted the following day when he not only got the chance to compete with Peel and Willcox in the Team Event, but the trio stood on the World Cup podium with a bronze medal.

Flanagan, Scott and Peel also went close to the Team Event podium at the World Championships, finishing less than nine points off the bronze in fourth place.