Olympic medal hopes boosted with aerial World Cup gold

The two-time world champion had been below her best leading into back-to-back events at Lac-Beauport, and in the first World Cup this week finished 23rd after failing to stick her landing.

But the Canberra ace regained her sparkling touch in the second outing and earned her first World Cup medal of the season, blitzing the field with a superb back full-full-full.

The 36-year-old scored a mammoth 113.76 points ahead of American Winter Vinecki, who won the opening event in Quebec this week.

With all medallists executing a triple in the superfinal, Vinecki scored 109.90, with China's Olympic champion Xu Mengtao third with 97.02.

Airleigh Frigo was the next best-placed Australian in seventh, while youngster Sidney Stephens had a breakout finish in 11th place.

Abbey Willcox placed 13th and Danielle Scott was 20th.  

"It feels really good to be back. I'm really happy with that jump, with my jumping all day," three-time Olympian Peel said.

"Yesterday wasn't really my day, and I'm really stoked to come back today with that.

"I don't know if we've had three full-full-fulls on the podium before and it's epic to see women out there doing the big tricks, because we can."

There is one more World Cup event, in Lake Placid on January 11-12 (local time), before the Olympics gets under way in Milan-Cortina in February.

Peel won the world championship in 2015 and 2021 and multiple World Cup titles, but an Olympic medal has proved elusive, finishing fifth at the past two Games.

Meanwhile, Australian snowboard young gun Valentino Guseli topped his heat of the halfpipe World Cup event in Aspen, Colorado.

Coming off the back of his recent triumph in Calgary, Guseli scored 92.0 for his best run, which was the leading score in the first heat, with Japan's Yuto Totsuka posting the only better mark of the day, with 93.5 in the second heat.

The top seven from each heat will contest the final on Friday.

Australian Associated Press