Danielle Scott Secures Silver in Women’s Aerials at the 2026 Winter Olympics
Livigno, Italy – Australian freestyle skier Danielle Scott has won a silver medal in the women’s aerials final at the 2026 Winter Olympics, finishing behind reigning champion Xu Mengtao of China. The victory marks a significant milestone for Scott, a four-time Olympian, after years of striving for an Olympic medal.
A Lifelong Dream Realized
Scott described winning silver as the “best day of my life,” a culmination of a career filled with both frustration and triumph. She had previously achieved impressive results in World Cup and world championship competitions, but struggled to replicate that success on the Olympic stage, with a ninth-place finish being her best prior result.
“To finally have this around my neck, I indicate, it’s taken four Olympics and it’s been an incredible ride of frustration, a lot of highs, a lot of lows, but today, I just place my heart out there,” Scott said. “I left everything out there. I jumped the way I wanted to, so this just means everything.”
A Demanding Decision and Family Sacrifice
In a poignant turn of events, Scott made the difficult decision last month to ask her family and friends to cancel their plans to attend the Olympics. Feeling the pressure and struggling with her form, she believed she needed to focus solely on her performance. Her husband, Clark, was the only family member present to witness her historic achievement.
“I told all my family and friends that they couldn’t come to the Olympics, they’d booked their tickets and it was really heartbreaking to say that since I just was feeling the pressure and I just needed to focus on myself,” Scott explained. “I was just so frustrated and not jumping the way I needed to… So this is for them and I’m grateful they believed in me.”
Competition Highlights
Scott delivered a strong performance in the first final, achieving a career-high score of 117.19, surpassing the eventual winning score of Xu Mengtao. However, she was unable to fully replicate that performance in the medal round, touching down on her landing and scoring 102.17, whereas Xu secured gold with a score of 112.90.
The competition saw five of the six super finalists attempting a triple-twisting triple, highlighting the increasing difficulty of the event. Despite narrowly missing gold, Scott expressed pride in her performance.
“I am frustrated that I didn’t keep my hands from picking up that loose change and maybe could have meant that I got the gold, but that’s OK – this means everything to me and I’m so proud,” Scott stated.
A Momentous Day for Australian Winter Sports
Scott’s silver medal came on the 24th anniversary of Alisa Camplin’s gold medal win in the same event at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Camplin, who was present in Italy, embraced Scott in celebration, recognizing the years of dedication and hard work that led to this moment.
“It’s been 12 years of coming in with the Olympic dream and now finally she does the most beautiful jumps of her life so I couldn’t have been more happy for her,” said Camplin. Scott’s medal contributes to Australia’s record medal haul at the 2026 Winter Olympics, bringing the total to six – three gold, two silver, and one bronze.
Australia’s top medal hope, two-time world champion Laura Peel, was unable to compete due to an ACL rupture sustained in pre-Games training.