Laura Peel leads aerials charge at Beijing Winter Olympics, fuelled by Australia’s astonishing medal record in freestyle skiing

History beckons for one of Australia's Olympic flag-bearers, Laura Peel.

But as was the case in the opening ceremony, she will not be flying the flag alone on the slopes in Zhangjiakou.

The 32-year-old — a two-time world aerials champion — is in with an excellent chance to follow Australia's gold-lined ski tracks down the aerials slope at the Genting Snow Park on Monday.

«I suppose compared to previous Olympics, there is a little bit more pressure,» said Peel, before last week's opening ceremony.

«But, as they say, pressure is a privilege.»

That pressure might be coming from someone very close to home, with teammate Danielle Scott looming as one of Peel's biggest challengers to winning gold.

The five-time World Cup winner and two-time world championship medallist — who sits in fourth on the World Cup standings this season just behind Peel — is back to her best having recovered from a second ACL injury suffered in 2019.

Aussie aerial skiing champion Laura Peel is the one to beat in Beijing following a World Cup win.

Both Australians are genuine contenders, but it was Peel who showed she has the necessary tricks in her armoury to blow the opposition away at Deer Valley in January, landing a quadruple twisting triple backflip to completely obliterate the field. 

«I'm very proud of everything that I've done leading into now,» Peel said.

«I hope I can do my best here as well.»

If she can replicate a move hailed as «probably the greatest full-full-full ever done by a woman» by Australia's deputy chef de mission Alisa Camplin, then surely a gold medal will follow, improving on her seventh and fifth-placed finishes from Sochi and Pyeongchang respectively.

Camplin knows what she is talking about when it comes to aerials skiing.

After all, she