By ANNA USHER

Freestyle skier Daisy Thomas has won Australia’s first-ever Winter Youth Olympic medal in Big Air, claiming silver at the Winter Youth Olympic Games (WYOG) in Gangwon, South Korea.

The 16-year-old Year 12 student from Redlands cleanly executed two of her three jumps, a left double 10 safety and a switch left bio 9 safety, to claim the silver medal with a combined score of 172.75, just 7.25 points behind gold medallist Flora Tabanelli from Italy.

Speaking to Mosman Collective while in transit home, Daisy said she was “stoked” to land on the podium and make freestyle skiing history.

“I came to South Korea to get a medal – and to finally have it in my hands feels so surreal!” Daisy said.

“I went in confident in my ability, training and two tricks. I had a game plan and ultimately just had to execute that plan, which I did.

“I was pretty stoked after scoring high on my first jump (91.00); it took the pressure off and set me up well for the rest of the competition.”

The competition saw athletes perform three different tricks, with the accumulation of their best two scores making up their final score.

Daisy told Mosman Collective she’s been skiing since the age of three and owes much of her success to her coach Nicko Drew, her mum Paddy, her dad Richard, and her brother Billy.

“And my friends and school mates have been a great support, too, I can’t wait to get back to see them.”

With her final year exams starting in October, Daisy said she intends to focus on her International Baccalaureate diploma and acing her chosen subjects of English, Maths, Chemistry, History, Spanish and Art.

“After I finish my IB, I will probably head overseas to focus on skiing for a few years and maybe represent Australia again,” she said.

“But in the long run, I would like to have a career as a Lawyer.”

Coach Nicko Drew said he is proud of Daisy’s history-making performance.

“She is such a self-motivated and driven athlete, constantly striving to improve,” he said.

“We had a plan coming into the event to show the judges why she deserves to be on the podium by clearly demonstrating good amplitude, good control and strong grabs, and its great we could do just that.”

A confessed adrenalin junkie, Daisy said her favourite trick is a cork nine blunt grab.

“Basically, it’s an off-axis, 900-degree rotation, and then you grab the tail of your ski,” she said.

“That one took me a few practices to get right!”