This article originally appeared on VICE Sports Australia
Three seconds in the air is everything for Australian aerial skier Lydia Lassila. From the moment she hits the ramp she can tell whether years of training have paid off, or whether she is about to experience an unworldly amount of knee pain.
Videos by VICE
“When approaching the ramp you need a good speed. You squeeze your core tight so that you take off as straight as possible, and then you use your arms to twist in the air. If all of that works out you have three seconds to do your move before you need to use your entire body to absorb the impact of landing.”
An Olympic gold winner, Lydia is the subject and star of recently released documentary, The Will to Fly. The film, which was four years in the making, depicts Lydia’s inspirational career.
Lydia’s career started out with gymnastics, but was cut short due to injury. However, a second chance presented itself in the form of aerial skiing, which considering she had never skied before must have seemed like a long shot.
“It took me around 18 months of training before I competed in an Olympic event,” she said.
After less than two years of training Lydia competed at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Since then she has gone on to win gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and bronze at the 2014 games in Sochi.
Of course, things don’t always go to plan for professional athletes: during her career Lydia has ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament twice and required knee reconstruction surgery. This hasn’t held her back, but she acknowledged there is always fear when approaching a jump.
“I have to constantly remind myself that I’m physically prepared and have great technique when competing.”
Lydia cemented her name in aerial skiing history during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, when she attempted a quadruple twisting triple somersault – something that she had barely practiced and had never been tried by a female.
Unfortunately the facilities that Australian aerial skiers are lumped with at home consist of one jump and a muddy pool of water, meaning they can’t practice on a variety of jumps or in the snow – which is pretty necessary when skiing.
Lydia knew she would be attempting the move regardless of practice time, a decision that was driven by a lifelong desire to not be sidelined by male athletes. That no woman had attempted a quadruple twisting triple somersault, says Lydia, was down to accepted norms rather than physical differences.
“It wasn’t to do with body size or technique, it’s because women had this standard set for them that they didn’t need to do it.”
Although Lydia didn’t quite nail the landing, the bold gravity defying display was enough to earn a bronze medal due to difficulty alone and earn a place in the record books as the first, and to date only, female to pull off the move in aerial skiing.
“It was all or nothing, I went all in and it was the right move in the end.”
