Lydia Lassila Interview

Excited to bring you another special interview episode of Off The Podium as we talk to one of Australia's most successful Winter Olympians in Lydia Lassila. The 2010 Olympic Gold medallist in the women's aerials, Lydia backed it up in 2014 with a bronze medal after becoming the first women in history to do the quad-twisting triple somersault. After a 'mini-retirement' post 2014, Lydia has returned to aerials in a push to become the first ever Australian female to compete in 5 Winter Olympics, as well as become the first ever Australian to win more than 2 Winter Olympic medals in their career. We speak to Lydia about her goals for 2018 and find out just how her comeback is going with only 12 months to the Olympics.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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BEN WATERWORTH: Welcome once again to Off The Podium, an Olympics podcast, continuing on our series of interviews with past, present Olympians. And a bit of a trick for you today, as we bring to you one of Australia's most successful ever Winter Olympians, Lydia Lassila. Of course, a gold and a bronze medallist in the women's aerials, gold in Vancouver in 2010, and bronze in Sochi in 2014. Now, fascinating statistic about the women's aerials is that Australia has won more gold medals than any other country in the history of the sport at the Olympics, and that is the only sport that Australia can lay claim to that, I guess, besides rugby sevens, which is only a new event at the Olympics, but outside of that, that's a pretty outstanding statistic. I guarantee if you walked up to any person on the street and said, name the sport at the Olympics that Australia has won more gold medals in than any other country in the world, they're going to say things like swimming or rowing or things like that, but it's a winter Olympic sport. Of course, Alisa Camplin won gold in 2002. So it's an amazing statistic that I only found out in the lead up to this interview, but Lydia, outside of that, is an amazing athlete. As I said, gold in 2010, bronze in 2014, after she became the first ever woman to attempt and land the quad-twisting triple somersault, didn't land it quite perfectly, which possibly would have gotten her second gold, still enough to get her a bronze medal and got well renowned for that feat in itself. Since Sochi, she sort of hung up the skis, semi-retired, went on to more of a family life, again had a second child along the way, business ventures, and a film that was released, of course, after Sochi as well. The film The Will To Fly, which was released in 2016, doing great guns out there, and just about to be released internationally. Very inspirational movie that details the sport of freestyle skiing aerials, and just the drive that Lydia has in order to what she then went on to achieve in Sochi. But has recently said, hey, I'm going to have a crack, put on the skis again, and attempting to qualify for her fifth Olympics. And if she does this, she will become the first Australian female athlete to not only achieve this, but she could also then potentially be the first Australian female or male Olympic athlete in the Winter Olympics to win a third Olympic medal. She's up there with Dale Begg Smith, Stephen Bradbury, and Tora Bright as the only, and Alyssa Campland, I should mention, athletes to have won two Olympic Winter medals. So Lydia, lots to do. She's back in Australia only for a few days before heading back out onto the World Cup scene. On her first return to the World Cup recently, she took first place. So, clearly, she's still got it and attempting, of course, as I said, to go for that medal in Pyeongchang in 2018. So this is Lydia Lassila. I've interviewed her before, funnily enough, a few years ago on The Brink, but that was four years ago. Four years later, it's an Olympiad, I guess you would say. She's back, and it's great to chat to again. So let's listen to Lydia Lassila speaking to us here on Off The Podium. Lydia, welcome to the program.

LYDIA LASSILA: Thanks for having me.

BEN WATERWORTH: It's a pleasure to have you here, because can I just point out that this time, I'm sure you know this, of course, in about 12 months, if all things go to plan, you very well could be a five-time Olympian, Lydia. I mean, I guess that's something you probably thought you would never be going off to achieve, considering everything that's happened in your life since 2014.

LYDIA LASSILA: Yeah, look, back in the day when I was a little girl, I probably dreamed of going to one Olympics, so I was like most kids. And so kind of time ticks forward, and all of a sudden, you start off as a rookie, and then you're a veteran, and going to five Olympics. So it kind of evolves and happens quickly, but nonetheless, it's kind of fun. It's a major event to look forward to, and I'm stoked.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, you're back in Australia at the moment, I guess, for a little bit of R&R, but you've been back on the circuit, out there, of course, training for several months, and back competing. You've been doing great already, winning events, and really showing it how it's all going out there. I mean, how was that mindset, I guess, after Sochi to then be back to where you are right now? Did you honestly always believe that you would be training for these fifth Olympics, or was it something that you gradually had to build yourself up to to even get back out there to go for number five?

LYDIA LASSILA: Yeah, look, after Sochi, I really thought I'd kind of retire, so I just gave myself the time, you know, to let that happen organically, I guess, and rather than, you know, declare retirement. So kind of, you know, got home and into family life, obviously, and had another child, and, you know, I've run a business now since 2007, so got stuck into that and just, you know, put all my energy towards that rather than towards sport. And just time kicked over, and yes, it's funny, you just feel like in a sport like mine that, you know, you know, there's a fight, like it's finite, you know, when you do hang the boots up, eventually it's over. It's not something you can go kind of go back to on a weekend or anything. So, you know, you take your last kind of jumps and you realise that you'll never do that again. So that kind of thought, I guess, crossed my mind a few times. And as a couple of years rolled on, just felt that bit of a void, you know, that all that kind of feeling that, okay, this is the last time I'll have an opportunity to do this. So you better decide whether you've had enough or you still love it and want to keep going. And yeah, I just I let time kind of go on and had that feeling that, yeah, I still kind of wanted to do it, you know, I still really felt like I loved the sport and loved being an athlete and know that that's, you know, it is coming to an end fairly soon-ish. But I thought I've got the opportunity to do one more and I still want to, then I shouldn't really deny that. So that's where we're at at the moment.

BEN WATERWORTH: And is it a sport that changes much in the time that you're away? I mean, do you find that you've got your fellow competitors really pushing that envelope just a little bit more? Or is it still very similar, I guess, to when you left it in 2014?

LYDIA LASSILA: You know, it's funny, because I would say it's actually regressed a bit. So, you know, you have a lot of people retire after Olympics. And we had, you know, people retire after Vancouver Olympics, strong athletes and strong ones again retire after Sochi. And it's up to them, the young kind of guns to fill in that void and start stepping up. And there hasn't really been much of that going on. So it's been interesting. There's been a format change, which encourages you to play it safe a little bit more rather than take risks. And I think that's kind of dumbed down the field a little bit. Not to say they're not good. They're very good, but they're not taking, they're not pushing the envelope as much as perhaps we have for the last couple of Olympics. So it is interesting. There's a young girl, Ashley Caldwell, that is, you know, amazing and out there doing triple somersaults. But other than her, you know, the field's playing it quite cautious. So it's been interesting to come back to. I, you know, certainly didn't expect to come and win an event this season. I really just wanted to come back and I've had very limited training. You know, you said several months, I've had actually several weeks. So not much at all preparation. So I didn't set the bar very high for myself, to be honest. But a lot of the stuff is still kind of in the memory bank, you know, in your muscles and your brain. And I'm not doing triples. I'm on the double doing easier tricks, which are a bit more manageable for me, you know, given the preparation I've had and the circumstances of life that I'm in at the moment. So, but, you know, I don't take a win any day. I mean, that's amazing feeling. And yeah, I think for the rest of the season, just focusing on keeping on building, you know, and getting back to that form that I have liked to enjoy in the past.

BEN WATERWORTH: So you won't need to go out and try and improve on the quad twisting triple sum assault next year in 2018, then to try and really push for another medal then?

LYDIA LASSILA: You know, no, you don't need to. And that's, you know, that's been kind of against my grain, you know, in the past, not to just do what you need to do. You know, I've always gone out there pushing myself and pushing the envelope. But for a fifth Olympics and circumstances with me now, it's just not, I'll be doing it in a different way, you know, and what's manageable for me and my family as well. But yeah, as I said, Ashley Caldwell will be out there. She'll be the only girl really doing cord twisting triple somersault. And I mean, yeah, anything can happen at the Olympics. But yeah, with not a lot of women on the triple, it's going to be an interesting competition of strategy, more than, you know, courage and really pushing the boundaries.

BEN WATERWORTH: Now, of course, you mentioned some roles there outside of skiing. You know, obviously, you've become a mum. Congratulations again for a second time in between 2014. But also in between all your other pursuits as well, you become a bit of a film star, Lydia. Your documentary, The Will To Fly, which has been released recently, going great guns, about to be released internationally this year, I believe as well. I mean, how does this idea come about? And how have you found sort of the reaction to this film since it has been released?

LYDIA LASSILA: Yeah, look, the idea came about in 2012. One of the filmmakers, Katie Bender, really had the idea. She was an ex aerial skier and went on to study film in LA and work in the film industry and basically had the idea and wanting to merge her two loves of sport and film and make a full feature documentary. And I kind of had told her that what I wanted to do leading into the Sochi Olympics, coming back as a mum, wanting to push boundaries and do the quad twisting triple somersault to defend an Olympic title. And she thought the content would make for a great full feature film and documentary and be able to show the sport of aerial skiing in a different light, a light that people don't normally get to see. So it was released in last March on International Women's Day. And so we've had a year now, nearly, of release. And it's been picked up, yeah, by global distributors, which is fantastic and won lots of awards. And yeah, it's great. Look, I'm quite a private person when it comes to kind of what goes on inside my head, you know. But they've really created a really nice piece of, you know, it's quite motivational, it's inspirational for all walks of life. And it's really nice to see the onward effects of that and the impact that it's having. You know, people contact us all the time, me all the time, just saying that's how much this film has inspired them to, you know, really go up, not put on hold and go after what they want. And so that's, you know, really a satisfying feeling. It kind of cancels out the awkwardness that I feel, you know, with myself on a big screen and people knowing the ins and outs of my life. But on the flip side, you can help people through that and see them achieve their own goals. It's quite uplifting.

BEN WATERWORTH: No invitations to the Oscars in a couple of weeks at all? Just none of that happening?

LYDIA LASSILA: No, you can get one.

BEN WATERWORTH: That's got lost in the mail then, Lydia, clearly. It'll arrive very soon. But I mean, it seems to me it's a sport that I guess is rife for film or documentary treatment. I mean, it's such a unique and fascinating sport that people, I'm sure, who don't see it outside of the Olympics every four years wouldn't be aware of just the training regimes. And just the effort somebody like yourself and people here in Australia, I guess, have to go through to train, given, you know, we're on the other side of the world. We get snow very, very rarely and just sort of things like that. So, I mean, on that side of things, has it opened eyes up for people, particularly maybe in Australia, to pursue the sport itself? Because I guess, as I said, it's something that really doesn't get as much attention outside of the Olympics every four years.

LYDIA LASSILA: Yeah, you're right. And it really does shine a light on the process of the sport and what's really involved and more so the carnage. You know, out of competition and yeah, it's brutal. It's a brutal sport, you know, so you can see that in the film. And yeah, I think in terms of attracting the right people to the sport, it's doing that. I think if a young athlete's watching it and they're kind of on the fence and not sure whether they want to do the sport or not, they watch the film, they're like, OK, yes, I want to do this or hell no. I'm not going to even start kind of thing. It's kind of, you know, it's one or the other. And that's the kind of sport it is. You're either all in or you're not, you know, you just can't. It's just not it's not a recreational sport. You just can't go and do it casually or halfheartedly. So it takes that kind of personality. You know, we've got some funny characters on tour and different all kinds of different personalities. But but you really do have to kind of be completely invested or not at all. So yeah, it's an interesting one.

BEN WATERWORTH: What's the reaction going to be like one day if either Kai or Alec come up to you and say, say, mama, I want to be an aerial skier. Let's do this.

LYDIA LASSILA: Yeah, I'll be burying my head in the air. Yeah, look, it's it's tough because, you know, they've been, you know, on the road with me for a good six weeks already this season. And they ski and they see me jumping and and they're immersed in it, you know, they know all the people and yeah, they're kind of like the toured mascots, you know, everyone kind of knows and gets to know. And and so they've seen it and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they, you know, turned around and said, no, I want to try that. I was already saying he wants to start jumping on the water ramps, you know, this season and in our off season. So it's kind of, you know, it's inevitable. But I still, you know, encourage a tennis racket. I'd be frightened. I'd be absolutely frightened to watch them jump. I just yeah, I get frightened with kind of monkey bars. You know, I'm pretty hopeless like that, but who knows? Who knows what's going to happen? But at the end of the day, you know, my parents just supported me and let me do what I wanted to do and I'm pretty grateful for that. So I've got to kind of just follow in that kind of those good steps.

BEN WATERWORTH: I'm sure one day when either of them or both of them, you know, get an Olympic medal put around your neck, you'll be like, OK, this is all worth it. Now I can understand.

LYDIA LASSILA: Yeah, it's not so bad.

BEN WATERWORTH: So obviously a couple of weeks here in Australia and then back on tour. So how many more events do you have to go for the rest of the season and then is it just a case of keeping that preparation up, keeping that mind ready ahead of Pyeongchang 2018?

LYDIA LASSILA: Yeah, I mean, look, I'm home for a quick six days, so that's two down already. So I leave on Saturday. So it's just a quick break. I just wanted to touch base with the kids and make sure, you know, I kind of limit my time away from them to about three weeks. And that's as much as I can handle, so I really, yeah, wanted to come home and see them. And then, yeah, we've got three more events. So we've got Minsk over in Belarus next, and then Moscow, which is a great event. It's a scaffold event. It's an inner city event, so that's fun. And then we have World Championships over in Sierra Nevada in Spain. So that's it. Three more weeks and then back home.

BEN WATERWORTH: Back home, and it's all moving forward. Well, Lydia, we're looking forward to seeing how this all goes. And obviously everyone here in Australia, fingers crossed and just hopeful that 2018 goes your way. Come home, perhaps join an elite club of first Australian to win three Winter Olympic medals. Just putting a bit more pressure on you, I don't mean to, but best of luck.

LYDIA LASSILA: It's no different to the pressure I put on myself, so. It's all good. That's the aim, isn't it, really?

BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, exactly. Well, best of luck, and we'll keep an eye out on everything, how it all goes. And we appreciate your time on the show today.

LYDIA LASSILA: Thank you.

BEN WATERWORTH: And we definitely wish Lydia all the best. We're going to be keeping an eye on her for sure in 2018. And just such a nice person, just such an inspirational athlete. And, you know, easily, if she makes the team in 2018, will be one of our medal hopes going into the Winter Olympics. And given that it's only less than a year now to Pyeongchang, we're very excited here and off the podium. I know, as I've said on this show before, I get more excited for the Winter Olympics, even though Australia doesn't clearly do as well. And Colin, being Canadian, well, you know, that's when Canada shines. So I'm sure he's counting down those days until Korea, as I'm sure you are too, as an Olympic fan, listening to this show. And as an Olympic fan, you're enjoying these interviews. There's gonna be more. Keep tuning in. We're gonna have a preview episode, I guess a one year out episode of Pyeongchang coming soon as well. Jared will be back. You haven't heard his voice in a while, so stay tuned for that. Off the podium, find us on Facebook, search us on iTunes. Remember to rate us, leave some feedback. Everything else in between. We appreciate all the comments, and we thank you for your time here on the program, and thanks once again to Lydia as well. You can just quickly give a bit of a plug for a film, thewildoflyfilm.com, if you wanna check out the trailer and see where you can see it, and lidyalassila.com. Great website, she blogs, she updates and allows, she guest speaks, she's on Twitter, she does everything. Lydia Lassila is Superwoman. Just basically, let's just point it out there. So follow her out there on all things to do with social media. Follow us, I've already mentioned that. I'm gonna go because I'm just gonna repeat myself over and over again. Thank you for your time on Off The Podium, and we will speak to you next time here on the show.