Original subtitles

(Dragging on snow)

(Indistinct radio chatter)

(Footsteps on snow)

MAN 1: (On radio) 2 metres up.

Same spot nowhere.

(Woman takes a deep breath)

MAN 2: The clock is running.

(Woman taking deep breaths)

(Crowd cheering and applauding)

ANNOUNCER 1: The stage is set for Lydia Lassila.

She's put down that she's gonna do

a full double full-full that would be the hardest trick

that a woman has ever done in aerial skiing.

Lydia Lassila attempted to go

into a completely uncharted territory.

LYDIA: It definitely was a state then.

It definitely said, "I'm here

and I'm gonna give this a mighty go."

And you know, "Just watch me do it."

(♪♪♪♪♪)

MAN 3: For a lot of athletes, and top athletes,

I think the nature of the beast is there's always more.

She saw beyond the competition of her last Olympic event

and what she saw was "I wanna be the first ever

to do a quad-twisting triple.

First woman ever to do that."

MAN 5: Lydia's even done quad-twisting triple backflips

on water, the first girl ever.

I wouldn't be surprised

if she can maybe do that on snow.

It's pretty impressive to see it,

especially when you consider she's almost at the same level

as the guys now.

TV ANCHOR 1: There's been a lot of talk about the quad-twisting triple.

Will we see that in the latter stages,

do you think?

We will see.

TV ANCHOR 1: We will, great!

(♪♪♪♪♪)

LYDIA: When I write my book,

one day when I'm the best aerialist in the world,

even better than you, Eric.

ERIC: Oh, come on!

Hey, you will be if you stay here long enough.

You'll be doing full double full-full

and I'll only be able to do eight ball.

I gotta grow a few more balls then.

ERIC: Oh, you got plenty of balls, you just gotta realize--

JACQUI: She talked about doing

a quadruple-twisting triple somersault

that year that I met her in 1999,

she hadn't even done a somersault on snow yet!

And I'm like, "How can you talk so big and so much

about something you know nothing about?"

ERIC: A full double full-full is a triple flip

with four twists.

So that's a full twist on the first flip,

two twists on the second flip,

and another full twist on the third flip.

(Applause and cheering)

A full double full-full for a woman

is a huge, huge task.

MAN 6: It's a very difficult trick.

It's scary.

It's very demanding.

This is the highest acrobatic skill in the world,

bigger than diving or gymnastics or cliff diving.

Not everyone is gonna go, "That's for me."

It's dangerous and you always think

if you should risk it or not.

(Man yelling)

(Crowd yells)

You're stepping into this whole new dimension of risk.

These guys are skiers, but especially they're gymnasts,

because this sport is judged like diving.

They're judged for their form in the air,

their take off, and their landing.

These people can do things that will combine

the grace and beauty

of a Nadia Comaneci gymnastics performance,

and at the same time the daring of a high trapeze artist.

And if you look up there,

you know there's no net underneath.

FRANK: The beauty of the sport,

which is freestyle aerial skiing,

is that it's limitless.

And it's only limited to your mind and your body.

CORD: Athletes are going extremely fast, extremely big,

and the consequences are through the roof.

You know, it's a wow factor,

made-for-the-spectator kind of event.

FRANK: It's fun to be able to do things

that very few people in the world

are capable of doing.

And it's even more fun to succeed

at those impossible task and get rewarded with a medal.

(Crowd cheering)

ANNOUNCER 2: That was amazing!

LYDIA: I love it!

I love pushing myself.

I love competition.

I love everything that sports brings to a person

and what they can get out of themselves.

I've always been driven, even as a little girl.

Mom, it's raining!

(Screams and laughs)

GEORGE: As a young girl,

she was always wanting to hang out with the boys

and do what we were doing.

(Chuckles)

You know, if we were playing footie,

She'd have to play footie.

If we were riding a bike, she'd have to ride a bike

even though she couldn't touch the pedals.

PHYLLIS: Are you helping too, Lyd, on your birthday?

She's the baby out of the four.

CHICK: And that's why she's had to grow up like she did.

The three boys--

PHYLLIS: Made it tough for her.

LAINIE: Her brothers had her believe that she was adopted,

but that she was adopted as a pig.

CHICK: We always said to her she's not really our daughter.

She was a little pig,

we found her on the side of the road

and we took her in.

- Even now though, you know-- - Little pig.

Like lovingly, they'll call her "Piggy".

Why she is so tough is probably because of us.

(Laughter)

WOMAN 1: Hip, hip!

Hurray!

ALL: Hip, hip, hurray!

I could see the drive in her at the age of 3,

at her very first callisthenic lesson.

Callisthenic lasts until about 6 years old

and then we took the children away to Europe

for three months.

Dad worked really, really hard to get us there.

Where are we going?

- To Calab-- - To Calabria.

When we came back, she started gymnastics.

GEORGE: Before school after school,

she was always training as a kid.

She didn't prioritize socializing or other things.

It was gymnastics.

(Announcer speaking in foreign language)

PHYLLIS: And I realized, "Yeah,

there's something else brewing here.

This is not going to be recreational gym for her,

this is gonna become serious."

(Applause and cheering)

WOMAN 3: Go Lydia, yay!

(Cheering)

LAINIE: Lydia was a level underneath me, thank God,

'cause she would have beat me in every competition

if she wasn't.

LIZ: Lydia and I actually started gymnastics together.

So it was always Lydia versus Liz.

Lydia always taught me every year, damn it!

LAINIE: She did eventually get into the elite stream,

an injury kept her from achieving Olympic standard

in gymnastics.

ANNOUNCER 3: Those who aren't unfortunately going to be selected,

keep up the class of work--

In her head she always had that,

"I don't understand what's happening,

because I'm meant to go to the Olympics."

Like, "How is this possible?"

LIZ: I was actually approached and asked

if I was interested in aerial skiing

and if I had any friends that would be interested,

and the first person that popped to my mind was Lydia.

It was almost like a aha moment

and she took that opportunity like no one's business.

And then she turned around said, "Ah!

I'm going to Mount Buller."

I thought, "Oh no!

What're you gonna do next?", you know.

LAINIE: Mount Buller was our first introduction to the sport

and we were learning to ski.

It was evident right from the start

that Lyd was on a mission.

COACH 1: Keep your arms long and--

Out, out, out, out!

(♪♪♪♪♪)

The reaction at the time was, "What's aerials?"

I thought that's when they take 'em up in helicopters

and put 'em on the fish tracks or something like that,

you know?

CORD: We find these young ex-gymnasts

and then they get sucked in to this sport

and I think the fact that it's so, so challenging,

so difficult and cut-throat,

that I think that's the draw for anybody ultracompetitive.

JACQUI: I met her at Mount Black

and she was so cheeky, I couldn't believe it.

They introduced her to me and she's like, "Oh my gosh!

So you're the girl that took eight years

to learn how to twist?

What type of acrobatic moron are you?"

And that was my first day I ever met Lydia.

She called me an "acrobatic moron".

A world champion.

Isn't that funny?

LIZ: 2002 was our very first year on tour.

I went on to the tour as this rookie,

amazed at everyone around me.

Lyd, she was there saying, "I'm going to beat these guys."

Lydia was always really antsy to get there fast.

ANNOUNCER 4: Hold it, hold it, hold it!

ALISA: You know, I saw this ambitious kid

desperate to get to the top.

She trained hard, but she didn't have the experience

or the technique or perhaps the calmness that was required.

TV ANCHOR 2: Well, keep smiling.

We know you're tough

and don't be too hard on yourself.

Oh, I'm gonna go and beat myself up right now.

LIZ: Straightaway from the start,

she's like, "I'm making it to the Olympics this year."

JACQUI: Okay, Coach Lydia, any words before we start?

When she came and lived in Whistler, for the summer,

I was struggling with some technique in school.

You know, she already knew what I was meant to be doing.

She had only been in this sport five minutes,

but she was coaching me.

It was always like glimpses of this brilliance

right from the very beginning.

Initially, she was incredibly gung-ho.

She had no concern for her body health

or her mental health or even her future.

ANNOUNCER 5: Oh, she's okay now!

JACQUI: She had to win everything, every day.

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

JACQUI: When she started getting

the qualification results at Mount Buller

and I was like, "This is all just happening now."

Lydia, a dream start to what is going to be

a fantastic World Cup future.

Really happy to be just competing in this event

and to come in the top 10, coming 6th place is just...

Unreal, like I'm overwhelmed.

I'm so excited for Lydia.

She has just worked so hard--

It was unbelievable for Lydia to make the Olympic team

after only participating in the sport for two years.

This is just something that people don't do.

TV ANCHOR 3: Just getting yourself mentally settled

and the nerves will be pretty tricky up there.

ALISA: Jacqui and I were both going there

hoping to win medals.

It wouldn't be any surprise that Lydia would have gone there

with ambitions to do new tricks and to get into the final.

TV ANCHOR 3: That's hell of a tone to be landing new jumps.

I have never seen an athlete move along this quickly.

Initially, I was excited,

but she did start to move on to harder tricks

before I thought she was ready

and she took a number of very, very bad crashes.

(Man yells)

LYDIA: Ooh!

DANIEL: It is definitely a bit scary.

We have a good idea of what a progression should be like.

Coaches should be very hard on the athlete

to respect the progression

and it's not gonna erase all possibility of injury,

but you will minimize the risk.

(Crowd cheering)

ANNOUNCER 5: Oh!

LIZ: She got to a point that her shoulder was so injured

that she couldn't even take off with two arms up.

COACH 2: Come on, Lydia.

LAINIE: People just thought she had bad technique.

They didn't think that she had a torn shoulder.

COACH 2: Don't fall, don't fall!

Grab it, grab it, grab it!

Don't fall, don't fall!

TODD: Lydia had some of the most horrific crashes

I think I've ever seen at the Olympics.

(Woman gasps)

Now it got so bad at one point that she was so crooked

that she was flipping side over side,

over the fences, and into the crowd.

NEWS ANCHOR 1: Her body tossed like a ragdoll.

Remarkably the 19-year-old was uninjured,

bravely dusting herself off.

What do you think of that, guys?

- That was impressive. - It was great.

WOMAN 5: Thanks for the show.

JACQUI: I was getting athletes come from watching her train that day,

and come down and report to me and go, "Lydia!

She is crazy!

She's gonna kill herself!

Today, she looked like a fish in a net!"

I'm okay, I walked out of it fine

and I finished the training, so--

And someone said, "Watching Lydia smash,

it was more spectacular than what they saw

in the opening ceremony."

TV ANCHOR 4: Jacqui Cooper is one of our truly great hopes.

There was the sense that Jacqui was the number 1

and Alisa was the number 2, and to some degree,

at the beginning,

I think Alisa was actually okay with that.

COACH 3: Okay, dive, dive!

Fast, fast, fast!

CROWD: Ooh!

(Screaming)

COACH 3: Goddamn it!

NEWS ANCHOR 1: The three-time world champion was going too fast

and on landing snapped her cruciate ligament.

I knew straightaway that my Olympic dream was over.

TODD: Jacqui had been a seasoned veteran in the sport

for a long time

and being the gold-medal favourite,

it was just absolutely tragic to watch the crash

that Jacqui took that day.

TV ANCHOR 5: And you're feeling good?

Yeah, I'm feeling really good.

TV ANCHOR 5: Jacqui's misfortune as sad as it is

does open the event up, doesn't it?

ALISA: Yes, it does, but there are still eight girls

that can all win a medal.

COMMENTATOR 1: Alisa Camplin from Melbourne,

she's only had a 2nd place as her best result

and she's jumping very well.

COMMENTATOR 2: She carries the hopes of the nation here.

- Fully good. - Yeah!

COMMENTATOR 1: It's a great jump for Alisa.

Landed perfectly!

ANNOUNCER 6: Camplin of Australia will take the gold!

(Cheering)

We were the underdog

and Alisa never let anyone tell her

that she wasn't gonna achieve this goal.

Second gold for Australia, that's unreal!

JACQUI: I watched the semi-final

and then I flew back to Australia,

and while the final was happening,

I was getting my reconstruction done.

and I woke up out of the anaesthetic

and they said Alisa won.

And I thought it was the drugs.

Alisa she had never won, even a world cup

and then she won the event that you know,

I had desperately hoped to win.

(Crowd cheering)

Right now, I'm just thinking about trying to get better.

You haven't seen the last of me.

It ended up being a great thing that Lydia was able

to push so quickly and find success in Salt Lake.

(Crowd cheering)

I tell you what, next time it's gonna be a different story.

On the opposite side of the equation,

she had done some damage to her shoulder and to her hip.

This was a huge setback for us,

because when we started to train again,

Lydia was so crooked that, we had to work to fix this

on the single kicker for over three months.

I want you to be straight.

It was just horrifying for her to see her teammates

doing harder tricks than her on the double

and we were making very, very little progress.

My experience working with the Australian team,

it was amazing.

I put Alisa, and Jacqui, and Lydia

in all the same boat of champions.

They can do amazing things.

They're like Ferraris and they breakdown a lot,

and they're high-strung, and they run hot,

and they're super-strong personalities.

I came onboard after Alisa had won in Salt Lake.

Because they're so competitive

and they're different personalities,

I had my hands full.

TODD: You're okay?

DUSTIN: Yeah, I just did their first triple.

My legs are still shaking and I think I've grown balls.

Look out world, 'cause here come the Aussie chicks.

Yeah!

There were times they didn't get along at all.

NEWS ANCHOR 2: It's not a secret

that Alisa Camplin and Jacqui Cooper

are more teammates than friends.

JACQUI: All of us are very strong personalities

and I think we'll admit to that

and you have to be if you wanna be successful.

ALISA: I wasn't uncomfortable

that the competition of the world

was within my own team.

TODD: Alisa had her way of preparing, Jacqui had her way of preparing,

and Lydia was sort of somewhere in between.

ALISA: Between 2002 and 2006, Lydia was always someone that

I was jostling for a position on the podium with.

I figured if it wasn't me winning,

I'd want her to win.

COMMENTATOR 3: There is only one person who qualified better

that's her teammate.

Lydia is dominating the field this year!

(Screaming)

NEWS ANCHOR 3: From Australia,

now ranked number 1 in the world

is Lydia Ierodiaconou.

NEWS ANCHOR 4: Lydia is making her mark

in preparation for 2006 Turin Olympics.

LYDIA: It's not so much Olympic gold.

Of course I want that,

but it's making a difference in this sport

and it's really boosting aerials

and showing the world how fantastic it can be.

TODD: Leading into Torino,

the girls had all found a ton of success.

They were all going into the Olympics

as a favourite for a medal.

Each one of 'em had a chance to win gold.

It's a new summer in Lake Placid this year.

And then six months before the game

like bad luck started to struck.

(Grunts)

Lydia blew her ACL on the second day of the summer

doing the easiest trick that she does.

That was just absolutely a devastating day for us.

The dream of competing at the Olympics

seemed like it was over.

She learned about the allograft procedure

and she was all over this.

DOCTOR: And an allograft can be live fresh tissue

from a willing donor

or you can have a dead person's tissue

and then transplant it into the person.

She's like, "If I can get back

and I can be jumping in three or four months,

this is what I wanna do."

There was no one that was gonna tell her

that wasn't a good idea.

WOMAN 6: You got it, Lyd!

TODD: I, as a coach, was extremely anxious

about Lydia returning this quickly.

We needed her to jump off of the mini jump,

- just to test her knee. - WOMAN 7: Yeah!

WOMAN 6: Yay, you go!

TODD: I had never seen that side of Lydia before.

She was absolutely terrified.

WOMAN 6: Yeah, you got it, Lyd!

TODD: And it was the fear that the graft wasn't ready

and she would tear the graft.

This would potentially wipe out her Olympic dreams.

Nice work, Lyd.

(Lydia crying)

Hi, it was scary.

TODD: The mini was just one step,

and then three or four days later,

she needed to go through this on the single.

Go!

Three or four days after that,

she had to go through the same thing again

going off of the double.

(Applause)

TODD: She obviously had my support, but there was a lot of anxiety

the whole way through that.

I did the best that I could,

and then I get an emergency phone call

saying Alisa landed funny and she had just torn her ACL.

And this is just a nightmare.

The crazy thing is Alisa finds out

that she can get an allograft

and there's a chance that she can make it back.

I thought that was the craziest thing

I'd ever heard.

I told Alisa I thought that she should retire.

NEWS ANCHOR 5: Just three months after a knee reconstruction,

Alisa Camplin is on her way to another Winter Olympics

in the hope of retaining gold.

Also in the team, Liz Gardner, Lydia Ierodiaconou,

and former world champion Jacqui Cooper.

At the Torino Olympic Games,

all of us had the artillery to win that event.

DANIEL: Going into the Torino Games with Lydia,

technically I thought she was ready

to go out there and do well.

ALISA: Lydia, I think had done everything she could

to rehab her knee.

JACQUI: The two of us had trained really well that week

and we thought that we were just gonna have the best results.

We didn't necessarily think about Alisa too much,

because she had come back from her knee injury

and she hadn't done much training.

I went back to training 56 days after that knee reconstruction.

So it was very, very fast.

DANIEL: Lydia and Alisa,

they're champion in every facet of their training.

They got it back together

and they got ready for the Torino Games.

Definitely,

the allograft strategy was maybe a risk,

but that was the only option.

No matter what sign she was getting from her body,

she wasn't gonna stop.

Lydia wanted to compete and win as much as I did.

This is it.

Lydia and I would have competed

with a few tacks and sticky type

holding us together if we possibly could have.

COMMENTATOR 4: This is Jacqui Cooper.

She's such a strong competitor

and was the dominant force of freestyle jumping.

Wooh!

(Cheering and applause)

TODD: Alisa was jumping very, very well.

COMMENTATOR 4: The reigning Olympic champion had done enough

to qualify for tomorrow night's final.

ANNOUNCER 7: (Speaking in Italian)

COMMENTATOR 4: Each athlete has two jumps in qualifying.

(Man yelling)

(Crowd cheering)

COMMENTATOR 4: Lydia Ierodiaconou's first is the best of her career.

TODD: The event started out amazing.

Everything was going well.

After the first round, I was sitting in 1st place

and I think Lydia was sitting in the 2nd,

and we we're all high-fiving each other going,

"One more jump, one more jump!

This is it!"

(Announcer speaking in Italian)

(Crowd cheering)

TODD: Jacqui just set a world record

for highest score any female aerial athlete

had ever scored.

COMMENTATOR 5: World record or not,

this just shows how determined Jacqui is

to win Olympic gold here in Torino.

So I'm like so excited for Jacqui.

COMMENTATOR 4: Lydia Ierodiaconou.

She's another Australian knee story.

Last June and like last-- injured her left knee,

had an Achilles tendon grafted in there,

on Friday the 13th won the first come back

and here she is in the Olympics.

(Man yelling)

(Screaming)

(Announcement in Italian)

I collapsed and fell to the ground

and put my hands over my ears.

I didn't wanna hear--

I was seeing flashbacks of Salt Lake City.

I just knew she was in a whole world of just hell.

TODD: The second she hit the snow,

there was no doubt in my mind that she had re-torn the ACL.

It was absolutely horrifying.

Just gave her a huge hug

and had a hard time letting go of her,

just telling her I'm sorry.

Someone like Lydia that worked that hard

to get that close it just almost felt evil.

It's been hard to accept.

I only had a couple of days to go.

I wish that my knee could've held up for that long,

but--

Yeah, just another four years.

And at this stage,

I'm pretty certain I'll be returning.

So I guess that's another positive.

She was one of the best in the world

and it was her time, her time to do well.

And I just couldn't believe it was happening again.

I guess the hard work that's gone in over

the last several months to get back here and--

Just gotta do it all over again.

TODD: It was amazing having both Alisa and Jacqui

in the final.

They both legitimately had a chance

to achieve the podium.

CROWD: Oh!

TODD: It was devastating that Jacqui had a punch front.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

(Crowd cheering)

TODD: When Alisa landed her second jump

and we realized that she was gonna get a bronze medal,

nobody would have thought that she could do that.

She is a champion.

(Crowd cheering)

TODD: Lydia looked up from her wheelchair.

She apologized, 'cause she felt like

she had let us down.

Imagine me in the '80s jumping.

I looked a little bit like the mobile phone back then.

Bulky and big,

I mean it was completely different.

ALISA: It used to be about big, lofty, floaty jumps

and it was a hangover from the-- you know, the freestyler days.

It really was about being free,

letting your body just go off a jump,

and just look back, and just take in the view,

and arch.

Terrible technique, but no one knew any different.

You fast-forward 20 years, you look at the mobile phones,

they're sleek, they're sexy, they've got long lines,

and it's where you've got these beautiful athletes

like Lydia and Alisa.

We call them "gymnasts".

ALISA: It then became more specific

and technique became so vital to go a long way and succeed.

JACQUI: I was able to evolve with it and it lengthened my career.

I was talented enough and had good technique,

but it wasn't until I learnt how to unlock my mind

and control my emotions through sports psychology

that I became the best possible athlete

that I could be.

DANIEL: Every sport have a big mental part in it,

but our sport it's like, it's a huge part.

At the world championships in 2009,

I went off the jump and I was just out of control.

I didn't really know where I was.

I'd been jumping for 20 years

and I was becoming mentally fatigued.

TODD: Look at-- stretch, stretch, stretch!

When you've got a radio station,

you can hear the song really well.

you can hear the music and it's clear.

You know, when you're just a little bit out

and it's a little bit fuzzy, but you can still hear the song,

my skills were starting to get a little bit like that.

It was almost to the point

where I'd go off the jump and I'd be fuzzy.

I couldn't even hear the radio station anymore.

TODD: Look at-- stretch, stretch, stretch!

ANNOUNCER 6: Oh!

JACQUI: I dislocated my hip.

I basically went straight into a wheelchair

and I had to be ready for the Olympic Games in a year.

So I spent the next 10 months in rehabilitation,

learning how to walk again.

ALISA: We have a high pain threshold a high desire to succeed,

and we'll push through at enormous pain barriers

to be able to compete.

The good athletes are able to not think about that

and just think about what they're going to do.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

JEFFREY: I first met Lydia before the 2010 Olympics.

She came to me and her issue was she was sick of being number 2,

'cause she'd been number 2 to Alisa Camplin,

number 2 to Jacqui Cooper.

And I said, "Well, look, you gotta stop it.

Stop thinking about the past,

because while you continue to think about

and complain about being number 2,

that's what you'll continue to create."

LYDIA: He ingrained in me that the past didn't equal my future.

He came up with some really good methods for me

to forget what happened,

so that I could be drawn forward

in pulling myself towards the future Lydia.

ALISA: Something happened in Lydia where she got a calmness,

and a trust, and a faith.

She became able to be dominant without you know,

just a desperate need for it.

And then the results just flowed from there.

(Crowd cheering)

(Man yelling)

(Crowd yelling and cheering)

JEFFREY: My job is done when I put the athlete

in touch with their inner coach,

because you know, while Lydia was thinking about the past,

she's not gonna be able to achieve what she wants.

LYDIA: Leading into Vancouver,

every time I ticked off a milestone,

I was becoming closer to her.

(Crowd cheering)

This is the toughest women's field

that's ever come to Olympics.

They're throwing the hardest jumps

and we've got two girls in the mix doing those jumps.

So it's gonna be all go tonight.

CORD: In Vancouver, she was in a good spot,

but she was nervous and you can see it.

But she handled the stress differently.

She almost got stronger as the week went on

and as we got closer to the event.

(Man yelling)

(Crowd cheering)

CORD: We could really see the pressure lift

as we got through and we got her into finals.

You could really see, "Okay, we got a good shot here"

and she was fighting.

Every athlete wants a smooth leading team at the games.

You need some type of momentum.

I felt like I was right where I wanted to be.

I felt that I was in control of the competition.

COMMENTATOR 6: And here we go for Jacqui Cooper

picked in her fifth Olympic team.

JACQUI: And I showed up at the Vancouver Olympic Games

having not done a triple somersault

in competition

since that crazy danger pain when I blew my hip out.

COMMENTATOR 6: Five-time World-Cup champion puts it all on the line

for Olympic glory.

Go Jacqui!

(Man yelling)

(Crowd cheering)

COMMENTATOR 7: Ooh, Jacqui Cooper, you are a legend!

JACQUI: But when you talk about momentum, I had nothing.

I had low confidence,

'cause I hadn't done triples well,

that clarity on my jumps

with that sort of radio station thing.

It just wasn't there anymore.

And was able to I believe pull a rabbit out of a hat.

COMMENTATOR 6: Jacqui Cooper of Australia is in the gold-medal position

with five competitors to come.

(Crowd yelling)

(Crowd cheering)

COMMENTATOR 7: Now this put Jacqui Cooper out of the 3rd-place position

in this event.

COMMENTATOR 6: The veteran from Australia, a magnificent performance.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

LYDIA: When I was a little girl,

my dream was to go to the Olympics.

I remember just telling myself

that you can be this person that you wanna be.

I could hear the crowd, but I could also hear myself.

You know just saying, "Yeah, they're there.

They're all there.

This is happening now.

Stay where you are, be present, be right here, and right now."

COMMENTATOR 8: This is the jump for Australia.

Lydia Lassila.

A chance for Olympic gold.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

LYDIA: Phew!

(Woman gasps)

(Crowd cheering)

(Screaming)

(♪♪♪♪♪)

(Crowd cheering)

(♪♪♪♪♪)

COMMENTATOR 8: She's number 1!

She's number 1!

Lydia Lassila has won the gold for Australia!

(♪♪♪♪♪)

It's one of those life-changing moments,

one of a kind, out of a dream really.

COMMENTATOR 8: Lydia Lassila is the Olympic champion.

I never know if I can put it into words to how I felt.

For me, that moment,

I may as well have won the gold medal myself.

I can breathe again and I've done it.

You know, it's just such a conquering moment.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

One that um,

you know, obviously will never forget.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

When she said that she was going back for more,

it just totally surprised me.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

LYDIA: After Vancouver, I assumed I would feel satisfied,

I assumed I would feel like I'd had enough.

But funny enough,

the feeling was quite the opposite.

Winning an Olympics was always important to me,

but going for greatness in a sport

and doing something no one had done

was more important.

It only took a few weeks and she made up her mind,

- "That's not enough." - Yeah.

"I can do better."

LYDIA: I knew I was capable of the quad-twisting triple

and I feel like that trick has been on my mind for so long.

I remember being 19-years-old and I saw the men

doing these amazing triple somersaults,

and I was just awestruck.

And part of reaching my potential

was being able to jump like them

by doing the quad-twisting triple somersault.

And we just sort of say, "Oh, you're joking, aren't you?"

We thought it was all, you know, good.

That's what I felt was my purpose

and why I was doing this sport?

Committing to this pursuit was exciting,

but my every move had to be calculated.

Where are we going?

PIS.

LYDIA: PIS!

That's right!

I'd set my sights on Sochi and I was determined

to do this big trick.

But now as a mother,

everything was gonna be different.

PHYLLIS: When she decided to have Kai, she asked me beforehand

would I be on board to help out.

Of course, I will be.

But I honestly didn't think

that she would perhaps go ahead with it

once Kai was born.

GEORGE: We thought that having a kid,

her priorities would've have changed,

and she would've lost that desire to compete,

and she would refocus to being a mum.

But that wasn't the case.

But the determination and will hasn't faded at all.

Whoa!

A lot of people would ask, "Well, what's the point

in extending yourself even further?"

Especially, when I became a mother,

people thought there's no way she's going back.

But aerial skiers generally peak

in their like 20s, early 30s.

It was still my time.

LAURI: 3.

2.

1.

You did it!

Yay!

LAURI: As an athlete, I probably you know,

wanna do the same thing,

I think that's the right move that she's done.

So that's why it was natural for me

to quite easily and comfortably support it.

LYDIA: Cheers!

Cheers!

(Woman Speaking in foreign language)

JACQUI: I think if she had a different husband,

a different mum, it wouldn't have worked.

I, a woman!

JACQUI: She had all of the support.

Some other mothers, even if they wanted to do it,

they probably wouldn't be able to manage.

Wooh!

(Crowd cheering)

GEORGE: Late's had a pretty tough job.

He's had to be mum and dad essentially.

But he's a very patient guy.

He's been very supportive of Lyd,

even if it's meant he couldn't do the things

that he's wanted to do,

which I can imagine being frustrating.

So you know, he's put a lot of stuff on hold

for Lydia's Olympics dreams.

We both obviously wanted to get started with a family

and this worked out quite well.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

(Indistinct chatter)

(Cooing)

DAVID: So a lovely training facility in Australia

possibly is the worst one in the whole world.

He bit your finger!

LYDIA: What the hell!

DAVID: We spent most of our time over in Park City,

so it'd be great to have one at home to--

You know, be able to see the family on the weekends

and stuff like that.

JACQUI: Really the person that started aerial skiing in Australia

for females is Kirstie Marshall.

KIRSTIE: There was no coach program or otherwise.

I saw a whole lot of guys up at Mount Buller jumping

and I thought, "I want to beat them",

because that's all there was there at that time.

And when I started skiing and I said to people,

"I want to be the world champion",

and they would look at me and say,

"There's no way that's gonna happen."

You know, "You're in Australia, it's winter sports,

it's never happened before, you're female."

And to me they were just speaking a foreign language.

FRANK: Kirstie Marshall gave recognition

to female aerials in Australia

and gave it a kick start for sure.

JACQUI: First question I get asked every day is

why do you think that we've been so successful?

And I'm like, "Well, we've always had a successful person

and success breeds success."

KIRSTIE: Jacqui Cooper created an entirely new path from me.

She didn't get the final gold medal

or medal at the Olympics, neither did I,

but she is one of the greatest athletes

we've produced in winter sports,

because of her longevity and her results.

And Alisa created

an entirely new path from Jacqui Cooper.

And Lydia created an entirely new path from Alisa.

I think in all four of us,

we've all got this unwavering spirit

to achieve against all odds.

LYDIA: As an Australian aerial skier,

you have to spend about 9 to 10 months

training overseas,

'cause we don't have our own world-class training facilities.

(Babbling)

LYDIA: The travel is quite challenging, especially with a toddler.

Lots of drinks, looks like he's drunk!

LAURI: Well, that's sounds...

LYDIA: But he's drunk.

That's a wrap.

WARREN: Because of the nature of the sport

and how dangerous it is on snow,

you learn your tricks in the summer.

And you do them again, and again, and again, and again,

high volume, high intensity.

We actually have a bubble system that shoots compressed air

from the bottom of the pool,

breaks the surface tension of the water.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

LYDIA: The whole plan for 2013 was

to come back to the Australian winter

and do a jumping camp.

It was getting pretty late in the season,

so I called up my dad and I said, "Dad,"

you know, "are you busy?

Can you build me an artificial jump?

So that we only need to", you know

"just pack a little bit of snow in it."

CHICK: And I said, "Well, it shouldn't be a problem,

but I need plans."

It took us two weeks from here to go to finish it,

because Lydia rang and said, "I'll be back in two weeks

and it's gotta be ready."

(♪♪♪♪♪)

KAI: Right time.

LYDIA: It is the right time.

You're absolutely right.

Ready?

We'll make a forest over here.

A lot of trees.

Lots of trees.

Where are we going for Christmas?

KAI: We going for Christmas?

I go to world cup.

And Kai is gonna ski for the first time,

aren't you, Kai?

I get to ski!

- Mummy gonna do some jumping? - Yes.

LYDIA: Who're we gonna do some jumping with?

Work with Mish and press that bubble!

LYDIA: No, we only press the bubbles

when we're doing it on the water ramp.

On the snow, we don't have to press any bubbles.

Exit into Ruka!

Hello, we're here to ski!

Where's the ambulance gone?

KAI: Behind the tree!

LYDIA: Make sure there's an ambulance in Ruka.

(Mimics revving)

LYDIA: It's looking good, isn't it, Kai?

This food apples!

Is it apple?

LYDIA: It's taken me forever today to get sorted out.

That's not even half the packing.

- You know, it's really-- - KAI: Naughty boy.

Stressful.

It's always stressful lately.

Packing is really hard,

especially when you know you're going for three months.

I don't think we're gonna able to use it.

I'll try and sell it.

I've asked already to a couple of teams.

Russia need artificial jumps, so I've asked them.

So they're gonna get back to me.

And I've asked Canada.

How many bolts?

CHICK: 700 bolts.

Thereabouts.

- Alright, well, thanks, dad. - Only for you.

Sorry, I haven't been able to use it.

That's alright, it doesn't matter.

You had fun building it though.

Oh yeah, yeah.

LYDIA: Sorry, dad.

I just need a little bit more snow.

CHICK: Oh, you'll find enough.

Don't worry about it.

Hard to concentrate on the task now,

all the children around.

And you can sort of sense with the kids, you know

that something big's gonna happen,

'cause they're all excited.

This is-- it's called "Spaghetti al cartoccio"

and it's a seafood pasta.

And we're going to try

to bake it in the wood-fired oven

and we're going to cover the whole thing with pizza dough

and bake it.

It's absolutely delicious.

LYDIA: I requested it as my send-off dish.

So mum, being the legend that she is,

has granted my request.

I hope it works.

How's the oven going, Chick?

It's hot as.

How hot-- but how hot does it have to be?

Have you got a temperature gauge in it or...

No.

GEORGE: There were many years when Lydia was travelling a lot.

Like there was several years

where we'd see each other once a year.

Do you wanna let it overhang or just cut that off?

Once a year, the whole family was together

and mum would be like the happiest day of her life,

you know?

It was sad.

Together, let's do it together.

1, 2, 3!

CHICK: We want to help.

PHYLLIS: She hasn't really had many Christmases at home

for a long time now.

Hopefully, this will be her last time away

for Christmas.

LYDIA: Lemon, that's mine.

GEORGE: We think that it's probably time to hang it all up

and enjoy life again.

Now we need is Chick to burn it for us

and not be a disaster.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

Oh dear!

- LYDIA: Mum, look! - Phil.

PHYLLIS: Come on, no!

Okay, this is going in the oven.

No, no, no!

GEORGE: Oh, no, no!

You know, what I did?

- I took-- - No!

No!

It's burnt, dad.

Let's do it in the oven.

- Let's do it in this oven. - No, no, no!

I'll do that one in there, but I'll--

(Indistinct chatter)

Now we had a one bit of timber.

Was just making a little bit of flame?

I thought I'd be alright.

- I should have taken that out. - Go.

CHICK: I'll take it--

I'll clean it out,

and I'll come back and grab that.

Well...

Here's to Phyllis again for another feast

that she's put on and for a very special occasion,

again.

Once in-- you know, it happens every four years.

Definitely think Late,

he's hoping for a time that yeah--

Yeah, 100% yes,

and everyone else, 100% yes.

- Saluti. - Saluti.

GEORGE: Being an athlete himself,

I think he can understand that you know,

there's a limited window, which you can do these things.

He's a very logical sort of guy and I think Late you know,

he deserves a gold medal as well.

Kai's first frequent-flyer card

arrived in the mail.

He's already silver.

- WOMAN 10: Is it really? - Yeah.

Come Christmas time, he'll be gold.

But it was funny with all official letter,

"Dear Mr. Lassila, Mr. Kai Lassila".

He's 2½.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

LYDIA: The first priority for my training

leading up to the Sochi Olympics was to get on snow.

I hadn't jumped on snow since last season.

I'd done some water ramping,

but it was gonna be my best chance

to prepare my jumps before the Olympics.

And Ruka's way up north and it's got snow

for more than six months of the year.

Not much daylight, but lots of snow.

The pre-season training

is always a really important block of training.

It sets you up for the season.

It's always a good idea to get your tricks done then

before you go to the world cup season,

because you don't actually get as much training.

It's more competing.

So it's best to get all the base work done early on

and then that sets you up for the season.

So Ruka is a really important camp.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

LYDIA: Come on.

(Man Speaking in foreign language)

(Taking deep breaths)

(♪♪♪♪♪)

LYDIA: You got this, strong.

So now it's really yours.

It's the end of the jump.

It's the end of the jump.

(Exhales and inhales deeply)

LYDIA: You got this.

MAN 14: On course, double.

Take off!

We're good, we're good!

(Screams)

(Grunts)

Son of a--

STEVE: You're okay?

Not so comfortable, huh?

What do you do?

Some parts of me don't work so well anymore.

MAN 14: A little nervous?

STEVE: Yeah.

It's-- it's not so easy anymore.

MAN 14: No, it'd be hard mentally.

STEVE: Yeah.

(Exhales)

MAN 14: On course, double.

Good, pull!

Pull out!

Lyd, you okay?

LYDIA: That pull up, it stuffs me up.

MAN 15: Yeah, but you had to do a little bit you know,

because you were really out there.

STEVE: You alright?

LYDIA: Yeah, I overreacted on the pull, too.

STEVE: Our coaches are yelling at us when we're in the air.

If they're yelling "stretch",

it means try and make your body as long as possible

to try and slow down your rotation

coming in to the landing hill.

MAN 14: Good, stretch!

STEVE: And if they're yelling "pull" at you,

it means make your body as short as possible

and try and speed up your rotation

to get your feet underneath you and land safely.

MAN 14: Good, pull!

(Lydia grunts)

MAN 16: It was too slow.

MAN 14: You want to do another one?

Either that or a double in or...

Coming back after Vancouver,

it was set in that I was the veteran of the team.

It made me feel a bit old.

A lot had changed in four years.

(Grunts)

LYDIA: I'm just in the different place in life.

MAN 15: I think it's a new story, it's not the same.

We don't wanna repeat like,

"Oh, everything was good, we were Olympic champion

and now we just repeat."

It's not at all a repeat.

It's-- everything is different.

Her body after a child is different, too

and she had to realize that

and she had to learn to handle all those things.

You awake, Kai?

And I remember being fired up and wanting to conquer the world

I think coming back with a bit of a different perspective

and having Kai either there or at a distance

was pretty challenging.

Kai?

Are you excited?

Hard to leave him,

but also difficult to juggle life

when he is there, too

or not life, but life as an athlete.

(Car beeps)

They would have just landed.

- Just landed. - Yeah.

And then, you're gonna see he's gonna come there

and he's gonna wave to you.

Did you have dinner?

Making sure that everyone's needs are met,

including his and my husbands or my mum or mother-in-law,

whoever's helping me look after him.

Did you have salad?

- Did you have bread? - Yep.

- With lots of butter? - Yeah.

LYDIA: It was quite amazing how my support team came together

and helped me through it,

because I just couldn't have done it

obviously without them.

♪ Call it out like a family ♪

Hello!

♪ Instead I bide my time, get a ride ♪

LYDIA: Come on, Kai, in the car,

it's really cold you haven't got your gloves on.

♪ Till the rubber leaves the road ♪

LEENA: One night he was up and started suddenly to cry,

"Mummy, mummy!"

And then just he come down when he got milk,

and that's that-- because Lydia is sleeping separately

to get her sleep as much as she needs

and I'm sleeping with Kai.

LYDIA: Leena will go home tomorrow

and Late will kind of take her place.

LEENA: I have been in Ruka for two weeks.

We try to do everything on Lydia's conditions,

so that everything would be okay for her, for her training.

And Kai, as a little boy,

I'm amazed how good he understands what's going on.

And he's, "Shh, shh!

Mummy is sleeping, shh!

We don't interrupt.

We don't go there.

Mummy is sleeping."

LYDIA: She doesn't really like to come up to the jump site

and I don't ask her,

'cause I know she doesn't like it.

She just gets really scared.

But she takes Kai you know, out to the park

where she plays with him outside and I watch from a distance.

(Leena Speaking in Finnish)

Cuckoo!

LEENA: I try not to show how nervous I am.

I said to Lydia "I'm sorry I'm such a bad grandma,

because I can't really watch."

Kai wants to see mum everyday jumping.

He always says, "Let's go, let's go."

I say, "Let's do something first."

Finally, he wants to see the jumping

and off we go.

Oh, and then--

The butterfly started every time when I saw them competing.

Late was 13 years when he started.

He started with ballet,

which those days was still a part of freestyling.

I was not afraid of that.

But when he started to compete in moguls,

I have had that feeling in my stomach.

(Bell ringing)

(Crowd cheering)

LEENA: When Late had first accident in Japan,

he was really, really bad hurt.

He was like not able to talk to me.

When he came home,

he did not remember anything from Japan.

He said that was like a black hole in his mind

and he had to start again.

He had a amazing recovery and we are happy for that.

But that was the most awful happening in my life.

And then second was then Lydia's accident in Torino.

LYDIA: You definitely feel as parent you've got more of an obligation

to take care of yourself and to manage risk better,

and call it on days you don't feel good

and go for it on days you do.

Bye, bye, good jumping.

Thanks, Kai.

- LAURI: Bye! - Bye-bye.

- KAI: Bye-bye. - LYDIA: Muah!

(♪♪♪♪♪)

MAN 14: It's really close.

It's really close.

Like we're looking for like 61 and it's 60.6.

STEVE: It's pretty crucial to your sport

that your speed is dialed.

The speed coming into the single

is are high 30s to low 40 kilometres an hour

and on the double, between 50 to 55 kilometres an hour, 56.

And then on the triple, you can get

up to you know, 63 to 70 kilometres an hour.

So you're going pretty fast into that wall.

I think we're good.

You kind of have to roll the dice,

and trust the coaches,

and trust that you have trained the right technique.

MAN 15: Just right up there.

It's good.

JACQUI: In the history of the sport,

there's three women that changed women's aerials.

The first woman her name is Lina Cheryazova

and she won at the Lillehammer Olympic Games

and doing triple somersaults.

STEVE: Then, Jacqui Cooper started doing triples

in the late '90s and the early 2000s,

and then now Lydia.

For Lydia, if someone sets a bar this high,

which was me, this is my bar, and she's like,

"Okay, I'm gonna better that."

She's the type of person

that she'll always want to show people

that why stop there when you can always be there.

You got this.

(Lydia exhales)

Now we're seeing girls, especially the Chinese and Lydia

that are doing triples consistently on snow.

WOMAN 11: Good take-off, Lyd.

You got this.

And that's something that the sport

has never seen before.

MAN 17: Take off!

MAN 15: Just trust the speed and watch for a good takeoff

all the rest and we can fly then.

LYDIA: Even with the years of jumping, it's never easy,

especially the first ones of the season

are really intense.

And it's easy to freak out.

That can really impact the whole jump in general,

which can then lead to disaster.

MAN 14: Forward!

Let's go.

Pull!

Look up.

Pull, pull!

Out!

JACQUI: We're not swimmers.

We don't dive into the pool

that's the same temperature every single day.

We're flying through the air

in an environment with rapidly-changing conditions.

(Lydia grunts)

(Screams)

MAN 14: Up!

MAN 15: That's better.

JACQUI: It can be hard to find your faith after time off,

especially doing triple somersaults.

(Grunts)

RYAN: I think Lydia's mental state right now

is a little bit different than it was in the past.

Her life is now more involved now than it was.

Before it was really one goal, one mindset,

everything to get this done.

Right, chin out.

I feel Lydia is feeling

a little bit of pressure on herself.

She is used to be being exactly perfect,

executing perfectly, not making a lot of mistakes,

and right now she's done her first triples

and they're not going as well as she'd wanted.

I think I'm gonna call it there.

RYAN: She's not used to this feeling at all I think.

I think I'm gonna call it there.

RYAN: Yeah!

Oh!

The knee was not in the plan.

It's just puffy.

Yeah, it's a bit annoying.

Yeah.

Normally, it's my left one that's puffy.

Probably from like just starting to jump again

and I get a little bit of tendonitis and yeah.

I'm chopping for Mish in the land at--

- In the landing? - Yeah.

- Are you gonna chop for Mish? - Yeah.

Oh, he'll-- he'll really--

He will really like your help.

You're gonna make the landing nice and soft like this.

Look.

(Making whooshing sounds)

Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop.

Then somebody comes and lands in, boom!

And it's nice and soft.

China's gonna crash.

China what?

No!

China gonna crash!

China's not gonna crash.

Cut that!

It is -15 today.

It's so cold we've had to button up ridiculous.

- Kai, you see that? - 3!

2, 1!

- Go! - Go!

- And go, Kai Lassila. - Wee!

- You are champion! - LAURI: Champion!

(Speaking in Finnish)

LYDIA: This camp in Ruka was really my best opportunity to train.

So for my last day there, it was really important for me

to just get as much done as I could.

(Leena speaking in Finnish)

If Lyd sees that, she'll kill me, yeah.

- You're already dead. - LEENA: Yes.

On course.

Duck.

Ooh!

(Lydia screams)

On course.

Duck.

Pull.

Mummy!

Mummy!

(Speaking in Finnish)

Mummy!

Mummy!

Mummy!

(Speaking in Finnish)

Here I come.

LYDIA: The camp in Ruka leading into the Olympics

was not ideal.

But I could also feel the pressure

of not only the Olympics around the corner,

but having not have been able to get the quad-twisting triple.

And it was heavy!

Brush your teeth in the morning and at night time.

And don't forget to Skype mummy.

Alright, come here.

I'll see you in two weeks.

- Champion! - Mummy.

You be a good boy, okay?

Be a good boy.

Mummy, do you wanna do triples?

- Do I wanna do triples? - Yeah.

Yeah, of course I wanna do triples.

Good ones.

- Good ones. - Yeah.

Not bad ones.

Not bad ones.

No, I'll try my very best.

Alright?

No crashing.

(Speaking in Finnish)

- Good luck. - Thank you.

Come one, you know what to do.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

LEENA: We love you so much, dear.

- Alright. - LEENA: Oh!

See you.

LEENA: Hey, Kai!

One more kiss.

Thank you.

I'll see you Skype.

- Yes. - Yeah.

We'll Skype you mummy.

Bye!

See you, Kai.

Bye, buddy!

Not bad, not bad.

Mummy is going.

Oh yeah, mummy is going.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

JACQUI: This is just so you know how serious China is

about results.

They said that 100 silver medals at Olympic Games

or 100 World Cup wins is not worth one gold medal

at the Olympics.

DENNIS: China as a whole is dominating both men and women's aerials

at this point.

I mean they're very strong.

JACQUI: They've basically become successful

because of watching everyone else.

LAINIE: I remember training in Park City

and the Chinese team had come over.

There would be a coach

with a video camera in his hand constantly

and he's not filming the Chinese,

he's filming us.

Slowly over time now working it out,

they're watching other coaches, watching other teams,

they were copying and taking in a lot of information,

and then go back, and they were really doing

like getting in a workshop at home

and creating these little robots.

LAINIE: And there's an army of them.

One might hurt themselves,

then there's another one to take their place.

The women's field is getting harder and harder.

I think if you're gonna look at anybody in particular,

you're gonna look at the Chinese team

and specifically Tao Tao,

who is a real threat in 2010 for Lydia,

but wasn't quite as mature as she is now.

COMMENTATOR 9: Score of 106.00 will win gold for China.

Anything less and it's Aussie gold.

(Crowd cheering)

COMMENTATOR 9: And it won't be enough!

Lydia Lassila has won the gold!

LYDIA: After Vancouver, Tao Tao was so strong

and she really dominated 2013.

She couldn't make a fault.

CORD: She's really come into her own

and is currently the World Cup champion.

LYDIA: She was looking like a hot favourite.

Another big competitor is Li Nina.

DUSTIN: She's won three world championships

back to back,

back-to-back silver medals in the Olympics,

a full handful of World Cup wins.

So in my eyes she's a true champion,

because she's so consistent.

It's really cool that Tao Tao and Li Nina

are gonna be competing this season.

We have a really great rivalry between us

and they bring a lot of class to the field.

You move from week to week to different jump sites

and the site in Beida Lake was quite a flat inland,

which means that you're starting way up the hill

and the jumps look really far away from you.

I was pretty intimidated, I was pretty scared.

(Announcement in Mandarin)

Coming in to China for 90% of the people on tour,

it's very different than what they're used to.

MAN 19: Stretch!

DANIEL: And you're going into a country that is very foreign.

Your level of comfort is really thrown into a challenge.

Definitely as a coach,

it's important to keep it simple.

It's definitely not a place where people try new tricks

and things like that.

RYAN: Pull.

MICHEL: I think jump was crooked.

LYDIA: So bad, because everyone's drifting so bad.

DAVID: The double was a bit crooked on the first day.

It was a challenge for everyone.

It got to a lot of people like they're like,

"Oh, I'm jumping so badly."

RYAN: In front.

(Grunting)

(Screaming)

LYDIA: My plan would have been to stay in Ruka and train

rather than come to China, but that just was impossible,

because it's-- everyone's trying to qualifying

for the Olympics.

So we didn't have a coach to stay back with me.

(Grunts)

LYDIA: It could be a combination of media expectation,

extra pressure,

and people gawking at me all week,

because I'm the reigning Olympic champion

and that's something China you know, really want.

So just today and this week I just, you know,

I haven't quite been myself.

(Dialing)

LYDIA: Alrighty, that was so scary.

What the hell am I doing?

I felt so far out of my comfort zone

that I just had to step back and say, "Tomorrow".

JEFFREY: (On call) I'd like you to have the reservation and the concern,

so that you don't become reckless.

And I'd also like you to look at your future self.

What does she say?

I think remove the emotion from it.

I'm hopeless on the first day of being apart from Kai.

It's really horrible.

It's like you're kind of cutting an invisible

you know, umbilical cord

or stretching it over a really long distance.

LYDIA: I always dreaded the times

where I knew I'd have to leave him behind.

And you always feel that connection and that pull,

which is a bit distressing.

I knew that was the best decision

to not drag him along

and put him right in the mix at such an intense time

leading into an Olympics.

But it didn't make leaving him any easier.

That was terribly emotionally draining.

♪ Turn around, put it down, and see ♪

LYDIA: Yeah, life good?

It's okay.

Good to see you!

(♪♪♪♪♪)

(Announcement in foreign language)

MICHEL: We're good, watch down the hills!

(Grunts)

(Man on radio) Her ski is broken.

I was pretty sad, because punch fronts,

you're out.

I mean you don't get any points.

LYDIA: Sucks to be out of finals.

It still hurts.

It really hurts.

You know, we played it really safe

and it backfired on us.

(Indistinct chatter)

LYDIA: I've got a lot of work to do.

JEFFREY: Yeah, yeah.

And there's gonna be a lot of scary days.

It's really hard.

Sorry.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

LYDIA: It's 55 days to Sochi now.

It's time to step it up.

We just need time.

We have to be patient and not getting nervous.

LYDIA: The Bird's Nest was a really important one,

because it was the true Olympic format.

In any other World Cup, we don't get to compete

the Olympic format as it is at the Olympics.

But our in-run was actually poking up

outside of the stadium.

You look over the scaffolding

and there's a pretty good drop there.

The in-run's not the issue and I don't really feel scared

looking over the side or catching the lift up.

What was concerning me was the lack of netting

just off the sides.

If someone caught an edge, they could have been dead!

That was the first thing we said,

"We need more nets, we need more nets!"

(♪♪♪♪♪)

(Crowd cheering)

LYDIA: Any opportunity you get

to compete the true Olympic format

is one you don't wanna stuff up.

(Crowd cheering)

(♪♪♪♪♪)

DENNIS: Honestly, I don't think Lydia is intimidated at all.

I think she thrives on this.

MICHEL: Look up; back up!

In front!

Wooh, wooh!

DENNIS: As long as I've known Lydia, she loves this

and you can see, she did well.

She made it into the finals.

Now she's gonna really put down some great jumps.

ANNOUNCER 9: She's now ranking 1.

DENNIS: The old Lyd we've seen is back.

I think she's got it.

Going for the win, it's gonna be sick.

(Crowd gasps)

(Crowd gasps)

ANNOUNCER 9: The last competitor, Lydia Lassila from Australia

will do a full full-full.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

MICHEL: Lyd, look out!

In front!

(Crowd cheering)

Whoa!

I did it.

I did it, I did it!

We did it!

LYDIA: Obviously, full full-full is really important

to then do full double full-full,

because it's the same take off

where you're doing a full twist off the jump.

It was the next progression for me in order to get

the quad-twisting triple somersault.

So there was a huge motivating factor to do it.

It's just given me so much confidence

and a huge boost, a huge buzz

that I can ski away these triples again,

and it's just gonna get better and better.

I am back, baby!

Wooh!

The season was up and down.

If you look at the results, it was one good, one bad,

one good, one bad.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

(Grunts)

(Crowd cheering)

Yeah!

(♪♪♪♪♪)

(Crowd cheering and applauding)

(Dialing)

LYDIA: Kai, are you gonna come and say "hi" to mummy?

I really wanna say hi to you.

(Leena speaking in Finnish)

I miss you, Kai.

♪ So whether music or madness ♪

LAURI: When Lydia knows that Kai is in good hands

and he's doing good,

then it's easier for Lyd to focus on the task at hand.

So I'll try to filter quite a bit, now especially,

when we're at the Olympics.

I get to pick whatever I feed on to Lyd

then I'll be brutally honest

and if something happened to Kai,

that if he had a stumble

and let's say that he would be you know,

had to be taken for a hospital,

for a checkup, you know I wouldn't necessarily--

Right now, I wouldn't even tell Lyd.

♪ Of this I've never been sure ♪

If it's something that I can live with

until the event's done,

then I'm not gonna bother Lyd with it.

♪ And sing fever to the form ♪

♪ Oh my fever to the form ♪

LAURI: In Sochi right now,

actually in Sochi Seaport, in one of the cruise liners

that they've temporarily parked here

for the duration of the games.

And this is the cabin in all its glory

with the beautiful sea views directly from the cabin.

♪ ...afraid, afraid of ♪

LYDIA: By the end of the World Cup season,

I hadn't done the quad-twisting triple somersault.

And the fear that I faced leading into Sochi

was the fear of not being able to do it.

DUSTIN: For Lydia, I find it so amazing

that she is willing to risk doing a jump

that her and Tao Tao would be the only women in the world

to ever number 1, do it or compete it.

And that's where Lydia thrives is being right on that edge.

Basically, all her training up to this point

has been leading up to that trick.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

(Crowd cheering)

Yeah!

LYDIA: A lot of my competitors' teammates said, "Oh my God!

I didn't know you were actually gonna do it!"

CORD: Doing the trick itself is a huge motivation,

a boost for Lydia,

but I think it zaps the rest afield

and it really hurt them.

And I think that was hard for Tao Toa to see,

because every event for the last four years,

she's been in a dominant position

going into each event.

So to change that position on her you know,

two or three nights out before the Olympics

was a huge mental hurdle for her to get over.

LYDIA: She came up to me, she's like,

"I know you did it on water, but I can't believe

you actually were gonna do it at the Olympics!"

The rumblings around the village were

that she was having a tough time.

LYDIA: She kinda freaked out the next couple of days

and didn't train well at all, and wigged out a little bit.

CORD: And that really put off the Chinese team as a whole.

LAURI: No woman has ever done that in the histories of the sport.

And now she can go and compete

you know, in a much more peaceful mindset.

It's a privilege to be in this position

as in a defending champion

and I don't really have anything to prove

other than I wanna just achieve my personal goals.

Here's a little special piece of inside information for you.

Valentine in Finnish means "voitto",

which in turn means "victory".

Victory day.

You know what I said to your mom?

you know how I get really nervous

and I get quite sick in the stomach?

The feeling I had was more like

as if I was getting ready for a party.

So maybe it's a good omen, huh?

It will be a good show tonight, for sure.

It's about passion.

CORD: There is no real financial game.

We're not in the X Games.

We don't have what snowboarding has

or somebody's other new-age sports.

We're a true sport where we have one event,

one day, every four years

that everybody decides to look at.

GEORGE: We're making Russia right here.

WOMAN 12: 2002 Salt Lake.

Mum's just gonna start freaking out any minute.

- She needs to go outside. - She always does.

- Phyllis needs a shot. - So she needs to have a shot.

- Come, mum! - Good luck, Lydia!

Good luck, Lydia.

You have to do the whole, show the whole.

- Good luck, Lydia. - Good luck, baby.

- We drink to you. - We're thinking of you.

LYDIA: Qualification is the hardest part of a competition,

because you trying to get your ticket to the dance.

I wanna be in the final so badly,

because I believe I am the best person out there,

and I should be there, and I deserve to be there.

LYDIA: What if you don't make it?

Then, you've got nothing!

Fear of failure, of not making it

can be overwhelming.

LYDIA: I'm not really great in qualifications, I must admit.

The final's where I bring out my best jumping

and it's just nerves.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

COMMENTATOR 10: We just have to believe that

she's gonna land the second jump.

There's no other choice.

If she doesn't, she will miss the final.

LYDIA: Looked at my skis and said, "You idiot!

Now you've gotta go up and do another jump!"

True Lydia style, making it difficult for myself.

COMMENTATOR 10: It's all on the line for Lydia.

She didn't land a first.

She needs to land this second.

COMMENTATOR 11: The degree of difficulty is not as high she did

in her first round.

COMMENTATOR 10: Lydia Lassila's away.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

(Cheering)

That's better.

That's much better.

COMMENTATOR 10: That's rippingly good news.

90.65, that's a good total sum.

It looks as if she's gonna make the top 12.

"Okay, I'm in the final 12.

Yeah."

- Through! - GEORGE: She's through.

Yeah.

Love you, Kai!

I miss you!

I love him more!

GEORGE: On top, Lyd!

TV ANCHOR 1: And there's been a lot of talk about the quad-twisting triple.

Will we see that in the latter stages,

do you think?

We will see.

TV ANCHOR 1: We will see.

(Indistinct chatter)

COMMENTATOR 10: An important moment in this competition,

Tao Tao Xu.

She must land it.

It's cutthroat now.

(Crowd cheering)

COMMENTATOR 10: Effortless!

87.15.

That places her second.

So Lydia's still number 1.

Yeah!

Training for finals was a little stressful.

MICHEL: Go, Go, Go!

WOMAN 13: Oh shit!

LYDIA: It was bad!

I don't really like to be dramatic,

but it was dramatic.

I really at that point thought, "This is it.

It's finished."

LAINIE: Lydia obviously hurt her knee and took some time to go inside

to get the knee assessed for stability

and then taped by the doctor.

Unfortunately, Lydia really lost a lot of time.

It's okay.

LYDIA: If anything I probably played it down.

But I didn't wanna let on, especially to media,

I had this feeling.

We saw you had a bit of a fall and a bit of treatment.

- Are you okay? - I'm all good.

- TV ANCHOR 6: All good? - Yeah.

- Go get it. - She's smiling.

She's okay.

My heart I think is popping out.

Can you see it, poppin out?

That's just too--

- You ask Chick what he-- - Too much stress.

CHICK: For one mother.

Everyone was so worried, especially my mum.

God, You know, the last thing she wanted to hear was that.

COMMENTATOR 10: So she had her right knee strapped up,

and then went back to the top of the jump,

and had another couple of gos.

She's alright and if anyone can pull it off,

it is absolute superstar Lydia.

It hurt.

I had to keep moving it, otherwise it would lock up.

"Typical, typical!

You're so stupid!

Why now!"

LAINIE: The Lydia I was watching in training tonight

was someone who was a little bit frustrated,

and so far she didn't land any of those training jumps.

Okay, this is not great, but it is what it is

and we're gonna have to dig deep.

(Crowd cheering)

COMMENTATOR 10: We start with 12.

Then, you go down to 8, and then you go down to 4.

So three jumps you need to make.

COMMENTATOR 12: Reality is, Howie,

Lydia has probably got three jumps left in her career.

I mean you don't become a recreational aerial skier.

She'll do everything she can

to get through those three rounds.

We hope that she's gonna be okay to jump.

COMMENTATOR 10: Here is a major moment!

Lydia Lassila.

Remember it's cutthroat.

You only get one chance to make it to the next stage.

MICHEL: We're good, We're good!

Watch!

(Crowd cheering)

COMMENTATOR 10: Shooting through to the next round.

Can she do it again?

(Crowd yelling)

COMMENTATOR 10: Yeah!

She did it!

(Crowd cheering)

I'd made it to where I wanted to make it to

and I was gonna do

the quad-twisting triple somersault.

COMMENTATOR 10: Look, the girls are really stepping it up.

No doubt, we're in for a great show.

From all accounts, it was the right fill of people

in that super final, which made it a great contest.

COMMENTATOR 13: Fifth Olympic Games!

COMMENTATOR 14: A veteran twice in Olympic silver medals.

COMMENTATOR 13: Three times a World Champion.

COMMENTATOR 14: World champion.

COMMENTATOR 13: Absolutely extraordinary.

COMMENTATOR 14: She broke the world record.

COMMENTATOR 13: Original Olympic gold medals.

COMMENTATOR 14: The crowd is pumped.

COMMENTATOR 13: Alla Tsuper,

if she nails this, she could get herself

a gold medal.

COMMENTATOR 11: She's a new mum.

She said she won't jump again after these events.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

COMMENTATOR 13: Oh!

She's absolutely nailed IT!

Next up is Nina Li,

who retired after the Vancouver Olympic Games

having finished behind Lydia Lassila.

she came out of retirement to win the gold medal.

COMMENTATOR 11: This is a very, very difficult jump.

It is incredibly difficult to land.

Oh no!

Oh, Nina Li's an out!

Heartbreak for the Chinese superstar!

It's all in the line now for Tao Tao Xu.

She's gotta nail this.

Is she going to?

Oh no!

Oh no!

Talk about winning, that's good enough.

It could be the moment of the Winter Olympics in Sochi

for Australia.

COMMENTATOR 11: Lydia is doing the quad-twisting triple somersault.

It has never been performed in competition by women before.

GEORGE: The whole thing she's ever wanted to do

is jump like a man.

I'm heard her say that 1,000 times.

PHYLLIS: Even though she is in control of what she's doing...

WOMAN 15: Come on, honey, just one.

PHYLLIS: ...we're not.

Since you're willing to jump, nothing to lose, Lyd.

She has not told us about her new trick, so...

WOMAN 16: She's probably hiding that from you.

Yeah, yeah, from me, because knowing me,

I'm always nervous.

I wasn't gonna play it safe.

It was important for me to go in,

and do this quad-twisting triple somersault,

and leave my mark you know, on the sport forever.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

There's a lot of time to think.

I remember staring up at the full moon

and I remember feeling exhausted

and just looking at the moon trying to get energy from it.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

(Cheering)

COMMENTATOR 13: She put it all on the line!

She went for it!

Lydia Lassila has taken a bronze medal.

34-year-old Alla Tsuper

has won the gold medal in Sochi!

(♪♪♪♪♪)

GEORGE: This Olympics was about leaving a legacy.

She wanted to push the sport forward.

It's not about the medals, it's not about the awards,

it's about progression of the sport.

Lydia went for that jump.

She went for the progression of the sport.

COMMENTATOR 11: Lydia acknowledging the crowd, who were cheering for her.

They know that that was the jump that only the men normally did.

(Cheering)

It was just incredible like that she had that much guts

to go for something so big at such a major event.

ALISA: I know she has absolutely no regrets

about choosing to do the hardest jump

a woman's ever done at the Olympic Games

and I'm sure, like me, that bronze for her

is just as good as the gold.

COMMENTATOR 13: Two mums on the podium!

How about that?

ALISA: It's not easy to be a working mum,

let alone one that throws herself

three, four storeys in the air.

She was able to prove it to herself

and to everyone in the world that it's possible for a woman.

It's possible and even for a mother you know,

which is even more even amazing.

So happy for Alla.

She's a really good friend of mine and she's also a mum.

And she's-- yeah, she's a great girl

and I'm really proud of her as well.

CORD: The fact that at an Olympics,

there's two moms on the podium is unbelievable.

I don't know if a lot of guys

who are you know, all about sports

really understand the challenges.

TV ANCHOR 6: How does it feel as a mum to just push the limits

and do what you did.

Yeah, I really feel like I've reached my potential

and you know, I set out to do this trick

about 15 years ago.

I saw the guys doing these amazing triples

and I said, "One day I'm gonna do it."

And 15 years later, I did it.

LAURI: Being the first woman in history to do it,

it's something that you can't take it away.

It's-- she's got it for the rest of her life.

(♪♪♪♪♪)

CORD: Obviously, the knee was in the back of her mind,

but Lydia being Lydia she was able to push that out.

You don't really know in the moment,

but when you watch her at the end of the day

and she's struggling to walk, you wonder how'd she jumped.

Lydia's just you know,

I mean she sets the new standard for today and the future.

COMMENTATOR 13: She's feeling the right knee there.

As soon as this competition ended,

I was not able to walk.

COMMENTATOR 13: Just one thing with Lydia,

did she have to go for

the quad-twisting triple somersault

and put it all on the line?

LYDIA: A lot of people ask

would you have done it differently?

Would you have gone for the safer option?

And I know that would have just nagged at me forever.

Lydia!

I get goosebumps in the back of my neck when I say it.

I was so proud of her for not taking the safe option.

She took a risk and it didn't payoff entirely.

But jeepers creepers,

was she true to herself in that way.

LYDIA: Full double full-full is part of reaching my potential.

Playing it safe is just not my style.

I would have regretted it even with another gold medal

around my neck.

(Applause and cheering)

CORD: Lydia sets her goals extremely high

to the point where you almost think they're not reachable,

but then she forces you as a coach

to help her reach this incredible goal.

I've learned that set higher goals

then you even think are possible.

(Indistinct chatter)

JACQUI: I don't know if we'll get somebody else

for a really long time that would wanna go

and match her or even better that.

But I think it takes not just skill level,

I think it takes that will and that drive, that desire.

She's just one in a million really.

I love the challenge that I bring upon myself.

Being able to bring out who I am, get--

It's not the best out of myself, but get everything I can.

It's a really good feeling, because at the end of the day,

you've got no regrets.

(♪♪♪♪♪)