All language subtitles for The.Will.To.Fly.2016.1080p.WEB.H264-CBFM

(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.

(♪♪♪♪♪)