Paving the way to Games glory

When Australia’s Lydia Lassila and Liz Gardner take to the jumps for the Women’s Aerial Skiing in Vancouver tonight, they will be cheered on by staff from RMIT University’s Division of Exercise Sciences.

Ms Lassila and Ms Gardner are both Bachelor of Applied Science (Human Movement) graduates and part of Australia’s Winter Olympics team.

Bachelor of Applied Science (Physical education) student, David Morris, is a member of the men’s Aerials Team.

Physical Education Program Co-ordinator, Leigh Brown, said Ms Lassila and Ms Gardner moved to the sport after a fellow student, who was an aerial skiing coach at the Victorian Institute of Sport, suggested they try it.

“They came in as gymnasts wanting to get a degree behind them to help them improve and understand why they were doing what the coach wanted them to do.

“Biomechanics is about how to improve performance and that really has helped them in their program as well.”

Mr Morris was also a gymnast who knew the women and saw taking on aerial skiing as a way of extending his athletic reach, Mr Brown said.

“No matter what happens to him in the future, he will always be able to say he has been an Olympian,” Mr Brown said.

Mr Morris is only the second man to represent Australia at the Olympic Games in aerial skiing, after making his World Cup competition debut just over 12 months ago.

Ms Lassila and Ms Gardner were the first two members of the Flying Kangaroos Aerial Skiing team to emerge from the Ski and Snowboard Australia/Victorian Institute of Sport Aerials Development team.

Ms Lassila picked up her first World Cup title last year, while Ms Gardner’s previous results include a fourth at the Freestyle Skiing World Cup last year.

This is Mr Morris’s first Olympics, Ms Gardner’s second and Ms Lassila’s third.

Another RMIT graduate, Troy Flanagan, is the Director of Sport Science for the USA Winter Olympic ski team.

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