After Olympic heartbreak in Turin, Australia’s Lydia Lassila finally had reason to cheer as she claimed gold on Day 13.
Lydia Lassila’s Olympic dreams in Turin in 2006 were shattered when she collapsed in agony with a ruptured cruciate ligament in qualifying. Four years later, the Australian soared to a fairytale gold medal in the women’s aerials after executing a perfect double twisting triple back flip, scoring a total of 214.74 points. “This is vindication for all the sacrifices,” said Lassila, who has benefitted from an Olympic Solidarity scholarship. “I’ve come from some pretty bad places and rough times and I’ve finally done it. This is something I have dreamed about for as long as I can remember.”