A lot has changed since aerial skier Lydia Lassila won the Olympic title at Cypress Mountain on that magical foggy night above Vancouver in February 2010.
The reigning Olympic Champion says her event has gone “from a sprint sport to a marathon” thanks to some changes in format, many of her key rivals have retired, and Lassila is now a mum to two-year-old Kai.
However, some things have not changed. The next generation of acrobats on skis should beware of the determination and desire that got Lassila to the top of the Olympic podium on her third attempt- that determination has not waned.
“Surprisingly, I'm just as motivated and just as intense in my approach and just as hungry to do really well in Sochi,” the 31-year-old Victorian said.
“It was a surprise to me I guess after having a child and after winning gold. I thought that I would get that satisfied feeling of being complete.... although I feel like I want to do more and that I can do more. So it’s great to have that motivation and hunger still inside me, that's exciting for me.”
Lassila believes she can become the first freestyle skier in history to defend an Olympic title. Fellow Australian Alisa Camplin, who won gold at Salt Lake 2002 and backed-up remarkably for bronze at Torino 2006, has gone the closest in aerials.
“I expect to win gold. That's the standard that I've set for myself,” Lassila said with conviction. “I don't think I would have come back and decided to come back if I had had any other goals.
“This will be my fourth Olympics, but it’s also an important Olympics. I'm out there to prove that you can win it twice, no one has done that.
“I'm out there to prove that mums can achieve unbelievable things and I'm out there to prove to myself that yes I was correct there still is more in this tank and I can still achieve."
For many parents, juggling their careers and their family is a constant test. Where she can, Lassila travels with Kai and her husband Lauri, who competed in moguls for Finland.
“It’s hard to leave a little baby behind and I struggle with that, but I have learnt to be pretty good at just putting family life aside and when I go out to train I'm there 100 per cent and try to do the best I can.
“You really have to be focussed in my sport- you really can't be thinking about other things or families or babies or anything while you're on the job,” said the woman who painfully tore her knee en route to a likely medal at the 2006 Torino Olympic Games.
After having Kai, Lassila made a resounding return to competition in December 2012. She placed second in her first World Cup competition in three years, finished the 2012/13 season third on the overall World Cup standings and finished fifth at the World Championships while managing a back-injury which she now has under control.
It is all the more impressive given the competition format changed considerably during Lassila’s sabbatical- something that changes the face of this daredevil sport.
When the Australian won gold in 2010, the combined score of two jumps accumulated towards gold. Now there is an elimination format in the final consisting of three jumps- with no combined scores.
“In my opinion, what that has encouraged is for athletes to be relatively safe during those rounds and not risk all in those rounds.
“It puts a bit of a lid or a glass ceiling on our sport- it’s not encouraging women to really go out there and do triple somersaults and try to progress the sport in any way because they’re better to stay consistent and stay safe,” Lassila explained.
Additionally, the qualification rounds and the final will now be contested on the same day in Sochi.
“That's a long day which has turned a sprint sport into a marathon,” Lassila suggests.
The defending Champion is confident her tricks from 2010 will be enough in 2014, but she is also keen to push herself, and the sport higher.
“I strongly believe in always extending yourself past what you think you can do, so I will practise harder tricks and I will have them ready in my back pocket if I need them on the day.”
It took the Victorian a decade of incredible highs and lows to transform from a gymnast to Olympic Champion, suffering heartbreaking injuries that most expected would end the journey.
Now aged 31 and with the Sochi Games less than five months away, she is “confident and comfortable” she can do it all again in conditions that could be similar to the mild conditions in Vancouver.
"It was great to be in Sochi this year for the Test Event, just to see the conditions and to see the set-up of the whole site and to see how the whole freestyle park works. It's a great set-up and I really like how all the finishing areas end up in the one spot. It looks fantastic at night!
“The most concerning thing is the weather. It can be very warm and it can be very wintery and snowy so we don't know what we're going to get. So at this stage all we can do is prepare for either - wet, warm, slushy, sticky conditions or hopefully we'll get nice wintery conditions where our lives will be made that little bit easier.”
This season Lassila is focussing on securing her selection and preparation to perfection rather than chasing World Cup wins.
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