Olympics: Lydia Lassila on track for Winter Games

Australian Olympic aerial skiing gold medallist Lydia Lassila is back on top of the podium.

Lydia Lassila of Australia competes in the ladies aerials during World Cup skiing at Deer Valley Resort in Utah.

In only her second competition after a three-year break from her sport, Australian Olympic aerial skiing gold medallist Lydia Lassila is back on top of the podium, after winning the World Cup event at Deer Valley in Utah today.

Now 35 and a mother of two, Lassila decided to return to the sport last year for one last tilt at the Olympic Games and has come back seamlessly to demonstrate that she is on track for a record fifth Winter Olympic appearance in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February next year.

She finished fifth in her first competition at Lake Placid two weeks ago and stepped up again at Deer Valley, the scene of her Olympic debut in 2002.

First-place finishers Lydia Lassila, right, of Australia, and Qi Guangpu, left, of China, celebrate on the freestyle skiing World Cup podium.

She only just scraped into (Australian time) Saturday’s six-woman final in equal fifth but she turned it on in falling snow for the medal round, completing a strong triple-twisting double back somersault to snatch victory from American Kiley McKinnon by a fraction of a point.

Lassila had to windmill her arms to hold her landing but her superior technique in the air gave her the edge (95.52 points) over her rival (95.17).

“I was emotional all day and I had a good feeling. I couldn’t believe I won,” she said later.

“To be honest, I was happy to stay on my feet.

“This is the feeling that I missed and came back for,” she said. “It’s not the winning so much — it’s being able to do your best, the pure adrenaline and the fun.”

She will next turn her attention to the Olympic Test event in Pyeongchang next weekend as she aims to become the first Australian winter athlete to win three Olympic medals.

She won the gold medal in Vancouver in 2010, and bronze in Sochi in 2014, where she prioritised becoming the first woman to do a quadruple-twisting triple somersault ahead of winning a second title.

Lassila’s triumph was Australia’s second medal at Deer Valley this weekend after moguls World Cup leader Britt Cox finished third in her event, her fourth podium finish in five events this season.

Matt Graham, who reached the top of the podium with Cox last week in Calgary, missed out narrowly yesterday, finishing fourth in the men’s event.

First-place Lydia Lassila, of Australia, after finishing the women's aerials event.