Lydia Lassila in the Zone

A ski resort in the Arctic Circle has been home for Olympic Freestyle Skier Lydia Lassila for the past three years.  The five times winter Olympian is now challenging the fast fashion industry with her range of hemp clothing

Published July 2024 Words Mandy Lamont Images supplied

Listen to the conversation below

Growing up in a beach family in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Lydia was involved in gymnastics from a young age, until she turned 15. Lydia enjoyed being an athlete and feeling that was her strength, she was looking for something else to do when an opportunity with the Olympic Winter Institute’s new pilot program converting ex-gymnasts into aerial skiers when she was 17. Having the opportunity to go to an Olympics was something Lydia desperately wanted to do and hadn’t achieved as a gymnast. So she said yes and threw herself into it, quite literally. It didn’t take long to prove the experiment was working.

On an accelerated path to skiing, Lydia and teammate Liz Gardner’s progression through the sport was at speed and after one season at Mt Buller they were skiing well. Going to Whistler in ’99 was the first time for Lydia seeing big mountain ranges and lots of snow, the next step was to start jumping. It was a quick transition and within 18 months Lydia was at her first Olympics. Lydia’s progression in particular was extremely quick, but she was achieving results, and within her second year she was ranked number two in the world. It was proof that the recruitment idea was working and other countries started to follow suit.

Coming eighth in her first Olympics was quite remarkable. No one even knew her name. To get to the Olympic final after 18 months of doing the sport was unheard of. “I was pretty banged up though,” Lydia tells me. “Taking some really big risks with my body, and there wasn’t much physical or medical support. Some of the injuries I had really set me back because we were going too fast,” the beginning of the school of hard knocks.

Coming into the next Olympics in Torino 2006, Lydia was a favourite. That was when her knee injuries started. Plagued with back to back ACL injuries, it was a real low point in her career because she had a lot of motivation and I believed she could do well.

Blowing her ACL seven months before the Olympics, she had experimental allograft surgery, using donor tissue for quicker recovery. With no reference, it was new for the physios and the surgeons,  it was new for Lydia and the whole program. Recovering quickly Lydia was skiing within eight weeks, which again was unheard of, and she made it to the Olympics. Competing in and winning one World Cup prior, she felt like she was back where she left off. Flying over to the Olympics, her knee was angry. It blew up and she was having a lot of trouble with it, even though she was dropping well. In the semi-finals, after a near perfect first jump, with all the waiting around in the cold, her knee was getting stiffer and stiffer. Landing a little bit backseat and ka pow, it blew again.

Lydia took 12 months off after that injury, which was needed. “It was traumatic and required multiple surgeries.” Lydia tells me. During that time, Lydia created her first business, Body Ice. Getting relief from pain and swelling with cold therapy, Lydia was having to ice a lot and she couldn’t find a product that she liked. She wanted something easy to use and travel with. Something she could ice with on the go, in between, in the car, wherever. So she decided to create a range of joint-specific ice and heat packs that stayed cold and stayed in place.

Body Ice was a positive outcome from a nasty situation. And it continued to be financial security for Lydia as she moved through the athlete pathway, the ups and downs of sponsorship and the uncertainties that unfolded along the way. Not having to rely on external sponsorship deals and financial support meant that Lydia had the flexibility to continue to progress as an athlete, and something else to focus on. “It gave me a lot of balance, not just being that tunnel vision athlete. I was running a business on the side and for most of it I was by myself, so there was a lot to learn along the way.”

Come the next Olympics, Lydia was punching out invoices in the ice bath as a distraction on the day of the Olympic final. “It’s always been there for me as a great product, but also as a great distraction from some of the things I was going through. It gave me a lot of balance and security, and made me a more wholesome athlete.”

Geoffrey helped me focus on who I was becoming rather than what had happened in the past. Lydia came back strong, doing tricks and skills she always believed she could do and pushing the boundaries of her sport, like high quality triple somersaults. Coming into those Olympics Lydia couldn’t put a foot wrong. “I felt confident, I was becoming that person and right where I deserved and wanted to be. Coming away with a win was perfect. It’s what you want as an athlete you want your dreams to unfold into reality.”

Coming back for the 2010 Olympics, Lydia was in great form. The time off allowed her to create a business, and also nurture her mindset, which was a bit fragile. She engaged in a mental training coach, who she is still in contact with today. “Geoffrey Hodges was instrumental in helping me get back and overcome the trauma of injury and the fear associated with it, to become, who I believed I could be. It’s always interesting when you have these goals and beliefs in your head that you haven’t proven yet. You’re tiptoeing, between being confident and doubting yourself, especially when you’ve gone through injury.

Lydia also changed her jumping coach and was working with Swiss coach Mishra. After two knee surgeries, Lydia had a lot of resistance from coaches and administration not wanting her taking risks or do triple somersaults. Mishra was supportive of Lydia wanting to take those risks, which was what she needed. Someone in her corner who believed without a doubt that she could do it.

Struggling with her back, Lydia discovered yoga. Coming back from that season she had two bulging discs. Her options were to stop altogether, or get her nerve permanently singed. With nothing to lose, her mental training coach encouraged her to see his yoga man Duncan. Beginning another transformative journey. Within two one-on-one sessions, Lydia was incredibly 50% pain free! It was working so Lydia saw him five days a week for six months until she was fully rehabilitated. Then she went back to training. Lydia was fixed without having to retire or go through any surgery. “I had my sequences to manage that injury with, and still do today.”

After 2010 Lydia and her husband decided to start a family. Training lightly throughout her pregnancy, it wasn’t a big deal coming back. It’s an adjustment with a baby, but she managed, and figured things out. Having that support was crucial at that time. Lydia had some issues with her back and pelvis that weren’t picked up on initially. With her body going through some changes, and the high impact from landing, there’s going to be some adjustments. Lydia had that year off, then started to come back slowly for the 2012 season. 

Coming back for the 2014 Olympics, her fourth, Lydia had a lot on her plate. A new mum, she was also running a business. She was an elite athlete with a film crew following her around filming her documentary ‘The Will to Fly’, all while trying to defend her Olympic titles. Her next goal was to do a new trick that no woman had done before. The quad twisting triple somersault. “Of course, I wanted to win the Olympics again. That would have been nice.” But when it came to it she decided to push the boundaries and do something she hadn’t done and in the finals of those Olympics, she went for it. Not landing cleanly, she came away with bronze.

Highly motivated, as an athlete, Lydia knew exactly what she wanted. Even though it was difficult and at times painful, frustrating and traumatic. “I knew what I wanted. And coming away with another Olympic medal, it’s not easy to do it at the best of times. Having two, I really treasure that now, because they’re not easy to win.”

Something that Lydia discovered at her final Olympics at Pyong Chang. In really good form and now with two children, Lydia had taken a step back from doing triple somersaults, but was still doing double’s at a quality that could easily win medals. And had had wins that season. At the Olympics, she was in really good form and didn’t crash a single jump, until she needed to pull it off. In the semifinals. She had two jumps, and didn’t ski away from either of them. And that was the end of it. “It was a bit of a downer because everything was going well. It just goes to show, there are so many things that need to align, even on the day. For me, it didn’t work out. And that made me really appreciative of the good performances that I had in the past. Medals that are sitting dusty in a drawer somewhere, they’re not easy to win. So I really appreciate them.”

With a business and a family, Lydia felt like she’d had enough and was ready to move on. It would have been nice to finish on a high. But you can’t have everything.

After those Olympics, inspired by yoga, Lydia started a new brand called Zone which launched in 2020. She wanted to do something in the yoga space which gave her so much. Extending her career by two Olympics wouldn’t have been possible without yoga. Then discovering the benefits of hemp, Lydia desperately wanted to do something with it to drive it’s demand and was inspired to make a yoga clothing range that’s not fashion driven, just everyday clothing essentials.

Seeing the state of the world, the waste, pollution and our unsustainable methods of living, Lydia wanted to do something that embraced the yogic lifestyle. Caring for the environment, coexisting with it, not disrupting it. Zone focuses on one, finding your zone. Being in that zone space that we all love and that I was fortunate to experience many times as an athlete, and two, encouraging people to get on the mat and practice yoga, sustainably.

With a range of hemp clothing blended with organic cotton, cork yoga mats and props and some essential oils, Lydia is challenging the norms of the textile industry. Making people realise that there are more sustainable options available that are better for us, as well as the environment. Encouraging people to buy less, shop for better materials and challenge the misleading and deceptive ‘greenwashing’. A term used to describe false or misleading environmental claims, making business appear more environmentally beneficial than they really are.

“I can’t see any benefit in wearing plastic. With every wash cycle, you’re washing out microplastics. Maybe put it in our roads and barriers, or something that is going to stay there for a long time. But to wear it, no thank you.”

“It doesn’t make sense to me and I think it’s a cop out. The major issue with Coca Cola producing irresponsible single use plastic bottles is, if we start recycling and making them into clothing, it’s not going to stop them producing them. I’m passionate about finding solutions in that space and challenging the industry in general. The fast fashion industry especially. There’s just so much that we don’t need.”

Not long after Pyong Chang, Lydia was asked to go on Survivor. A fan of the show she’s always enjoyed watching it and thought it sounded like fun. “It was a great experience. I think everyone should have a survivor once every year and go off grid. It makes you appreciate the basics that you have. The coffee machine, microwave and sleeping in a bed with covers. It’s a really good reset for restructuring your priorities in life. The most important thing I got out of it is your connection, with people and place. You don’t have anything if you don’t have a connection to people, and love.

Loved by many, Lydia was recently inducted into the Australian Sports Hall of Fame. “It was a little surprise and nice to be recognized in that way and remembered.”

When Lydia started looking into hemp she couldn’t understand why anyone wasn’t using hemp! “We should be using it everywhere because of its environmental properties, its ability to sequester carbon to feed and clothe you and build items. You can do anything with it.”

Hemp is the only plant that can feed you, house you, clothe you and heal you. Extremely versatile this ancient textile, hemp has been used for thousands of years, for clothing, food, medicine, paper, fuel and building products to name a few. Farmers were encouraged to grow hemp and fined by King Henry VIII in 1533 if they didn’t grow it for industrial use, and in the 1700’s American colonies were required by law to grow hemp. “Make the most of Indian Hemp Seed, sow it everywhere”. George Washington 1794. It wasn’t until the industrial revolution and the development of petroleum products and other fibres were processed mechanically.

“Prior to the cotton and synthetics industry, hemp was the main choice of material. Then big business came into play. The cotton and synthetics industries ran a smear campaign associating industrial hemp with its, cousin marijuana. Both cannabis plants, one has high THC levels, which is marijuana and the other one doesn’t. Ultimately driving hemp out of the market so they could go full throttle with cotton and synthetics.”

“Making more money out of synthetics which they can pump out easier and quicker. And then cotton which they started just spraying the crap out of and using pesticides and all of the problems associated with that. Soil quality, excessive water for processing and growing. It’s just crazy.”

“There was a ban on growing industrial hemp, starting in 1920’s. We’ve now been using hemp for decades world wide. It’s much easier for growers to grow industrial hemp with those hard bans lifted, but you still need a licence. Hemp is everywhere now on the supermarket shelves as a plant protein . It’s a strange history for a product that was used a lot prior to that ban. A plant that has so many environmental benefits. It’s mind boggling actually.”

“There was a ban on growing industrial hemp, starting in 1920’s. We’ve now been using hemp for decades world wide. It’s much easier for growers to grow industrial hemp with those hard bans lifted, but you still need a licence. Hemp is everywhere now on the supermarket shelves as a plant protein . It’s a strange history for a product that was used a lot prior to that ban. A plant that has so many environmental benefits. It’s mind boggling actually.”

“Hemp is coming back with a vengeance now, which is great. With incredible soil regenerative properties, they’ve used hemp in places like Chernobyl to suck the toxins out of the soil and regenerate it. It’s got a short growth cycle of 90 days. The canopy’s so voluminous, that’s why it can sequester so much carbon and feed it back into the soil.”

“Cork is another great, sustainable renewable material source. There are not many trees that you can harvest things from other than food without cutting them down.”

“Harvesting their bark, cork trees grow in really dry kind of arid places, so they don’t need a lot of water either. Why are we using plastic and foam for yoga mats? I can’t think of anything more disgusting and toxic and smelly. Cork’s a really nice material to practice on. It’s got a nice give to it, a Nice feel. When you put water on cork, like sweat, it actually gets grippier. There’s a lack of substance in it called suberin. When moisture hits cork, suberin is released. It’s like this waxy substance that makes the surface grippier. So it’s the perfect material for a yoga mat and that’s why I really wanted to use cork. I thought a mixture of cork and natural rubber on the bottom to just start to sway people away from other irresponsible materials that are being used. Both biodegradable natural materials. With no trace of microplastics.”

Check out the full range of Zone by Lydia here