Fresh from winning a bronze medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics, aerial skier Lydia Lassila, has issued an urgent call to build Australia’s first water ramp in the NSW town of Lennox Head.
Fresh from winning a bronze medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics, aerial skier Lydia Lassila, has issued an urgent call to build Australia’s first water ramp in the NSW town of Lennox Head.
Lassila told a media conference in Russia the facility should be fast-tracked if Australia wants continued success in Winter sports at the Olympics.
“It is a game changer and it shouldn’t wait, we should do it now,” she said.
The previous Federal Government under Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, provided $3m in funding for the project. The ramp was to be built in Brisbane but the Newman Government withdrew further promised funding of $1.5m when it won office.
The NSW Government has shown interest in the project and plans have been submitted for the ramp to be built in northern NSW at Lennox Head.
Ian Chesterman, Chef de Mission of the Australian Olympic Team said “the Australian Government is very much behind the project, we need to find a home for it and we are working closely with the NSW Government to bring it to fruition”.
“This will be an economic plus for the country. We will have a world class facility in Australia that athletes will want to come and use from around the world for 12 months of the year”.
The ramp would be used by aerial skiers, mogul and slope style skiers and snowboarders who all perform jumps on the snow.
“Obviously our Team spends a lot of time on the water ramps to try and get their tricks ready and it’s just a huge advantage to have it in the southern hemisphere where it can be open 12 months a year,” Lassila said.
China has four water ramps. There are ramps in the USA and Canada which Australian athletes must pay to use. The cost and the travel limits the number of Australian athletes who can participate in the sport.
“We don’t have to be at the mercy of these countries anymore for their facilities, we can run our own show," Lassila said.
“You can’t send a lot of athletes away to these foreign water ramps because of the cost. You are limited, so by having a local facility we can start recruiting en masse and start generating some real solid talent to back up the talent like the Chinese do and have them ready to roll out when we need them”.
