How making use of an enforced injury layoff became a blessing in disguise for an Olympic champion, and a launching pad to a smooth transition to life after sport.

Dual Winter Olympic medallist and aerial skier Lydia Lassila is an Australian sporting icon having won Gold at the Vancouver 2010 Games. Lydia’s sport of choice was a brutal test of physical and mental courage where a small mistake could lead to drastic consequences. A big believer in having distractions outside of sport Lydia was recovering from a ‘blown out knee’ when she started sketching the first designs of what became BodyIce (https://bodyice.com/)– a range of joint specific ice and heat packs developed to help her own recovery from injury. As she evolved as an athlete Lydia had to find new ways to stay at the top of her game physically and mentally which led her to Yoga and ultimately the creation of Zone by Lydia (https://www.zonebylydia.com/). Lydia’s story is a wonderful example of learning to compartmentalise, finding passions outside of sport, having a lifelong learning mindset, not identifying herself an ‘just’ an athlete and simply “getting on with it”. Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email [email protected] or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp