New funding announced for aerial ski water ramp training facility

Olympic gold medallist Lydia Lassila's dream of a purpose-built high performance aerial ski water ramp facility based on home soil will become a reality after a $4 million joint funding agreement between the Australian and Queensland Governments.

The investment will fund the construction of a water ramp training facility at Sleeman Sports Complex in Brisbane to benefit the training and preparation of Australia’s aerial skiers in the lead up to Winter Olympic Games and world championships.

Sleeman Sports Complex will house six ski ramps up to 24 metres in height at the end of a four metre deep Olympic pool as part of a series of upgrades to the facility.

It will allow Australia's aerial skiers to train all-year-around in Australia without having to leave the country for six months each year in preparation for international competition.

Lassila, aerial gold medallist at this year’s Vancouver Winter Olympics, welcomed the construction of the facility which will support her ongoing training and preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia and help Australia’s aerial skiers to remain internationally competitive.

She explained “this facility will help our younger athletes and have them just pouring into a facility and training all year round. We will be unstoppable in Sochi.”

Queensland Sports Minister Phil Reeves said this will be the first aerial ski facility constructed in the Southern Hemisphere, which can be used throughout the year, explaining “currently there is no high performance training centres (for aerial skiing) in the southern hemisphere. This will be the only aerial ski water ramp training facility in the southern hemisphere accessible for 12 months of the year.

“The success of Australian athletes in these sports has seen other nations restrict access to our champions. This investment ensures they have an all season location to train.”

Federal Minister for Sport Mark Arbib said aerial skiers are among Australia’s most successful female Olympic athletes and it was important this continued into the future with the construction of this facility.

Senator Arbib added “the combined the Australian Institute of Sport/Olympic Winter Institute of Australia Aerial Skiing program has produced two Olympic Champions and three World Champions.

“This is in addition to four of our female aerial skiers achieving number one rankings including 2010 Olympic champion Lydia Lassila and the 2002 Olympic champion Alisa Camplin.

“The Government is keen for this success to continue long into the future and is proud to support the Queensland Government with this aerial ski training facility.”

The OWIA was established in 1998 through a joint partnership between the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and the Australian Institute of Sport. It is jointly funded by the Australian Sports Commission and the AOC and delivers a winter sports scholarship program that annually supports up to 32 athletes across the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing (mogul, aerial and ski cross), snowboarding, skeleton, short track speed skating and figure skating.

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