Fifteen years ago, an 11-year-old named Chris Lillis did had his first backflip on a water ramp in Lake Placid. At that moment, a future gold medalist discovered his passion for aerials.
Today, with the FIS Freestyle World Cup Aerials officially scheduled to return to the Olympic Village on January 18 and 19 for the first time since 2019, Chris and many others who began their careers and trained in Lake Placid are looking forward to a homecoming.
“We trained here for a very long time. It’s a great place. A historical place. The center for aerials really. I believe our athletes and coaches are all happy to be back,” said U.S. Aerials Coach Vladimir Lebedev before last year’s North American Cup freestyle competition at Lake Placid’s Olympic Jumping Complex. This venue, Lake Placid itself, and the local U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center are seen as greatly important to the freestyle community as among the few major development sites in the country.
For the full article, visit this link on the Olympic Jumping Complex website.