Alisa Camplin
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Alisa Peta Camplin, (born 10 November 1974) is an Australian former aerial skier who won gold at the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...
, the second ever winter Olympic gold medal for Australia. At the
2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...
, Camplin finished third to receive a bronze medal. She is the first Australian skier to win medals at consecutive Winter Olympics, making her one of Australia's best skiers.


Background

Camplin is an ex-gymnast, standing at 157 cm tall. She was educated in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
at the Methodist Ladies' College and has a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in
information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
from
Swinburne University of Technology The Swinburne University of Technology (or simply Swinburne) is a public university, public research university in Melbourne, Australia. It is the modern descendant of the Eastern Suburbs Technical College established in 1908, renamed Swinburne ...
. As a teenager, Alisa was an accomplished sailor, winning two Australian National Titles in the Hobie Cat
catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...
class. Inspired by the example of three-time Olympian
Kirstie Marshall Kirstie Claire Marshall (born 21 April 1969) is an Australian aerial skier and Victorian state politician. Marshall was an ex-gymnast who became an aerial skier at Mount Buller, Victoria. During her skiing career Marshall won over 40 World Cu ...
, Camplin approached the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia in 1994 to see the possibilities of becoming an aerial skier. She was new to skiing, and even in Salt Lake she trampled on her victory flowers when she fell over during the trip to the winner's news conference. Before the 2002 Winter Olympics, none of the dozen top 10 results she had made on the World Cup circuit included a victory, and compatriot
Jacqui Cooper Jacqueline Cooper (born 6 January 1973) is an Australian motivational speaker and retired freestyle skier. Skiing career Cooper started skiing aerials at age 16 and was on the Australian team for 20 years. During her career she had many injuri ...
was viewed as the favourite for the aerials event. While most athletes use flags to mark the start of their jumps, Alisa used a wooden spoon. The rationale was that early in her career, confusion was caused by both Alisa and Jacqui using Australian flags to mark their starts, but in Australia a
wooden spoon A wooden spoon is a Kitchen utensil, utensil commonly used in food preparation. In addition to its culinary uses, wooden spoons also feature in folk art and culture. History The word ''spoon'' derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of woo ...
is a metaphorical prize for people or teams coming last in their sporting event.


Salt Lake City 2002

Alisa competed at the Olympics against doctors' advice—she had injured herself after being caught by a headwind in training a few weeks before. At the time, she was told she had bone bruising, it was not until she was examined by doctors in Salt Lake that she discovered both her ankles were fractured. The doctors were amazed that she was walking, let alone planning to jump.
Jacqui Cooper Jacqueline Cooper (born 6 January 1973) is an Australian motivational speaker and retired freestyle skier. Skiing career Cooper started skiing aerials at age 16 and was on the Australian team for 20 years. During her career she had many injuri ...
injured her knee in practice a week before the games. Alisa was so nervous she did not eat dinner the night before the final. Camplin performed a pair of triple-twisting, double backflip jumps to win the event. Her family had been told to stay home by the athlete because she did not want distractions in the crowd, but her mother and younger sister Georgina defied her, watching her from behind a large Australian flag. Camplin's gold was celebrated by
Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost, is an Australian Government-State-owned enterprise, owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is loca ...
issuing a 45-cent stamp of her. Her stamp was issued on 22 February, four days after her victory.Aussie golds in Winter games bring more instant stamps
by Glen Stephens. Linn's stamp news. 11 March 2002.
She received A$20,000 for the use of her image. Camplin was delighted, saying "For us to be put in with the summer Olympians who had their stamps and the previous 39 sporting legends who’ve had their stamps is amazing.""Gold medallists get framed stamps"
Australian Olympic Committee The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is the National Olympic Committee responsible for developing, promoting, and protecting the Olympic Movement in Australia. The AOC has the exclusive responsibility for the representation of Australia at ...
25 February 2002.


Turin 2006

In her preparations for the Turin Winter Olympics, Camplin incurred a serious knee injury in October 2005, requiring a
knee reconstruction Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL reconstruction) is a surgical tissue graft replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament, located in the knee, to restore its function after an injury. The torn ligament can either be removed from ...
. To speed the healing process, she used the relatively uncommon practice of using donor tissue in the knee, and returned to limited training only 11 weeks after the surgery. She finished fourth at a World Cup event in Lake Placid to secure her place in the team. On 22 February, in a night competition that was marked by a thick fog that disturbed competitions to an extent, Camplin registered a score of 94.99 in her first jump, the fourth best. In the second jump, she received a 96.40, which temporarily placed her second, a silver medal. She was, however, eventually dislodged by
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
's
Li Nina Li Nina (, born January 10, 1983, in Benxi, Liaoning) is a Chinese Freestyle skiing, aerial skier who won silver at both the 2006 Winter Olympics, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics. She placed 5th at the Freestyle_skiing_at_the_2002_Winte ...
, finishing third behind
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
's
Evelyne Leu Evelyne Leu (born 7 July 1976) is a former Swiss freestyle skier. She won a gold medal in Aerial skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics. However, she failed to reach the Finals at the 2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, of ...
, who won the event, and Nina, who took silver. She also benefited from the unexpected fall of China's
Xinxin Guo Guo Xinxin (born August 2, 1983) is a Chinese aerial skier who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics and the 2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, wer ...
, who had received the highest score in the first jump and was expected to secure a place in the Olympic podium—at which time Camplin, who was already third then, would have gone out of the medal zone. She was the Australian flag-bearer at the
Opening Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.
.


Post-skiing career

Camplin announced her retirement from competition in July 2006. She intends to pursue interests in the media and in the ski travel industry. As of 30 July 2006, she is an international executive for
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
, works as a motivational speaker, and does promotional and charity work. Camplin currently works as a senior executive at IBM managing a team of over 300 people. She has been the face of
Wrigley's Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, also known as Wrigley Company or simply Wrigley's, is an American multinational candy and chewing gum company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois. Wrigley's is a subsidiary ...
Extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...
chewing gum Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its tex ...
in Australia since shortly after the 2002 Winter Olympics. She is also a judge on the Australian television competition ''
Torvill and Dean's Dancing on Ice ''Torvill and Dean's Dancing on Ice'' was an Australian reality television series which was based on the original British version, ''Dancing on Ice''. The series premiered on the Nine Network on Tuesday, 11 July 2006 at , and involved celebriti ...
'', and runs Alisa Camplin Ski Tours. On 4 November 2009, Alisa Camplin was one of 15 international torchbearers taking part in the relay's International media program, aimed at increasing global coverage of the cross-Canada relay. She ran on day 6 of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic torch relay through the town of
Dawson City Dawson City is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest municipality in Yukon. History Prior t ...
in the
Yukon Territory Yukon () is a territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s westernmost territory and the smallest ...
. On 8 December 2009, it was announced that Alisa has joined the
Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...
board as a replacement for
Sally Capp Sally Anne Capp (born 1967) is a former Australian politician who was the 104th List of mayors and lord mayors of Melbourne, lord mayor of Melbourne, elected on 18 May 2018 and sworn in on 26 May 2018 with her term ending on 30 June 2024. She ...
.


Personal life

Camplin married Oliver Warner in December 2010. Their first child, Finnan Maximus Camplin-Warner, was born six weeks prematurely on 10 March 2011. Finnan died 10 days later due to a congenital heart condition. Camplin and Warner have set up the charity Finnan's Gift (http://finnansgift.com), organised through the
Royal Children's Hospital The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), colloquially referred to as the Royal Children's, is a major children's hospital in Parkville, Victoria, Parkville, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Regarded as one of the great C ...
, to raise money to buy equipment that will detect heart defects in other babies. On 3 October 2013, Camplin gave birth to their second child. On 20 July 2016, Camplin gave birth to their third child.


Honours

Camplin received the
Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...
in 2000. She was awarded a
Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...
in 2003 for her 2002 gold medal win. In 2008, she was inducted into the
Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...
. In the
2019 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...
Camplin was appointed a
Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
in recognition of her "significant service to the community through support for paediatric health care".


References


External links

* * * * * *
Flying high: Camplin's aerials win gives Australia another gold

She comes from the land Down Under : Aussie aerialist Camplin captures gold in dramatic fashion

Camplin to Carry Australian Flag
– sportal.com.au, Friday 10 February
Finnan's Gift
{{DEFAULTSORT:Camplin, Alisa 1974 births Living people Australian female freestyle skiers Freestyle skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Freestyle skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic freestyle skiers for Australia Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Swinburne University of Technology alumni Olympic medalists in freestyle skiing Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees People educated at Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne Skiers from Melbourne 21st-century Australian sportswomen