By Kirrily Schwarz -
One word to describe Elizabeth Lambert? Multifaceted. The elite skier, business co-owner, lawyer and Army Reserve Captain tells us she’s never one to back away from a challenge.
Main image: Training with the Australian ski team in Germany
Elizabeth Lambert’s goal was Beijing 2022. Her event was ski cross, a timed freestyle skiing race in which four competitors hurtle down a 1km course filled with sharp twists, steep turns, and intimidating jumps. The elite skier from Sydney spent the European winter of 2019/20 training and competing in preparation for the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, with an eye on selection for the forthcoming Winter Olympics.
Lambert was in peak physical condition, but it was a challenging season. A nasty twisting crash during an early training run fractured her tibial plateau, the part of the shinbone that forms part of the knee joint, and tore some ligaments. The injury forced her to rest for eight weeks, and by the time she was ready to ease back into skiing, COVID-19 was swarming the globe. She decided it was time to head home.
“It wouldn’t have been impossible to make the World Cup, or the Olympics, but it certainly would have been a lot harder. Everything was pushed back and then the risk of not being able to come home easily with the arrival caps was a critical factor,” she says. “I’m quite comfortable that was the right decision.”
Lambert is one of those people who likes to keep busy. She’s an admitted lawyer who spent two years working as an associate for Justice Gregory Garde in the Supreme Court of Victoria before making the decision to pursue skiing full-time. She also serves as a Captain in the Army Reserve, is two subjects away from completing a Master of Laws at the Australian National University, and recently passed the NSW bar exam. On top of all that, she runs a successful online business selling vintage jet ski parts and products with her partner Cameron.
