On her return home last week she met her new niece, Sophie, who was born while she was away.

There was also her mum Phyllis Ierodiaconou's cooking to look forward to and, of course, a bit of a rest.

Fresh off the plane from Vancouver she obliged the adoring fans at Diggers Rest Primary School who had followed her every move by stopping in at the school on her way home.

She received a hero's welcome and pupils hung on her every word as she told them they, too, could be Olympic champions if they worked hard.

Diggers Rest parent Anthony Paine heard the 28-year-old was on her way home and managed to pull a few strings to see if local schoolchildren could meet their new hero. All of the 98 enrolled pupils at the school packed the auditorium on Wednesday and patiently waited for the star, their star, to show up.

A loud cheer went up when Lassila entered the auditorium that had been decked out with a massive banner congratulating her on her efforts.

The small community of Diggers Rest could not have asked for a better ambassador.

"Thanks for the support and I think I heard you [cheering] from Vancouver," Lassila told her young fans. Almost every hand in the audience went up when she asked: "Who wants to be skier?"

Principal Sean Lawless introduced Lassila and the athlete took questions from pupils on all manner of topics: how she became a skier, what was it like to win a gold medal, how she trains for Olympics, how did she feel after crashing at Torino in 2006, what is her best trick and, leaving no stone unturned in learning what makes an Olympic champion tick, how was her flight and why was her medal bent?

Lassila graciously answered every question and stayed long after the TV cameras and reporters had left to pose for photos and sign autographs for the adoring pupils, parents and residents.

Lassila's mother, Mrs Ierodiaconou, said it was hard to find the words to describe her pride.

Lassila was looking forward to a lunch at home with her parents and three brothers, followed by a good rest.

Asked how she felt standing at the top of her run for her second jump, knowing she was the second-last jumper and was in the silver medal position, Lassila said she knew what she needed to do and focused on that.

"I think about the important parts of the jump: take-off and landing. I try to keep it simple."

She said she would devote time to campaigning to have a ski jump training venue built in Australia.