Highlights from National Championship Ski Jumping Sat Oct 11:
It was the thirteenth national championship for Lindsey Van of the US Ski Team.  Lindsey and Jessica Jerome, who placed 2nd, are both coming back from knee surgery ... Jessica missed all of last season, and Lindsey missed the last half. Alissa Johnson, who placed 3rd, recently won her first LCOC (Ladies' Continental Cup) event. Alissa's younger brother, Anders Johnson, won the men's title, followed by a pair of outstanding Nordic Combined athletes, Johnny Spillane and Billy Demong; both are former Olympians. Spillane won the only gold medal ever for the US in a World Championship (2003 Nordic Combined), and Demong won silver in the same event in the 2007 World Championships. In fourth place among the men was Nick Fairall, who has been jumping well in recent men's Continental Cup events. Todd Lodwick, four-time Olympian coming back a year after retiring, placed fifth. The longest flight of the event was 102 meters by Fairall; the longest among the women was 96 meters, by both Van and Jerome.

Highlights from National Championship Nordic Combined Sat Oct 11:
Former Olympian and World Champion Johnny Spillane won his first US Championship on Saturday in Lake Placid, less than a second ahead of Billy Demong. Multi-time US Champion Todd Lodwick placed 3rd, less than 40 seconds off the pace, after a year in retirement; both Demong and Lodwick are also former Olympians. Their event consisted of a single jump on the 90 meter hill, and eight laps (on roller skis) of a 1.68Km loop. A women's championshop event was held, with Jessica Jerome taking the win by less than one second over Abby Hughes, with Avery Ardovino 3rd just 8 seconds back.

Highlights from the NYSEF SuperTour Sunday Oct 12:
Following up on their victories in the National Ski Jumping Championships, Lindsey Van won the women's class and Anders Johnson took top honors in the men's Open class. In addition, there was a Junior class on Sunday, and the winner was Yukon De Leeuw of Canada. Following Van in the women's class were Jessica Jerome and Avery Ardovino. In the men's Open, Eric Camerota was 2nd and Nick Alexander 3rd. Canada's Matthew Rowley finished 2nd in Junior, followed by Brian Wallace.  Johnson had the longest flight among the men on Sunday at 102 meters, and Van topped the women at 98.5.

Nina Lussi Made Final Four in SKOTY Vote
Sports Kid of the Year field narrowed to TWO on Oct 6
Lake Placid's Nina Lussi made it to the semifinal round in the running for the annual Sports Kid of the Year award, sponsored by Sports Illustrated's SI Kids Magazine. There were 6000 original entrants, and she was one of the final four, but didn't make it to the final two. Still, she gave a lot of much-needed and much-appreciated coverage to our sport in a national publication that reaches millions of homes. We want to recognize her achievement and say a hearty "THANK YOU!" to all who voted for her! Nina will be competing at the US Nationals on Oct 11.

Alissa Johnson 3rd, Lindsey Van 4th in LCOC
Graessler gets 3rd win in last 4 events, De Leeuw 2nd in Liberec
*** Sat Oct 4 women's results     LCOC standings
*** Fri Oct 3 women's results
*** Sat Oct 4 men's GP results Liberec
*** Fri Oct 3 men's GP results Klingenthal
Germany's Ulrike Graessler won both Friday and Saturday in Ladies' Continental Cup action in Liberec CZE, with Canada's Nata De Leeuw 2nd. The US Ski Team continued to achieve strong results. Alissa Johnson was on the podium in 3rd on Saturday, after placing 12th on Friday. Lindsey Van was 6th on Friday, 4th on Saturday. Jessica Jerome placed 17th and 12th, Avery Ardovino 24th and 16th, with Abby Hughes finishing 20th on Friday. This is the venue for the upcoming FIS World Championships in February 2009, and will mark the first time women will compete for a world title.Look at the distances and scores, and the number of nations in the top fifteen both days ... makes the the IOC excuses for excluding them from the Olympics look silly!

Following the women's event on Saturday, there was a men's Summer Grand Prix competition on the large hill at Liberec. Nick Fairall was the only US qualifier, and he finished 38th. Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria was the winner, followed by Daiki Ito of Japan. In men's GP action at Klingenthal GER on Friday Oct 3, Anders Johnson was the lone US qualifier, and he finished 48th. Austria's Gregor Schlierenzauer was the winner, followed by Simon Ammann of Switzerland

Jerome, Van on Podium in Oberstdorf LCOC
Another strong showing for women of US Ski Team
*** Sat 9/27 women's results    LCOC standings
*** Fri 9/26 women's results
*** Sat 9/27 men's results           COC standings
*** Fri 9/26 men's results
The US Ski Team's Lindsey Van placed third in Ladies' Continental Cup (LCOC) action on Saturday, Sept 29, in Oberstdorf GER. Norway's Anette Sagen won, followed by Germany's Ulrike Graessler. This is Van's first podium since surgery to repair a knee injury suffered in the middle of last season. Among the other Americans, Abby Hughes finished 14th, Avery Ardovino 16th, and Alissa Johnson 17th. After three consecutive podium finishes, Jessica Jerome fell on her first jump, and still just missed the cut, finishing 33rd. Winds again were a factor.

On Friday Sept 26, Jerome stood on on the LCOC podium for the third time in a row! She finished 3rd behind two Germans Graessler and Magdalena Schnurr. Two more Americans made the top 10, with Van 6th and Johnson 8th.   Hughes and Ardovino placed 11th and 16th, respectively, among 45 women from 12 nations. The field battled a tailwind during the second round, cutting distances dramatically.

In men's Continental Cup competition on Saturday, also in Oberstdorf, US development team athlets Anders Johnson placed 26th. Jakub Janda of the Czech Republic was the winner. On Friday, Germany's Felix Schoft was the winner, ahead of Wolfgang Loitzl of Austria. Nick Alexander was the highest-placing American at 54th after round 1, so no US athletes made the final round. There were 85 jumpers from 19 nations in the field.

Zoya Lynch Joins Lawsuit Against VANOC
Team Canada jumper is 10th plaintiff in effort to gain women's Olympic inclusion
One of Canada's current female jumpers, Zoya Lynch, has become the 10th international plaintiff to join the lawsuit against the Vancouver Organizing Committee in an effort to have a women's ski jumping competition included in the Vancouver Games. This is getting a lot of coverage in the Canadian press ... click here to read Reuters article on STV. There's also an in-depth story on the US-based Universal Sports website.

Norge SuperTour Results Posted
Mother Nature cooperates for Chicago tournament Sept 20-21
Tara Geraghty-Moats was a double winner in women's A class, while Kyle Lockhart & Alex Haupt posted wins in men's A class at the annual Norge Ski Club fall tournament in Fox River Grove IL. Emilee Anderson won women's junior class both days, while Will Schott & Brian Wallace took the wins in men's junior class. Complete results can be found via our Schedule & Results page, link at left. In addition to the official events, there was a long-standing competition for cash awards. Dan Englund was the winner, with Peter Frenette 2nd and Zak Hammill 3rd.

Good Weekend for US Men in Villach COC
Fairall 18th, 13th, Johnson 23rd, 20th, Alexander 29th in Villach AUT
Official Results:   Saturday 9/20    Sunday 9/21    Men's COC standings
The US Men's Development squad had an outstanding weekend in Continental Cup action in Villach AUT on September 20-21. In Saturday's action, Nick Fairall placed 18th and Anders Johnson 23rd. Both improved their positions on Sunday, with Fairall finishing 13th and Johnson 20th. Nick Alexander also made the cut to the final round of 30, and finished 29th. Fairall was in 5th place after the first round. There were 77 jumpers from 18 countries in the field.

Last weekend in Lillehammer NOR, Fairall finished 25th and Alexander was 26th. Things are looking up for this young squad training and competing independently of the US Ski Team. Click here to visit the US men's development website ... they've landed several sponsors and are seeking additional financial support; see website for details on how to contribute.

US Women Shine in Lillehammer LCOC
Sept 13 - Johnson wins, teammates 2, 4, 6, 17 ... results
Sept 14 - Jerome 2nd, teammates 6, 7, 11, 20 ..... results & standings
*** Check out this impressive new website ... ladies-skijumping.com
*** Coverage on Ski Racing & Ski Channel websites, links above right
*** Several ski jumping stories on US Ski Team website, link at left
The US Ski Team's Alissa Johnson blasted her way from fourth to first with a 95 meter flight in the second round of Saturday's Ladies' Continental Cup (LCOC) tournament on the 90 meter jump in Lillehamer NOR. Her teammate Jessica Jerome had led the first round, and finished right behind Johnson. Lindsey Van finished fourth, Avery Ardovino sixth, and Abby Hughes hung in the top 20, finishing 17th. Norway's Line Jahr took third, preventing an American podium sweep. Jerome was sidelined all of the 2008 season, and Van for half of the season, due to knee injuries.

In Sunday's competition, Jessica Jerome finished second, behind Norway's Line Jahr and ahead of Norway's Anette Sagen, who has been the series champion each year the LCOC has been in existence. Americans Avery Ardovino and Lindsey Van finished 6th and 7th, while yesterday's winner, Alissa Johnson, finished 11th. Abby Hughes finished 20th.

The LCOC series moves to Oberstdorf GER for comps on Sept 26-27, and to Liberec CZE on Oct 3-4. After that, the Americans will return to Lake Placid for the US National Championships on Oct 11. Liberec is the site of the 2009 FIS World Championships, where women will be included for the first time ... this upcoming event should provide an interesting preview!

Lodwick Wins NC Hillclimb in Norway
Early results encouraging for US athletes ... Lodwick back with a bang!
Back from a year in retirement, Todd Lodwick has returned to the US Nordic Combined team. On Sept 6, he won a hillclimb event in Lillehammer NOR; click for article. We also want to call your attention to the link to the US Nordic Combined website which is in the left column of this page, just below the link to the US Ski Team. Coach Dave Jarrett has been updating it with early season info. Please note that paragraph titles on that site are links, which hasn't been obvious to some visitors since they're not underlined!

US Nationals Oct 11 in Lake Placid
Event moves from spring date to fall, on plastic surface
The US National Championships are traditionally held at the end of the season, in spring, on snow. In a major break with tradition, the 2009 season championships will be held at the beginning of the season, in the fall, without snow. They'll be part of Lake Placid's annual Flaming Leaves Festival, with championship competitions on October 11. More on US Ski Team website, link at left.

Japan's Izumi Yamada Wins in Austria
Ladies' Continental Cup season begins with four events in Europe
The links below take you to official results on the FIS website; you can find additional information on these events by visiting the US Ski Team site via link at left.

• Aug 10 - Bischofsgruen GER ... results
  
• Aug 13 - Poehla GER ................ results
  
• Aug 16 - Bischofshofen AUT ... results
  
• Aug 17 - Bischofshofen AUT ... results

On Sat Aug 16, Norway's Anette Sagen jumped for the first time this season in Bischofshofen AUT. She won with a pair of 71 meter flights, scoring 260.8 points, enough to squeak past Japan's Izumi Yamada who had identical distances, but came up a half-point short on judges' scores, for a total of 260.3. Maja Vtic of Slovenia flew 71 and 70.5 and totaled 258.1 points. Americans Alissa Johnson and Avery Ardovino finished 9th and 16th, respectively. Canadians Atsuko Tanaka and Nata De Leeuw took 11th and 12th places, and teammate Katie Willis took 22nd.

The K-point on this hill is 65 meters; distances greater than that earn the jumper points ABOVE the baseline of 60 points they'd get for flying that far (points are deducted for shorter flights). Every one of the thirty women who qualified for the second round of 30 jumpers had at least one flight greater than 65 meters; all except two had BOTH flights beyond the K-point. The athete who placed 30th had 214.5 points, and she was the ONLY one who finished below 220 points. The top 16 had over 240 points. But according to the IOC, they're not good enough for the Olympics!

The second event in the 2008-09 Ladies' Continental Cup international ski jumping series was held Wednesday Aug 10 in Poehla GER. Germany's Magdalena Schnurr scored her second straight win, followed by Japan's Izumi Yamada and Austria's Jacqueline Siefriedsberger. Two Americans placed in the top ten; Alissa Johnson 7th and Avery Ardovino 8th. Canada's Katie Willis was 10th, with teammate Nata De Leeuw 13th.

In the first event of the season, held Sunday Aug 10, Alissa Johnson placed 11th in Bischofsgruen GER, with Avery Ardovino 16th and Karin Friberg 27th. The fourth US athlete, Abby Hughes, was disqualified, although she'd jumped well in training (this is usually a suit or ski length violation). Germany's Magdalena Schnurr was the winner, with flights of 69 and 69.5 meters. Canadian Nata De Leeuw placed second, with teammates Atsuko Tanaka 22nd and Katie Willis 24th. There were many new names in the field of 64 athletes, and all thirty jumpers who made the cut to the second round scored 200 or more points. They'll be in Poehla GER on Wed Aug 13, and Bischofshofen AUT next weekend, Aug 13th & 14th.

The two North American events on this year's schedule will be held in December on the Olympic jumps in Park City and Vancouver. US female athlete Lindsey Van holds the record of 105.5 meters on the Vancouver jump ... but the IOC still bars women from competing at the Olympics!

Women in 2010 Petition Tops 9000 Names!
To read and sign online petition, click here ... WSJ2010.com
Deedee Corradini and Karla Keck speak in Vancouver 2/24/08 ... YouTube video
FIS official Kasper explains "reasons" for exclusion in 2006 ABC News video
Hear Kasper and Canada's Dick Pound "explaining" in YouTube Video
Rogge says women would DILUTE medals!  LISTEN ... then GET THE FACTS!
See who's been signing:   ski jumping people ... those from other sports
The folks at Women's Ski Jumping USA, www.wsjusa.com, have worked for years to develop this sport for women in ALL countries. They've been instrumental in building a great base of athletes here in the US, but they've also worked tirelessly (and successfully) in getting the FIS to create a women's series, the Ladies Continental Cup (LCOC), and in getting the FIS to recommend, by a vote of 114-1, that the IOC include women's jumping in the 2010 Olympics. Despite this overwhelming vote of confidence by the FIS, the IOC decided in November 2006 to keep the door nailed shut for female athletes in the sport of ski jumping. Jacques Rogge, IOC president, reiterated his opposition on Feb 28, 2008, stating that including women would "DILUTE" other medals! The next day, Feb 29, WSJUSA issued a FACTUAL RESPONSE. Please read this document, then if you haven't already done so, please read and SIGN THE PETITION!

BABES in BOYLAND!     Click photo to enlarge the image (P Jerome photo).
On Jan 5, at the Canadian National Championships, US jumper Lindsey Van (R) set the hill record of 105.5 meters on the NEW 90M OLYMPIC JUMP in Vancouver, and Jessica Jerome (L) flew 102. Canadian Greg Baxter set the men's record at 99 meters.  In the 90M event, the men's class was required to use a lower start gate, resulting in slightly less takeoff speed. We also want to point out that on the 120M hill, men and women started from the same gate (and the women's speeds were slightly SLOWER) ... Canadian Stefan Read set the hill record at 133 meters, with Van setting the women's record on the big hill at 128.5 meters. View official scoresheets from both events ... 90M (normal) hill and 120M (large) hill.

Read Text of Lawsuit Against VANOC
MAY 22 PRESS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS & VIDEO LINKS from CTV.CA
  (for video, click "CTV Newset: Women ski jumpers hold presser" to right of story)
Read the  PRESS RELEASE  and the  STATEMENT of COMPLAINT (lawsuit)
There was a press conference at 9:00 Thursday morning in Vancouver, at the law offices of Davis LLP, regarding the lawsuit filed Wednesday against VANOC for failing to include women's ski jumping in the program of the 2010 Olympics. Among those attending were Ross Clark, Q.C. lawyer and partner at Davis LLP, Deedee Corradini, President of WSJUSA and former mayor of Salt Lake City, Karla Keck, retired US jumper and former US National Champion, Marie-Pierre Morin, retired Canadian jumper and former Canadian National Champion, plus two active US athletes, Lindsey Van and Jessica Jerome. Six of the world's top ten female jumpers (including Van & Jerome), from four nations, are named as individual plaintiffs. Read the FULL TEXT OF THE LAWSUIT via the STATEMENT of COMPLAINT link above!  For quick read, see pages 1-2, 5-6, and 15-21.

Ski Channel Will Cover Women's Jumping
New network will launch in fall ... has agreement with WSJUSA
We'll bring you more on this later, but Steve Bellamy, founder of The Tennis Channel, will be launching The Ski Channel this fall, and they will be covering women's ski jumping. Click here to read their official PRESS RELEASE. This release coincided with the women's ski jumping press conference held in Vancouver on May 22.

ESPN Feature on Women Hits AGAIN!
Report nails IOC's continuing refusal to admit women to Olympics
On Sunday, May 4, ESPN's "Outside the Lines" broadcast an outstanding feature about the continuing refusal of the International Olympic Committee to include women's ski jumping in the 2010 Games in Vancouver. This is the only event in which women have NEVER been permitted to participate, and this report exposes some of the factual inconsistencies in their excuses for keeping the door closed. We've been informed that the full-length video may not be available online due to contractual obligations with the USOC and NBC. You can continue to view the one-minute promo. Be sure to click the fifth star just below the video ... ESPN does track votes! This story was repeated on May 19, and ESPN continues to follow the developments.

Hundreds of people have signed the online petition since the ESPN feature was broadcast on Sunday, May 4 and again May 19 (scroll down to find links to petition website). It's clear from reading the responses that most were shocked to learn that the old men of the IOC refuse to allow women to ski jump at the Olympics, and many were very angry. If you want to read 'em for yourself, go to the petition page and click the link at the top of the list of the most recent 20 signers, which is on the right side of the page. From there, you can scroll down through the most recent 50, and links at the bottom of the page will let you navigate backwards to the page labeled 8150; that's about where the petition stood prior to the ESPN feature.

USOC Responds to Congressional Request
Wanted info about women's jumping:  Letter to USOC . . . USOC Response
Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Bart Stupak (D-MI), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, sent a letter on April 11 to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) regarding the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refusing to finally admit women’s ski jumping into the 2010 Olympic Games which will be held in Vancouver, Canada.  The two lawmakers expressed concern that the IOC did not apply uniform standards in its decision to turn down this sport based on too few participants and too few nations.   Dingell and Stupak pointed to Olympic events with even fewer participants, such as women’s bobsled, luge and skeleton. They have requested documenation from USOC regarding what they have done, and plan to do, to support the inclusion of women's ski jumping at the Olympic Games. Click links above to read the original letter and the USOC's response.

US Men's Development Team Report
"Project X" is independent of US Ski Team ... read season-end summary
For many years, the US Ski team has funded one or two top athletes to compete in World Cup and the European Summer Grand Prix. With the retirement last year of our two top jumpers, Alan Alborn and Clint Jones, the US Ski Team dropped the men's program entirely. It had been years since they'd funded any development program for younger jumpers. Before the start of last season, they named six women who had been developed through the Women's Ski Jumping USA organization in Park City, which was also INDEPENDENT of the US Ski Team. The women's program had achieved strong results in the Ladies' Continental Cup, and had attracted VISA sponsorship. We applaud the formation of this INDEPENDENT MEN'S PROGRAM, which has become known as "Project X," and we hope they'll have similar success in developing young athletes! Their greatest need now, just as it has been for the women's development program, is for FUNDING. We encourage individuals and companies to DIRECTLY support INDEPENDENT development programs. This will result in their dollars supporting ONLY ski jumping!

ABC News Feature:  Women vs IOC
Brian Rooney report aired Mar 19 on World News Tonight ... VIEW VIDEO
The IOC's continuing exclusion of women from Olympic ski jumping was addressed very well in a story by Brian Rooney on Wed Mar 19. It had good footage of women jumping, and Rooney pointed out that "all they need is to be invited" (to the Olympics). Three Canadian women were interviewed; Zoya Lynch, Nata De Leeuw, & Katie Willis. It pointed out that American Lindsey Van holds the record of 105.5 meters on the new 90 meter OLYMPIC jump in Vancouver, and showed IOC President Jacques Rogge making his discredited argument about "not enough participants." Then it displayed in bold figures how many women (34) competed in the new Snowboard Cross event in 2006, and showed that about 80 female jumpers internationally would be potential Olympians. The ABC video is preceded by a 30-second commercial.

Two years ago, World News Tonight ran an excellent feature by John Quinones, including interviews with several of our US athletes ... click "2006 ABC News Video" link in next story. For links to many related articles, visit Women's Ski Jumping USA by clicking their logo below right, then go to the "WSJ in the News" page.

Long Flight Videos!
Johnny Lyons flies 140M in training at Klingenthal GER
We recently received a great video of Johnny Lyons of St Paul MN, with a flight of 140 meters (459 feet) during training at Klingenthal GER in August 2007 ... Lyons 140M.   The world record flight of 239 meters (784 feet) was set in Planica, Slovenia in 2005 by Norway's Bjorn-Einar Romoeren ... Romoeren 239M.   The longest flight ever by an American was at Planica in 2002 by Alan Alborn, who flew 221.5 meters (727 feet). That flight is shown in the 8-minute ski jumping video, which you can see via link at right.

American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame
Second group of inductees announced in March 2008
Check out the virtual American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame, which resides within the AmericanSkiJumping.com website. There's a "Hall of Fame" link at the top of the homepage, and the HOF page includes a link to a nomination form. It was formally introduced during the Red Wing MN festivities on June 17, 2007. The second group of inductees was announced March 26, 2008.

History on Display in Red Wing MN
St James Hotel is site of permanent ski jumping exhibit
On June 17, 2007, as part of Red Wing's 150th anniversary celebration, a permanent historic display was unveiled at the historic St James Hotel, recognizing the city as the "Birthplace of American Ski Jumping." The first North American distance record was set in 1887 in Red Wing by a Norwegian immigrant, Mikkel Hemmestvedt. The city was the home of the pioneering Aurora Ski Club, which hosted US National Championships in 1928 & 1936.

Year-End Homepage Access ... All Years
See stories & coverage from the end of 2008 and earlier seasons
Each spring, we archive our homepage with end-of-year stories. You can view these pages via the links below.

• 2008 - IOC's Exclusion of Women Dominates 2008 News
• 2007 - Malysz #1 in WC, Van & Demong US Champions
• 2006 - US Women #1 Team, Janda Wins World Cup
• 2005 - Romoeren Flies 239M at Planica
• 2004 - Ahonen World Champ, Women Fly in Norway
• 2003 - Hautamaeki 231M, Spillane Wins First US Gold
• 2002 - Kids Learning to Jump, Alborn Flies 221.5M

Our Visitor Traffic Continues To Grow
Olympics, Women's Continental Cup drew 100K+ visitors
During the winter 2005-2006 season, we set all-time visitor records. We had 22K+ visitors in January, 42K+ visitors for February, and 20K+ in March. We drew just about 100K for the winter 2006 competition season from December through March, at about 5 minutes per visit. We averaged well over 300 per day throughout the summer, up significantly over last year, with much of the increase driven by the Olympics.

Ski Racing magazine
Click to visit website

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www.wsjusa.com

Flashback!
Remember our "Behind the News" page? It ran during our 2002 and 2003 seasons. We've updated it a bit, but left it in the original layout. Click here to read a bit about big ski jumps, female jumpers, questions jumpers get asked, a cool mobile wind tunnel, and famous folks who were once ski jumpers!

Mom's Perspective
Her son began jumping at 5 ... Susana Field's article gives a mom's reflections on his progress over ten years. Cliff is now 15, and he's been a Junior Olympian, a winner at Lake Placid, and a competitor in the first event held at the Vancouver Olympic complex.

Ski Jumping Video
(run time 8 minutes)
Chris Broz, former jumper now coaching kids in Minneapolis, has created a new introductory video to give kids and parents a sense of the excitement of ski jumping, from World Cup Ski Flying to youngsters on local jumps.