Several hundred people signed the online petition after the ESPN feature was broadcast on Sunday, May 4 (scroll down to find links to petition website). It's clear from reading the responses that most were shocked to learn that female ski jumpers are NOT WELCOME 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!

Women in 2010 Petition Tops 8400 Names!
ESPN story on May 4 drew surpised and angry responses ... WSJ2010.com
Deedee Corradini and Karla Keck speak in Vancouver 2/28/08 ... 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 ... 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. Complete official scoresheets from this event available via Schedule & Results link at left.   You will also find links to scoresheets from the US National Championships in March 2008 ... the women performed well there, too!

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.

National Championships - US Season Finale
Spillane & Jerome grab normal hill titles:  USST report   scoresheet
Johnson & Jerome national big-hill jump titles:  USST report   scoresheet
Demong wins NC Combined, Jerome tops women's demo:  USST report
Spillane wins NC Sprint, Jerome wins women's demo:  Sprint scoresheet
Keate & Jerome win Friday SuperTour jump:   USST report   scoresheet
Team of Delaney & Demong wins SuperTour NC Sprint:   NC scoresheet

The US ski jumping and Nordic Combined season ended on Sunday March 16 at Utah Olympic Park, where Johnny Spillane won the men's national championship on the normal hill, and the women's title went to Jessica Jerome. Joining Spillane on the men's podium were Bill Demong and Anders Johnson; the top three were separated by only 2.5 points. Sharing the women's podium with Jerome were Brenna Ellis and Abby Hughes. On Saturday morning, Anders Johnson won his first national big-hill title, and Jessica Jerome won her fourth. Sharing the men's podium with Johnson were Johnny Spillane and Nick Alexander. Jerome was joined on the women's podium by thirteen year old Sarah Hendrickson and Abby Hughes. Later in the day, Spillane won the NC Sprint event, followed by Bill Demong. A women's demo class was also included; Jerome won, with Hendrickson second. Demong and Jerome won the Nordic Combined titles. Complete results available via links above.

The SuperTour series finale was held Friday morning. Skyler Keate took top honors among the men with a flight of 130.5 meters, and Jessica Jerome flew 129.0 meters to top the women's field. Behind Keate in the men's class were Chris Lamb and Johnny Lyons. Jerome's teammates Brenna Ellis & Avery Ardovino joined her on the podium. The event was held to one round by weather conditions. In the evening, Colin Delaney and Bill Demong teamed up to win the SuperTour Nordic Combined Sprint.

Sagen Wins, Jerome 3rd in LCOC Finale
Ardovino 12th, Johnson 14th ... US Ski Team reports:   Saturday   Sunday
FIS results & standings ...  Mar 8   Mar 9   final standings
Jessica Jerome placed third, behind Norway's Anette Sagen and Austria's Daniela Iraschko in the final LCOC event of the season in Zao JPN on Sunday March 9. Other US results Sunday were Avery Ardovino 12th and Alissa Johnson 14th. Sagen is once again the series champion. On Saturday, Jerome placed 11th, with Ardovino 12th and Johnson 16th. Click links above for articles on US Ski Team website, and for FIS final standings.

Lyons & Bliss in Top 30 in Vancouver
Kaltenboeck & Cikl win, Johnny Lyons 22nd & 24th, Evan Bliss 26th
COC Results:  Sat Mar 1    Sun Mar 2    standings
FIS Results:    Feb 28 am   Feb 28 pm
A surprise winner topped the podium Sunday in Continental Cup action on the new 120 meter Olympic jump in Vancouver. Martin Cikl of the Czech Republic edged Austrians Martin Hoellwarth and Daniel Lackner. American Johnny Lyons followed up yesterday's 22nd with a solid 24th, and US teammate Evan Bliss qualified for the second round, finishing 26th. Germany's Erik Simon pushed the hill record out to 138.5 meters. On Saturday, Austrian Bastian Kaltenboeck took top honors, with Norway's Thomas Lobben 2nd and series leader Stefan Thurnbichler of Austria 3rd. Lyons was the top American at 22nd.

FIS Cup competition was held Feb 27-28 on the K90. Wednesday's FIS comp was postponed to Thursday morning. Three Austrians swept the podium in both events. Austria's Markus Eggenhofer won the afternoon event, setting a new men's record of 105.0 meters. Andrew Bliss was the top US jumper in the morning at 13th, and Evan Bliss was 13th in the afternoon.   American female jumper Lindsey Van's 105.5 meter flight on this hill at the Canadian Nationals in January remains the overall hill record ... IOC president Jacques Rogge proclaimed on Feb 28 that admitting women to the Olympics would "dilute" the medals of other athletes! See his comments and WSJUSA's response via links in "crawler" at top of page.

Hendrickson, Johnson in Top 20 at JWSC
Newcomer Sarah Hendrickson places 16th in women's event
2006 Olympian Anders Johnson 17th in men's competition
Men place 8th of 18 in men's team competition
JWSC Jump Results:   Women's indiv   Men's indiv   Men's team
JWSC N/C Results:   Men's 10K   Men's Team relay   Men's Sprint  
Thirteen year old Sarah Hendrickson led the American women with a 16th place finish in women's jumping at the Junior World Ski Championships (JWSC) in Zakopane POL. Austria's Jacqueline Siefriedsberger was the winner, joined on the podium by Italy's Elena Runggaldier and Slovenia's Katja Pozun. The other Americans finished as follows ... Avery Ardovino 20th, Karin Friberg 29th, and Brenna Ellis 33rd.

In men's individual jumping, the top US finisher was Anders Johnson, 17th.  Germany's Andreas Wank was the winner. Other Americans were Chris Lamb 32nd, Nick Fairall 41st, and Nick Alexander 56th. In team jumping, the US finished 8th among 18 teams.

Italy's Alessandro Pittin was the winner of the 10K NC event. The top American was Taylor Fletcher, 38th. Other Americans were Nick Hendrickson 49th, Brett Denney 56th, and Daniel Englund 58th. The US finished 10th among 14 teams in the team 4x4 event. In Saturday's NC Sprint, Hendrickson placed 41st, Fletcher 49th, Denney 56th, and Englund 59th.

Sagen, Vtic, Tanaka Grab LCOC Wins
Sagen Wins, Jerome 9th, Hendrickson 11th in Schoenwald ... Feb 23
Canada's Tanaka wins, Sagen 2nd, Jerome 9th in Baiersbronn ... Feb 20
Sagen, Vtic Win, Van 2X2 in Breitenberg ...   Feb 16   Feb 17   standings
The final European event in this season's Ladies Continental Cup (LCOC) series was held in Schoenwald GER. Only one round was completed, and Norway's Anette Sagen got back on top of the podium. Germany's Magdalena Schnurr was 2nd, and Switzerland's Bigna Windmueller finished 3rd. Wednesday's winner, Canada's Atsuko Tanaka tied for 7th with Japan's Izumi Yamada. The top US finisher was Jessica Jerome in 9th, with Canada's Katie Willis 10th. The youngest US competitor, thirteen year old Sarah Hendrickson, tied at 11th with Italy's Lisa Demetz. The season will conclude Mar 7-9 in Zao JPN.

Canada's Atsuko Tanaka flew 89 and 91 meters on the K85 jump, amassing 241.5 points, to stand atop the podium on Wed Feb 20 in Baiersbronn GER. Series leader Anette Sagen of Norway was second, and Germany's Carina Vogt placed third. Jessica Jerome was the top US finisher in 9th, and her 13 year old teammate Sarah Hendrickson placed 20th. Other US athletes were Brenna Ellis 24th, Avery Ardovino 26th, Alissa Johnson 29th, and Karin Friberg 40th. Lindsey Van had a sore knee and did not jump.The next LCOC is in Schoenwald GER Feb 23.

In Breitenberg GER on Feb 16 & 17, Norway's Anette Sagen won the Saturday event, with Lindsey Van of the USA second. On Sunday, Slovenia's Maja Vtic broke Sagen's stranglehold on the top of the podium; Sagen and Van tied for second. Van now ranks fourth overall in the season's standings. Representing the USA are (L to R) Karin Friberg, Jessica Jerome, Lindsey Van, Sarah Hendrickson, Brenna Ellis, Alissa Johnson, and Avery Ardovino, with coaches Larry Stone (L) and Kjell Ivar Magnussen. Next week Brenna, Avery, Karin, and Sarah will head to Zakopane POL for the Junior World Championships Feb 25 - Mar 1. Click photo to enlarge.

WSJUSA announces VISA Women’s Team
Karla Keck named Team Director on Dec 3 in Park City
The Women’s Ski Jumping USA Board of Directors has approved the establishment of the VISA Women’s Ski Jumping Team. The Team will consist of U.S. Ski Team athletes as well as development athletes from around the country. The purpose of this expanded team is to provide competition and training opportunities to development level athletes from different regions throughout the U.S.

Selection will be performance based with athletes being nominated to the team by their regional coaches. Training camps, which will begin this ummer, will also be an integral part of the VWSJT program.

Athletes interested in being included as part of the team for the 2007/2008 Winter season should contact Karla Keck at VWSJT@yahoo.com of call her at 435 649 3736.   Webmaster's note:  to read more about Karla Keck, a pioneer in women's ski jumping, click here

US Men's Development Program
New development organization is independent of US Ski Team
For the past few years, the US Ski Team's men's squad has consisted of just two athletes, Alan Alborn and Clint Jones, skiing selected World Cup and Continental Cup events. Al's a three-time Olympian, Clint a two-timer. Both have now retired, and are coaching younger skiers in the NSF program in Park City. Funding for development programs went from scarce to non-existent over the same years, and there are currently no men on the US Ski Team's "A" squad.

A new organization called Ski Jumping Development USA is taking on the challenge of filling this void (no, it's NOT affiliated with this website). They've hired a coach, Jochen Danneberg, and have selected an initial group of athletes, some of whom will be in action at upcoming FIS Cup tournaments in Germany Sept 1-2 and Sweden Sept 8-9. For details on coach, athletes, plans, schedule, budget, and fund raising, please visit  skijumping.wikispaces.com. At the bottom left of their homepage, you'll find a link to Team Updates. There's a detailed writeup by Alan Johnson, father of one of our top male jumpers, Anders ... and one of our top women, Alissa.

There's an e-mail distribution list for those interested in ski jumping; it's been very encouraging to read the large number of positive responses to this new development organization since it was announced. If you wish to register to receive information via this e-mail list, you'll find signup info at the bottom of www.nordicjump.org; former US Olympic jumper Jim Holland runs this service.

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, 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.