Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Women's Ski Jumping and Ski Halfpipe in the Olympics!

From the US Ski Team Website, fantastic news!

Lindsey Van waves the USA flag after winning the 2009 World Championships. (Getty Images)


LONDON (April 6) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Wednesday afternoon that halfpipe skiing and women's ski jumping will be included in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. A decision for slopestyle skiing and snowboarding and the alpine team event will be made in late May.

"This is a special day. The IOC's decisions to include women's ski jumping and halfpipe skiing marks a truly progressive era in the Olympic sport movement," said USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt. "Today is the beginning of a chapter in the history books that will showcase these great athletes' talent and dedication on the world's stage in 2014 and beyond. The USSA is happy to be a part of these exciting developments in Olympic sport."

"With these (events) on board, we have a very compelling value proposition for these Games," said IOC Sport Director Christophe Dubi. "It will be an extremely exciting program."

Women's ski jumping and halfpipe skiing were two of the five ski and snowboarding events being considered for inclusion in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. After much deliberation, Dubi proudly announced the approved events. With successful events at the FIS Nordic World Championships at Holmenkollen in Norway and the FIS Freestyle World Championships at Park City Mountain Resort in Utah, the athletes' years of hard work and constant support of the sports committed advocates have paid off.

"I have been waiting for this decision for over six years now, it is a dream come true. Now on to the next dream: getting myself there," said 2010 X Games champion Jen Hudak (Salt Lake City). "The level of the sport is high, the interest in it is even higher, the Olympics provide us with the ultimate stage to show our sport to the world!"

For the rest of this story, click HERE.







To see an incredibly inspiring film in the making about the journey to get ski jumping into the Olympics, visit the Ready to Fly film website!

1 comment:

Jamie said...

That's not Vonn, those are skis for the Nordic hill!