It was the worth the wait.
Mother Nature toyed with the Visa Women’s International Ski Jumping Festival over the weekend at Utah Olympic Park, but when she put a stop to the meteorological mayhem, the jumping was Olympics-level.
“That last round was the best…so good, so close,” Edgar Ganster, the International Ski Federation’s coordinator for the women’s Continental Cup tour, said Sunday night when an oh-so-rare doubleheader was concluded. His joy had nothing to do with the fact fellow Austrian Daniela Iraschko swept both events. “This showed how good women’s jumping can be,” he said.
Added Kjell Ivar Magnusson, the U.S. women’s first-year head coach, “We saw some outstanding jumping today. And we [the U.S. Ski Team, comprised of a half-dozen Parkites who came through the National Sports Foundation pipeline] have some good things to build on now” over the next three months. The schedule resumes Dec. 11-12 in Notodden, Norway.
Notodden? For a while, it looked as though it would be Nojumping at Bear Hollow’s 2002 Olympic venue. There were overflow, inquisitive but enthusiastic crowds each day. A recap:
– Friday: nobody gets down the hill as late-day winds delay, then force cancellation of training, which was to go off at about 4 p.m. Training is rescheduled for Saturday AM.
– Saturday (early): Three training rounds go off seamlessly. No winds, no complaints. Parkite Alissa Johnson, sidelined for most of August after spraining her left ankle in a training spill in Germany, returns to jumping. “I missed Lake Placid; I don’t want to miss these comps,” she said.
– Saturday (late day): Someone left a window open somewhere and the winds, caused at least in part by the afternoon warmth creating tricky thermals, which ricochet around parts of Bear Hollow – including off the stone walls, where the Olympic jumps are sited – and create unsafe conditions for jumpers. Nobody gets down the hill again; the Saturday night competition is re-set for Sunday AM.
– Sunday (early): Iraschko, who won the first two Continental Cups when they were held at UOP in July 2004, leads the first round. Norway’s Anette Sagen, who has won all three overall titles since that opening season, unfurls a 103-meter ride but falls on landing, so she loses style points (but is still fourth in the round, thanks to her monster jump). Winds return during the final round, forcing multiple delays and changes in starting gates as the jury, concerned about safety, lowers the start, which lowers the speed and provides more control. Sagen again has the longest jump, but it’s not enough to overtake Iraschko.
Park City’s Jessica Jerome moved up six places in the last jump to tie for sixth and Johnson was eighth with Avery Ardovino 12th and Lindsey Van 13th.
A smiling Magnusson notes, “The girls were close…so close. That was good jumping.” Jerome liked her improvement but, like many, was bummed by the second-round delays; “It’s part of the sport, and we know that…and you understand the need for safety, but sometimes you just don’t see why there’s a hold,” she said.
– Sunday (late day): The training round started at 4:30 p.m. and unrolled almost effortlessly. Cloud cover took the starch out of the blistering heat and the winds died. But just before the first round of competition, the cloud cover turns sullen, from grey to dark grey, from benign to menacing. Uh oh. And then the heavens opened.
Light sprinkles didn’t deter the joyous gathering of perhaps 2,500 onlookers; they figured they’d outlast it. But as a cloudburst developed, everyone headed for anywhere, which might provide rain cover. In the midst of the scramble, thunder and lightning rolled over the top of the ridgeline as the rain increased. One Jell-o brain decided to hold metal-frame folding chairs overhead for protection; fortunately, no lightning bolts saw the mental miscue and there were no strikes at UOP although they framed the area.
After a 45-minute delay, things died down and most of the crowd stuck around. But when another brief shower rolled in, most of the spectators left. As Greg Poirier, ringmaster for the National Sports Foundation and primary announcer for the weekend, awarded phantom gold medals “to all of you who stayed because you are champions, and thank you!”
The event started more than an hour late, but fans were treated to some impressive jumping.
Canadian Nata De Leeuw, 16, led the first round, producing an 82.5-meter jump. Swiss Miss Salome Fuchs, a 13-year-old from Einsiedeln – hometown for then-Harry Potter lookalike and 2002 Olympic double champ Simon Ammann, was second with Sagen third. Iraschko was sixth with three Americans in the top 15.
Officials, feeling the storm had past and the winds were safe as night fell and the hillside lights had been on for a while, up the starting gate. That gives the jumpers more speed coming down the in-run, which should lead to longer (but safe) jumps. Good move.
Iraschko, who went 79 meters on her first jump, flew 99.5 meters on her final flight to lead with 221.5 points. The next two jumpers aren’t close.
Sagen, third in the first round (80.5m) and four points ahead of the Austrian with the pink hair, makes it justaboutthisclose, though, settling in at 99 meters. However, judges dock her style points for what they see as a slightly ragged landing. She finishes with 221.0 and Iraschko sweeps at UOP for a second time. She boosts her overall points lead over the Norwegian, who missed the first two events but has been on the podium (i.e., top three) in all six events she’s entered. Iraschko has 636 points, Sagen 540.
As she packed her gear, Iraschko smiled and nodded. “Yeah, we should stay in Park City all the time. This is a good hill for me. I’m glad we could get the two competitions finished.”
After winning the morning event, calling them “my secret,” she pointed to three symbols on one of her skis and said they were reminders of how to focus on each jump. One stresses keeping her knees in the proper position as she comes down the in-run, the second reminds her to keep looking ahead and the third urges her to block out all distractions so she can focus only on her jump.
Iraschko, 23, knows focus. She holds the women’s record of 200 meters in a jump a couple of years ago in Vikersund, Norway, when she, Sagen, Park City’s Lindsey Van and one or two others became the first women allowed to ski-fly; the alltime distance mark is over 240 meters. Norwegian officials, after much back and forth, made history when they decided to controversy and allow the women become the first to take part in a ski-flying event.
Sunday night, Van had perhaps her first smile of the weekend. She led the U.S. in ninth place, advancing three spots in the last round. More importantly for her, though, was the summer phase was over; she’s got three months to regain her podium ways before the winter events begin.
“I’m ready for winter. I’m not a summer girl, never have been,” she said. “I’m looking to have three months to get dialed-in again.” She was second behind Sagen in 2005 and again in ’06, then stormed the final month of the ’07 season with three victories and four other top-3s as she vaulted up to third place.
Van was amped about the two days of blockbuster crowds. “It was awesome, so good to have that kind of support,” she said.
For Johnson, the crowd was a pick-me-up – “they had great energy,” she said – and it was good to jump again, even better to be so competitive after her brief layoff.
After a couple of days of down time, the U.S. squad will start revving its training again by next week.