Sarah Hendrickson has had a rollercoaster of a career that seems to be stuck at the bottom of a drop. The former ski jumping champion has battled a knee injury for the last two years, which has hindered her performance in the 2016-2017 World Cup season.

Though she isn’t happy with the way the year has gone, Hendrickson accomplished something no other ski jumper has done since the 1980s. In early March, she jumped off of the Nansen Ski Jump in New Hampshire.

It’s hard to imagine a better start to one’s career, considering Hendrickson mustered up a World Cup title in 2012 (the first women’s World Cup season ever). She also finished as the runner-up the following year, and even became the first woman to ski jump in an Olympic event. Women were first allowed to participate in ski jumping in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Not long before the 2014 Olympics, however, Hendrickson, a Park City native, suffered a serious knee injury that required surgery. She would be out for the next few months, but cleared to go right before the Olympics.

After the world-wide competition, though, she re-injured the same knee in a training session in June 2015. It was a blow to the budding star’s career, as it forced her to miss the 2015-2016 World Cup season.

The same injury still affects her 22 months later.

“It’s been pretty frustrating,” Hendrickson said. “Physically, everything is there, but still just struggling with getting back into the intensity of competition on my knee and the mental side of things. Trusting my knee again.”

Still young at 22 years old, Hendrickson is slowly getting back to peak form. She said she hasn’t been happy with her performance for this year’s World Cup season. Hendrickson hasn’t won a World Cup competition this season, but she did finish as the top American in 23rd place at the World Ski Championships in Lahti.

Hendrickson, who has grown accustomed to winning in her short career, can’t help but be irritated. But her coaches are saying otherwise.

“I’m pretty frustrated with how the season’s gone, but my coaches are calming me down, telling me that this is actually a good way to come back and just set the foundation for continuing my training for next year,” Hendrickson said/

This year wasn’t a waste for Hendrickson. Although she didn’t get the results she wanted, she has plenty of time to get back to the top of her sport.

But it wasn’t a lost season for another reason. The famous Nansen Ski Jump in New Hampshire was constructed in 1936 and built a reputation as one of the most notable ski jumps in America. It was even home to the first U.S. Olympic Trials.

It’s been quite a while since the jump has seen action: 32 years, to be exact. The jump hosted its last event in 1985. Since, it’s had no upkeep and no maintenance. It seemed as if it would stand until the elements got to it and knocked it down.

Instead, the New Hampshire State Parks decided to restore the hill for one last jump. Hendrickson, who does have family from New Hampshire, wanted to be the one to take that leap.

“It’s been a two-year process to get everything [set up],” Hendrickson said. “They had to re-deck and rebuild the hill and touch it up a little bit. We had some tough weather conditions, but we were able to pull it off.”

Last Saturday, Hendrickson, who is used to skiing on world-class venues, climbed to the top off the rickety, old wooden ski jumping hill. With her injury on her mind nearly all season, this was an opportunity for her to let loose and achieve something outside a competition setting.

“It was definitely a different mindset that I had to have,” Hendrickson said. “It was pretty fun to step out of that competition mode and switch it up a little bit. Ski jumping is very traditional, so you don’t normally get that very much.”

Sitting less than a year away from the 2018 Winter Olympics, Hendrickson knows there’s work left to be done. This next year, she hopes to get her knee right so that she can be the jumper she knows she can be by the time the Olympics roll around.

For now, her simple plan is to get some rest so she can get back to flying the way she knows how.

“Next month, I just need to be pretty calm, pretty relaxed,” Hendrickson said. “When I start training again in May, [I need to] be re-motivated and ready for the next 10 brutal months ahead.”

“Flying is priceless. There’s not really any words to describe that amazing feeling.”

The post Hendrickson working toward flying again appeared first on Park Record.

The Visa Freestyle International started with a bang for Team USA on the opening night when mogul skier Morgan Schild found her way back to the top of the podium with an impressive first-place showing, despite returning to the World Cup tour just last month after 22 months of rehab.

However, no American, male or female, was able to occupy the top spot in either the aerial or dual mogul competitions. Even so, Team USA still made its presence known on the final two days of competition at Deer Valley.

Kiley McKinnon flew her way to a second-place finish on Friday in the women’s aerial contest with a full, double-full in the final round. Her score of 95.17 was narrowly edged out by Lydia Lassila of Australia. Meanwhile, fellow American Jaelin Kauf worked her way to the dual mogul Small Final on Saturday. She ultimately topped fellow American Olivia Giaccio for third place.

“It was a very exciting day for me,” McKinnon said. “I haven’t been jumping so well this season so far, so to be able to get on the podium here at Deer Valley in front of my friends and family definitely helps with my confidence. I’m really excited about it.”

Kauf also grabbed the bronze medal at last year’s women’s dual mogul competition at Deer Valley. Both are the only World Cup podiums of her career.

For McKinnon, though, her first podium finish of the season was especially sweet. Not only did she save her best performance for her friends and family, but Friday’s aerial competition served as the first Olympic qualifier for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

McKinnon was hoping to qualify for the 2014 Games, but a dislocated elbow kept her from doing so. With her performance on Friday, she’s got an early jump on the competition with the Winter Olympics just about a year away.

“I tried to not think about that at all,” McKinnon said of the Olympic qualifier. “I didn’t want to put any extra pressure [on myself]. I just wanted to do the jumps I knew I could do and to be able to podium is pretty amazing.”

Though they can’t all share spots on the podium, most of the American athletes, if not all of them, shared the sentiment that they’re sad the Visa Freestyle International is over. Deer Valley is one of just two American stops on the tour. Several American athletes commented on how much they look forward to this event in the opening press conference last week.

One of them was Mac Bohonnon, who just missed the podium by finishing in fourth place in the men’s aerial competition. Even so, Bohonnon still had nothing but positive things to say about the venue and the courses built at Deer Valley, which isn’t the case for all of the stops on tour.

“Psyched to come out with all my competition jumps on my feet and be in the mix in a night as tough as this in front of this unbelievable crowd at Deer Valley,” Bohonnon said. “This was such a fun event. We love competing here. I want to thank my coaches, all the support staff, the volunteers here at Deer Valley and, of course, this crowd. They’re unreal. They made this event special for us.”

Other notable finishes from Team USA at the Visa Freestyle International came from Dylan Walczyk (fifth in men’s dual moguls), Eric Loughran (sixth in men’s aerial), Troy Murphy (fifth in men’s moguls) and Nessa Dziemian (fifth in women’s moguls).

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Volunteers and workers at Deer Valley Resort brought out the podium and backdrop for the athletes who finished in the Top 3, as Friday night’s portion of the Visa Freestyle International came to a close.

Hundreds of spectators stood in the dark as millions of snowflakes poured down. But before the athletes made it to the podium, a familiar face sporting a dark navy blue 2002 Winter Olympics leather jacket grabbed the microphone.

Fans in attendance at the front of the pack immediately discovered it was Mitt Romney, President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics and former Republican presidential candidate. It didn’t take long, however, for the rest of the crowd to catch on once they heard his recognizable voice.

It wasn’t an Olympic event, but Romney, along with his Olympic partner Fraser Bullock and Deer Valley General Manager Bob Wheaton, was there to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Park City played an integral part in hosting the competitions and festivities.

“[The Visa Freestyle International] brought back memories of the great days in 2002,” Romney started off.

He then explained volunteers’ contributions to the 2002 Winter Olympics were vital. Like it was in 2002, the volunteer effort was huge in running the World Cup events at Deer Valley this last weekend. Those efforts, both past and present, did not go unnoticed.

“The volunteers made the Games a Games you will never forget,” Romney continued. “The people of Utah opened their homes, opened their hearts to these athletes in the world. … We love the people here. … Thanks Utah, for these great experiences.”

Deer Valley wasn’t Romney’s only stop during the weekend celebration. He also swung by the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center on Saturday, where the venue was nearing the end of its week-long hosting of the USANA FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships. Romney was again accompanied by Bullock, and he spoke and mingled with the hundreds of crowd members.

Though the well-known businessman and politician only stopped at the Olympic venues for a few hours, the 2002 Winter Games was honored throughout the duration of each marquee event that took place in the area. By hosting such races and competitions, places such as Deer Valley, the Utah Olympic Park and Soldier Hollow have kept up their Olympic-level standards and conditions from 15 years ago.

“There’s no place like this,” Romney said of Deer Valley with Wheaton by his side. “The athlete experience couldn’t be better. Whether you’re just a skier at Deer Valley or whether you’re an athlete who’s a professional like the competitors [on Friday night], Deer Valley makes an experience like no other.”

Being Park City, it’s true that the local venues will continue to host non-Olympic winter sport competitions as long as they are up and running. But should the stars ever align for a second Winter Olympic Games in the area — the idea has been thrown around — they’ll be ready.

“There’s going to be more events coming,” Romney said. “We’re going to get a chance to see more of these great athletes.”

The post Romney celebrates anniversary of 2002 Winter Olympics appeared first on Park Record.

The Visa Freestyle International World Cup moguls, aerials and dual moguls were held at Deer Valley Resort again this year on the resort’s black diamond Champion and White Owl ski runs from Thursday, Feb. 2nd-Saturday, Feb. 4th. The competitions saw athletes from nearly 10 different countries.

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American mogul skier Morgan Schild’s nerves started to creep back as she stood in the starting gate. The top qualifier from the first round of final runs, she was ready to go in the Super Final of the Visa Freestyle International, with masses of spectators at the bottom of the near-perfectly-designed course built at Deer Valley.

Then, she was off, cruising through the first section of the course with relative ease before hitting the daunting middle portion, where the skiers pick up most of their speed. Schild’s knees bounced from side to side, nearly hitting her chest with each pump.

She made it through the middle section with what looked to be the same ease as the first section before hitting the final jump. From there, it was easy.

“Honestly, the second half of the run, I just let it go because I know that I can do that [bottom jump] day and night,” Schild said. “And it worked today.”

Schild crossed the finish line with a pump of the fist as the large crowd cheered on the American. Everyone in attendance knew it was a good run, including Schild, but it was in the judges hands.

She anxiously waited for her score under a blown-up gate set up for the athletes. When a score of 81.27 flashed on the screen, she could not contain their excitement. It was clear the crowd felt the same way as cheers from the bottom of the course erupted. Schild was the only female skier to break the 80-point barrier that evening, giving her the first-place finish at Deer Valley.

“I love this course,” Schild said. “I haven’t trained on this course in two years. It was kind of just like muscle memory. … I saw the big crowd here and it’s always exciting. It gets you a little pumped up, maybe too pumped up sometimes. But today, it worked out.”

Following her gold-medal performance (her second World Cup win of her career), Schild immediately took off her skis and hurried her way over to the crowd, where her parents were waiting. She shared bear hugs with both of them and couldn’t contain her emotions.

Schild’s road back to winning gold was a tough one. Nearly two years ago, Schild, the 2015 FIS World Cup Rookie of the Year, tore her ACL while training in Italy on March 24, 2015, a date engrained in her memory. The injury kept her off of the tour for 22 months, where she remained hungry for a return.

Schild said waiting was the hardest part of sitting out.

“It ate me alive, honestly,” she said. “I just wanted to be back with my teammates. They are family to me. The girls team has just become so close this year, that I felt left out. Those are my sisters, I want to be with them. To be reunited and to be on the top is insane.”

Those 22 months were full of rehab and Schild’s patience was tested during that time. Sitting out for one year is one thing, but nearly two years can feel like a lifetime for someone who’s used to skiing every day.

She made her return a couple weekends ago in Lake Placid, where she didn’t waste any time making her way to the podium with a third-place finish. Though happy with that result, she knew it wasn’t her best. This was evident by her first-place finish on Thursday night.

Since Lake Placid, she’s battled some knee pain, typical of someone who sat out for two years due to injury. It’s been sore one day, a little less sore the next. Schild couldn’t feel her knee at all when she came through the finish area following her gold-medal run

“Right now, my knee is numb,” Schild said. “I don’t even care right now. I made it down. I’ll do some [physical therapy] later and ice it. It’ll be fine.”

The smile on Schild’s face looked permanent, as she worked her way through the crowd following her win,. Words couldn’t describe the excitement she was feeling, but no matter the outcome, odds are she would have been smiling anyway.

“Honestly, [I want to] have fun every run,” Schild said. “That’s my goal is to come down, win or lose, with a smile on my face. That’s why I like to do the sport.”

Schild certainly missed the sport during her 22-month break from competition, but the sport might’ve missed having her on tour even more. Schild’s smile might be a little wider moving through the rest of her comeback tour now that she’s back and competing at a high level.

The post Golden return: Schild takes first at Deer Valley appeared first on Park Record.

Deer Valley Resort’s Champion and White Owl black diamond runs will play host to the Visa Freestyle International competition this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The competition will see aerial competitions and mogul races. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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The FIL Viessmann Luge World cop made it’s fourth stop on it’s circuit in Park City, only one of two destinations in the United States, this past weekend. The races featured athletes from 20 different countries, food trucks, activities for kids and more. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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